changing the world through conversations with young people
Samvada
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How
In 1986 a group of people at the Indo- German Social Service Society in Delhi conceptaulised a unique programme to introduce affluent young indians to the realities of rural and urban poverty. This was done with the hope that young Indians from premier educational insititutions would be motivated to re-configure their careers and address social inequalities in whatever ways posisble. The programme was called SMILE (Student Mobilization Initiative for Learning through Exposure).
SMILE students were sent on long exposure visits to interact with rural communities, to confront feudalism and social inequalities and to talk to activisits and leaders about their visions for social change. Remote corners of the country, NGOs, trade unions and social movements became new learning environments. For the first time urban college students met marginalized communities like fisher people, forest dwellers, construction workers, bonded labourers, devadasis, weavers, artisans, scavengers and other forgotten people.
Most students came back disturbed, inspired and determined to learn more and "do something". Some joined existing NGOs, a few started their own organisations and a majority integrated social justice issues into their professions- as teachers, film makers, writers, doctors, architects, lawyers or academics .
Anita Ratnam joined the SMILE team in 1988 and helped intensify the content and scope of the learning and helped expand the programme to different parts of India
In 1990, Anita moved to Bangalore and initiated the Bangalore SMILE Centre, which later became an autonomous organisation - SAMVADA.
Samvada continued to focus on exposures and discussions which helped urban students realize that there was “another India out there”, often dismissed as marginal to the urban world. Their encounters with different world views about “development”, were so powerful that some of them decided to work with NGOs and social movements. Others explored ways of changing society by redefining their lifestyles, educational preferences, social relationships, and political affiliations.
In 1992, SAMVADA began working with rural youth. At the same time we realized that exposures alone could be very confusing. Workshops and one to one discussions were introduced to help make sense of their experiences. Students encountered a whole range of activists inspired by Gandhi, Ambedkar, Marx, Savitri Bai Phule and many other revolutionary thinkers. These meetings with ecologists, feminists, human rights activists and trade union leaders became turning points in their lives.
In 1994 we registered ourselves as a Trust and expanded our base through Youth Resource Centres in several taluks of Bangalore Rural District.
As part of the SMILE Outreach Network, Samvada also helped establish youth resource centres in other states -Cense in Trissur, Sakhi in Hospet and Elavattam in Madurai to work with youth in different circumstances. In 2000, the SMILE network, of 22 youth focussed organisations, became the National Youth Foundation (NYF) and Samvada hosted the Central Coordination Unit of NYF till 2010.
In 2007, Samvada was confronted with young people's need to find meaningful livelihoods that assure them financial stability, dignity, excitement, challenge and avenues to contribute towards social change.
"Excellent education and exciting pioneering careers can not be only for the rich", we declared.
Alternative livelihoods have been conceptulaised as work options- where humanity's needs - not job markets- are central to the way one earns a living. And thus a unique college was created- Baduku Community College, carving out professions and livelihoods from emerging social and ecological challenges of our times.
EARLY DAYS
SAMVADA
SMILE- DISCOVERING THE OTHER INDIA
WORKING WITH URBAN UNDERPRIVILEGED AND RURAL YOUTH
YOUTH RESOURCE CENTRES
ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOODS- The idea behind Baduku
SAMVADA
CAME
TO
BE...
