Khusi Hona
khusihona.org
While I was staying in Rishikesh I was fortunate enough to bump into another fellow traveler named Matthew. Matthew and I sat together and chatted amidst the very cold Himalayan winds one evening. We both had electronic readers, a shared North American privilege for sure (thanks Eddie)! Matthews’ story was quite incredible. He grew up in a Christian family, his father was actually a theologian and has published numerous books. Growing up primarily in Africa, I believe South Africa, and moving to Florida in his later years, Matthew was always situated in the missionary work of his family or his church. Last year Matthew was living a fast-paced, go-getter life as a marketing executive in Tampa bay Florida. Finding his work unfulfilling he decided to give it all up and try something new and different. He sold all of his belongings, went to India and established Khusi Hona an organization which networks orphanages throughout India.
For two months Matthew traveled around India visiting orphanage after orphanage and adding them to his network. The network is designed to bring awareness of orphaned children in India, attention to the specific orphanages that exist, and to fuel money and resources directed to the children in need. Matthew wanted to put his marketing skills to good use and so he has. The website is fabulous and the cause is more than essential, particularly in India with such a huge population and too many orphaned children.
Khusi Hona connected with Hoola for Happiness an organization which provides hula hoops to children in India. What a fantastic idea! As a twenty-nine year old woman I still enjoy hula hooping, especially during my travels in India. To bring fun and joy to children in orphanages is such a fantastic idea. It is like Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams, the doctor who believed laughter was the best medicine and distributed it to all his patients. Kusi Hona has also collaborated with Vitamin Angels, which supply vitamins for children under the age of five, and Freeset Global, which offers employment to girls and women trapped in the sex trade of Kolkata. You can buy a t-shirt through Khusi Hona to support Freeset Global.
All in all I really appreciated meeting Matthew and hearing all that he is trying to do in India. It takes a lot of courage and strength to give up all of one's comforts, including one's home, and begin building a better life for others in another country.
Best of luck to you Matthew and all of the wonderful children you are helping!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
KE SAFIYA
KE SAFIYA- Autism Centre
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/KESafiya-Autism-Centre/351946128170440)
Today, my second official day with L’Arche Kerala, known here as Ashaniketan, we spent the afternoon visiting with the folks from KE SAFIYA Autism Centre. It is a school for children with autism. L’Arche is mainly adults. In rare circumstances they offer placements for children, but typically LArche is meant for adults with developmental disabilities. Being around all these energetic children was amazing. I couldn’t help trying to take everything in at every moment. So much life and excitement. Lots of energy put forth by those taking care of all the little kids.
There was one little boy, in particular that I couldn’t help fixating on. This was a difficult task as he wouldn’t stop moving. He would not sit down; there was too much to see and do. He would move from one corner of the building to the complete opposite in a flash. But he didn’t run around. He would move very gently, so much so that his teachers would barely notice that he had left. He was clever in this way; move so you are indistinguishable. Before snack time had officially begun and been distributed he was already walking around the room with a cookie in his hand. Even after everyone had finished their snacks he had located yet another biscuit as he continued to move around. Hilarious! At one point he was twirling a flower around in his hand. I really loved it and tried to capture a photo with my camera. He took great interest in the camera, came over sat right on my lap and took a bunch of photos with the flower. I got a couple of great ones with him too. He liked looking through the photos on my camera. It was probably the only instance where I saw him sit in one place for longer than twenty seconds. What a fabulous little boy!
The afternoon was a delight! KE SAFIYA is incredible. It is a resource centre comprised of a special needs school including vocational education and rehabilitation. KE SAFIYA is set up to have a variety of resources available under one roof as opposed to shifting from centre to centre for testing or other. Part of the aim is to help guide youth at a young age. For example children below four years old will go into the “Early Intervention Service” which focuses on motor skills, cognition, and communication. The Vocational Training centre is pre-vocational training dependent upon abilities. Skills offered include office management, home management, teachers aid, candle and card making.
Other programs KE SAFIYA offers includes parent-infant programs, guidance and counseling programs, audiological evaluations and interventions, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and sensory therapy, among many other options.
I was surprised to see such a far reaching organization here in India, and yes that is partly my narrow mindedness. Compared to Canadian standards occupational and physio therapies are more common but not so much with autistic or developmentally disabled individuals. I worked at a physiotherapy clinic but our clientele was geared towards sports injuries, as there were two Olympic teams located in town and lots of avid skiers. A good friend of mine is studying recreational therapy and has looked into the benefits of this type of therapy with the developmentally disabled, but it is nowhere near mainstream. All this being said I would appreciate this facility if it were in Canada, let alone in Kerala, India.
All in all my experience this afternoon was beyond enjoyable. I was so impressed with KE SAFIYA and would like to visit the facility while I am still in the area. I wish the center the best of luck and success with what they are offering to autistic children.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/KESafiya-Autism-Centre/351946128170440
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/KESafiya-Autism-Centre/351946128170440)
Today, my second official day with L’Arche Kerala, known here as Ashaniketan, we spent the afternoon visiting with the folks from KE SAFIYA Autism Centre. It is a school for children with autism. L’Arche is mainly adults. In rare circumstances they offer placements for children, but typically LArche is meant for adults with developmental disabilities. Being around all these energetic children was amazing. I couldn’t help trying to take everything in at every moment. So much life and excitement. Lots of energy put forth by those taking care of all the little kids.
There was one little boy, in particular that I couldn’t help fixating on. This was a difficult task as he wouldn’t stop moving. He would not sit down; there was too much to see and do. He would move from one corner of the building to the complete opposite in a flash. But he didn’t run around. He would move very gently, so much so that his teachers would barely notice that he had left. He was clever in this way; move so you are indistinguishable. Before snack time had officially begun and been distributed he was already walking around the room with a cookie in his hand. Even after everyone had finished their snacks he had located yet another biscuit as he continued to move around. Hilarious! At one point he was twirling a flower around in his hand. I really loved it and tried to capture a photo with my camera. He took great interest in the camera, came over sat right on my lap and took a bunch of photos with the flower. I got a couple of great ones with him too. He liked looking through the photos on my camera. It was probably the only instance where I saw him sit in one place for longer than twenty seconds. What a fabulous little boy!
The afternoon was a delight! KE SAFIYA is incredible. It is a resource centre comprised of a special needs school including vocational education and rehabilitation. KE SAFIYA is set up to have a variety of resources available under one roof as opposed to shifting from centre to centre for testing or other. Part of the aim is to help guide youth at a young age. For example children below four years old will go into the “Early Intervention Service” which focuses on motor skills, cognition, and communication. The Vocational Training centre is pre-vocational training dependent upon abilities. Skills offered include office management, home management, teachers aid, candle and card making.
Other programs KE SAFIYA offers includes parent-infant programs, guidance and counseling programs, audiological evaluations and interventions, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and sensory therapy, among many other options.
I was surprised to see such a far reaching organization here in India, and yes that is partly my narrow mindedness. Compared to Canadian standards occupational and physio therapies are more common but not so much with autistic or developmentally disabled individuals. I worked at a physiotherapy clinic but our clientele was geared towards sports injuries, as there were two Olympic teams located in town and lots of avid skiers. A good friend of mine is studying recreational therapy and has looked into the benefits of this type of therapy with the developmentally disabled, but it is nowhere near mainstream. All this being said I would appreciate this facility if it were in Canada, let alone in Kerala, India.
All in all my experience this afternoon was beyond enjoyable. I was so impressed with KE SAFIYA and would like to visit the facility while I am still in the area. I wish the center the best of luck and success with what they are offering to autistic children.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/KESafiya-Autism-Centre/351946128170440
Monday, December 17, 2012
Intention and dedication
My Story
Almost five years ago I completed an interdisciplinary bachelors degree in International and Comparative Studies at Huron University College located in London, Ontario. My area of focus was marginalized communities primarily in Latin America. Initially my studies focused on the indigenous peoples of Guatemala and Nicaragua as this group of people have been severely affected from the after affects of civil wars, international development projects, poverty, and are horribly discriminated against through prejudicial subjugation.
After spending a summer living in Choluteca, Honduras and working with developmentally disabled individuals my focus shifted. I discovered that within third world countries those who are not able to contribute to the system of capitalism are deemed useless, or of no use in a struggling economy that is trying to make its‘ mark on the international playing filed. The organization I worked for is called L’Arche (http://www.larche.org/home.en-gb.1.0.index.htm), which bases its identity and mission through an understanding of mutuality practised through community. In essence L’Arche is a group of homes for physically disabled individuals. These individuals, or “core members” are cared for by live-in assistants, choosing to live life through ‘community’.
After L’Arche my whole world changed, in many ways, and for many reasons. Overall I found something I very much connected to, believed in, and stood behind. Upon returning to Canada and completing my studies, I continued working and volunteering with L’Arche in London, Ontario. All the while I had very much taken to heart the meaning of community that L’Arche spouted and was attempting to make such an idea a reality through an “intentional community” with some of my friends and fellow scholastic colleagues. More or less there were a group of us sharing one home, in a neighbourhood community, practising specific values of environmental sustainability, international solidarity, and by living simplistically.
By the end of my undergrad I had worked with developmentally disabled adults and children, both nationally and internationally, travelled to several third world countries to learn about civil wars, human rights abuses, and international development projects, studied the marginalization of targeted groups of peoples including indigenous populations, and low-income families. I had also volunteered for a refugee sponsorship program, hosted, and spoke at, multiple events regarding international development, and mining issues. All the while living in an “intentional” community and trying to uphold some of the values that I had seen, heard, and learned of over the past years. I did a lot. Then I graduated!
After I graduated I did what every person with an undergraduate degree does; make money to pay off student debts. This meant going tree planting. I planted for the summer of 2007 and continued working with L’Arche for nine months. This time on Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley community before moving to Vancouver to look for a job with an NGO and use the knowledge from my undergraduate degree. But things did not go the way I had planned. I did not end up getting a job “in my field”. I kept care-giving, this time working for a private company called Spectrum Society for Community Living (http://www.spectrumfriends.ca/), which supported adults with developmental disabilities in their own homes, as opposed to a group home. In addition to this I also walked dogs and enjoyed the beauty and splendour of British Colombia’s parks and forests. A treat indeed for someone from the province of Ontario.
After a couple of years living in Vancouver I felt called to live in the Albertan Rocky Mountains. A small town, one hour West of Calgary, called Canmore. Canmore was a treat indeed. Despite not being situated in a centre of socio economic issues, that Vancouver provided, I was in the centre of alpine beauty and grandeur. It soothed my soul and gave me the cooling off I needed after living in the fast-paced big city.
I lived in Canmore for about a year’s time before recognizing that it is incredibly expensive to live in such a touristy place. Supporting myself by two jobs I decided to go back tree planting. Referred by a friend this time I chose a different company to work for, Little Smokey Forestry Services (http://littlesmokey.ca/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/). Based out of the Grande Prairie area Little Smokey is a fantastic company, with unique planting contracts in both the oil sector in the tar sands of Alberta, and with a carbon farmer who offsets carbon emissions by planting trees (http://www.thecarbonfarmer.ca/).
Now, after my second season with Little Smokey, third season overall, I had the finances to escape the Canadian the winter and travel. This brings us to today where I am sitting in New Delhi, India writing about my life and what has brought me here. My first goal while travelling around India was to write; a creative pursuit I do not give myself the luxury of in Canada. India has given me much inspiration and motivation to put words to paper and share all of the amazing things I am seeing and experiencing with my friends and family. Over the course of this process I had a brilliant idea; to write specifically about the ways in which social justice is still relevant and active in my life. Since my undergrad degree, as mentioned, I have had many different types of work, different jobs, different opportunities and experiences. None of which, I felt, were directly related to social justice, or supported the topics I studied and deeply cared about. For example I thought that I would land a job “in my field” working for an NGO; aiding a grassroots project, and ultimately helping the people I had studied about. But this wasn’t the case. I felt very let down, by myself, for not pushing through, trying harder, and landing this dream job within the field of social justice. However I have come to this reality; there is no dream job within social justice because it is not the dream we are aiming for. The injustice, atrocities, inequalities, and basic human suffering that exists will never be a dream; it is a nightmare. Rather what I want to strive for is social justice as a daily practice. It is daily work to be conscious, aware, thoughtful and considerate of all peoples in this world. It is the efforts we can contribute in the everyday that make the difference, and to change the nightmare into something a little more liveable. Daily practise allows us to be “the change we wish to see in the world”. I think that is the most important and effective form of social justice.
This blog is a means of sharing my experiences of social justice. Through travel, opportunities, different organizations, or peoples I have encountered I want to showcase how I am able to practice social justice in daily life and how it is always possible to live a live of social awareness. More so this blog is dedicated to a dear friend of mine, whom we lost over three years ago. She was the epitome of someone who practiced social justice in her everyday life; whether at home, at work, or in her neighborhood community. She constantly inspires and motivates me to be the best person I can be and to live a life that is meaningful, thoughtful, and true to our humanity. I love you dear Lotus Blossom. May your spirit forever live on.
Almost five years ago I completed an interdisciplinary bachelors degree in International and Comparative Studies at Huron University College located in London, Ontario. My area of focus was marginalized communities primarily in Latin America. Initially my studies focused on the indigenous peoples of Guatemala and Nicaragua as this group of people have been severely affected from the after affects of civil wars, international development projects, poverty, and are horribly discriminated against through prejudicial subjugation.
After spending a summer living in Choluteca, Honduras and working with developmentally disabled individuals my focus shifted. I discovered that within third world countries those who are not able to contribute to the system of capitalism are deemed useless, or of no use in a struggling economy that is trying to make its‘ mark on the international playing filed. The organization I worked for is called L’Arche (http://www.larche.org/home.en-gb.1.0.index.htm), which bases its identity and mission through an understanding of mutuality practised through community. In essence L’Arche is a group of homes for physically disabled individuals. These individuals, or “core members” are cared for by live-in assistants, choosing to live life through ‘community’.
After L’Arche my whole world changed, in many ways, and for many reasons. Overall I found something I very much connected to, believed in, and stood behind. Upon returning to Canada and completing my studies, I continued working and volunteering with L’Arche in London, Ontario. All the while I had very much taken to heart the meaning of community that L’Arche spouted and was attempting to make such an idea a reality through an “intentional community” with some of my friends and fellow scholastic colleagues. More or less there were a group of us sharing one home, in a neighbourhood community, practising specific values of environmental sustainability, international solidarity, and by living simplistically.
By the end of my undergrad I had worked with developmentally disabled adults and children, both nationally and internationally, travelled to several third world countries to learn about civil wars, human rights abuses, and international development projects, studied the marginalization of targeted groups of peoples including indigenous populations, and low-income families. I had also volunteered for a refugee sponsorship program, hosted, and spoke at, multiple events regarding international development, and mining issues. All the while living in an “intentional” community and trying to uphold some of the values that I had seen, heard, and learned of over the past years. I did a lot. Then I graduated!
After I graduated I did what every person with an undergraduate degree does; make money to pay off student debts. This meant going tree planting. I planted for the summer of 2007 and continued working with L’Arche for nine months. This time on Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley community before moving to Vancouver to look for a job with an NGO and use the knowledge from my undergraduate degree. But things did not go the way I had planned. I did not end up getting a job “in my field”. I kept care-giving, this time working for a private company called Spectrum Society for Community Living (http://www.spectrumfriends.ca/), which supported adults with developmental disabilities in their own homes, as opposed to a group home. In addition to this I also walked dogs and enjoyed the beauty and splendour of British Colombia’s parks and forests. A treat indeed for someone from the province of Ontario.
After a couple of years living in Vancouver I felt called to live in the Albertan Rocky Mountains. A small town, one hour West of Calgary, called Canmore. Canmore was a treat indeed. Despite not being situated in a centre of socio economic issues, that Vancouver provided, I was in the centre of alpine beauty and grandeur. It soothed my soul and gave me the cooling off I needed after living in the fast-paced big city.
I lived in Canmore for about a year’s time before recognizing that it is incredibly expensive to live in such a touristy place. Supporting myself by two jobs I decided to go back tree planting. Referred by a friend this time I chose a different company to work for, Little Smokey Forestry Services (http://littlesmokey.ca/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/). Based out of the Grande Prairie area Little Smokey is a fantastic company, with unique planting contracts in both the oil sector in the tar sands of Alberta, and with a carbon farmer who offsets carbon emissions by planting trees (http://www.thecarbonfarmer.ca/).
Now, after my second season with Little Smokey, third season overall, I had the finances to escape the Canadian the winter and travel. This brings us to today where I am sitting in New Delhi, India writing about my life and what has brought me here. My first goal while travelling around India was to write; a creative pursuit I do not give myself the luxury of in Canada. India has given me much inspiration and motivation to put words to paper and share all of the amazing things I am seeing and experiencing with my friends and family. Over the course of this process I had a brilliant idea; to write specifically about the ways in which social justice is still relevant and active in my life. Since my undergrad degree, as mentioned, I have had many different types of work, different jobs, different opportunities and experiences. None of which, I felt, were directly related to social justice, or supported the topics I studied and deeply cared about. For example I thought that I would land a job “in my field” working for an NGO; aiding a grassroots project, and ultimately helping the people I had studied about. But this wasn’t the case. I felt very let down, by myself, for not pushing through, trying harder, and landing this dream job within the field of social justice. However I have come to this reality; there is no dream job within social justice because it is not the dream we are aiming for. The injustice, atrocities, inequalities, and basic human suffering that exists will never be a dream; it is a nightmare. Rather what I want to strive for is social justice as a daily practice. It is daily work to be conscious, aware, thoughtful and considerate of all peoples in this world. It is the efforts we can contribute in the everyday that make the difference, and to change the nightmare into something a little more liveable. Daily practise allows us to be “the change we wish to see in the world”. I think that is the most important and effective form of social justice.
This blog is a means of sharing my experiences of social justice. Through travel, opportunities, different organizations, or peoples I have encountered I want to showcase how I am able to practice social justice in daily life and how it is always possible to live a live of social awareness. More so this blog is dedicated to a dear friend of mine, whom we lost over three years ago. She was the epitome of someone who practiced social justice in her everyday life; whether at home, at work, or in her neighborhood community. She constantly inspires and motivates me to be the best person I can be and to live a life that is meaningful, thoughtful, and true to our humanity. I love you dear Lotus Blossom. May your spirit forever live on.
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