Swechha - We for change

The “Youth Yatra for Reflection and Action for Change” brought together 24 participants from four different countries to share knowledge and experience on issues pertaining to youth, culture and environment. The purpose was to create changemakers and future leaders who would strive to make others as well their own lives worthwhile. Funded by the European Union, the Youth Yatra was supported by the British Council in collaboration with partner organizations of the four participating countries namely, Unltd (United Kingdom), Alliansii (Finland), Sarvodaya Shramadan Movement (Sri Lanka) and Swechha. The 24 participants epitomized diversity in all its hues and manifestations. Besides representing different nationalities, they brought along different ideas, perspectives and professional expertise and at times even stereotypes and assumptions. While some were community level workers, there were others who were activists and researchers. The essence of Youth Yatra was activism. Engagement of young people in this program had a greater social purpose of providing them with a springboard for action in the future.

Context

In this era of globalization, life has become synonymous with amassing articles of snob value, wearing Gucci or Armani, owning the latest electronic gadgets or jetting off for an exotic European holiday. We are all enslaved to ‘desire’ which is growing at monstrous pace in this ridiculously complicated world of market economies and the satiation of these desires has become the raison d’etre of our lives. The Youth Yatra gave the 24 yatris the space for critical thinking, self introspection and inter cultural learning in a world which is fast becoming more exclusive and individualistic.

Objectives

To facilitate a dialogue between partners for inter-cultural exchange on youth leadership & life skills, capacity-building, and other issues pertaining to society, economy, politics and culture.
The project aimed to instil in the participants, the realization, that they are the building blocks of the future and therefore have to shoulder the responsibility to make their societies and the world better.
To understand River Systems and water challenges the world over and their importance for communities living in their vicinity and further afield, through the experience of Yamuna Yatra (journey on the river Yamuna).
To share good practice, experience, and learning by exchange of grass-root experiences and anecdotes – further influencing youth initiatives for development.
To develop a dissemination module, with appropriate learning materials, on issues pertaining to environment, conflict resolution, identity, peace, arts and expressions, activism and youth work.
The program initiated the ‘uninitiated’ into the development sector. It gave the participants a platform to act upon the knowledge and information gained during the programme.

Activities

The essence of Youth Yatra was innovation in learning, through experience, observation, interaction and reflection. Combined with the conventional method of lectures, seminars and presentations, a number of unconventional and creative methods were adopted to make the whole experience unique.

Sri Lanka Orientation

A 3-day orientation workshop was held from 13-16 March 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The idea was to familiarize the participants with each other and the project and to give them a glimpse of a society and culture ravaged by ethnic conflict for more than two decades.

India Orientation

The India orientation from 17-19 March 2007, aimed at familiarizing the participants with the cultural landscape of the country, and to help them understand the ecological footprints of India, to build capacities and social skills and to strengthen a spirit of teamwork among the young change makers.

Yamuna Yatra

This was a 12 day journey from 20-31 March 2007, along the several banks of river Yamuna where the participants traced the origin of Yamuna from Yamunotri (Uttarakhand, a northern state in India) to Agra (Uttar Pradesh). They witnessed the transformation of the river from being untouched and clean to a garbage-industrial waste dump. During this journey, workshops, training sessions and modules were conducted to encourage participants to engage in a dialogue, to exchange views and to discuss their own development experiences. The Yamuna Yatra touched upon the ecological aspects of development, as well as a broad range of themes like culture, religion, rural-urban divide, education and modernization.

Learning Library

The learning library from 2-9 April 2007, was a time when the participants came together to dwell on the learning of the orientation workshops and Yamuna Yatra. It helped the participants to reflect, analyse and exploit the knowledge and learning gained during the Yatra. More practically, it enabled them to develop material to take forward their action plan and to engage in real ground work.

Dissemination of Information, Learning and Knowledge

To carry forward the learning from Youth Yatra and to disseminate the information, knowledge and experience gained from the programme, each country team conducted 24 workshops, organized two dissemination events and produced a minimum of 12 media articles or reportages.

Exclusive Website and Blog

The programme has an exclusive website (www.youthyatra.in) to disseminate information about the programme to a global audience. The website contains information about the programme starting from its context and rationale to its objectives, achievements and background information on the participants. In addition, the website provides a link to the Youth Yatra blog where the participants write about their recent projects and engagements or express views on national and international issues.

Film on Youth Yatra

Yatra: Journey of a Lifetime a 31- minute long documentary was also developed as part of the programme. It captures the essence of Youth Yatra and explores dilemmas of young people around issues of identity, stereotypes and environment. It also documents the change in the River Yamuna as the participants travelled along the river from its source to the end.

Photo Gallery

Video Streaming

Get Involved

Youth Yatra is one of its kind in the world where young people from different walks of life came together to discuss and debate issues of “youth, culture and environment” that usually get skirted. It managed to build the capacities of the participants to make a positive difference to the society.So far, the programme has benefited more than 5000 young people from various youth organizations, civil society groups, media, schools and colleges in the United Kingdom, India, Sri Lanka and Finland through workshops, presentations, events and activities conducted by the Youth Yatra participants. In addition, the media articles written by the participants have also been widely read and though it is difficult to quantify the impact of the media articles and reports, one can confidently state that these media articles have gone a long way in sensitizing people about the gamut of issues and views that Youth Yatra raised. The biggest achievement of the programme is learning from it is not tokenistic and in practice, the dissemination process will continue well into the future. Many participants have already planned follow-up activities that would include embedding the learning from Youth Yatra into their respective communities and promoting change within different groups through workshops, encouraging communities to be active, writing letters to key policy makers and campaigning for more action.

Donate Now!
Donate for a cause and make a diference in someone's life.

Volunteer
Rise up to the occassion when you're needed the most.

Intern
Participate in our internship programs.

Home About Us What we do What you can do Resources Press News & Events Contact Us