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I've realized with time that the development sector gives you a lot of hope and opportunities to try, test, and experiment with ideas. The key is that you should be willing to do it.
Earlier this month I completed 11 joyous years in the development sector. These eleven years have taught me one key aspect about the Development Sector – that you can change the world by taking one step at a time, by changing one life at a time. In this tenure, I’ve worked very closely with rural artisans and refugees across India.
Across all organizations where I worked, I’ve initiated new programs such as Entrepreneurship Development Training and Social Entrepreneurship.
Today, I would like to highlight my top 4 learnings from my professional journey that will encourage an aspiring change agent to create impact.
I’m fortunate that I studied Social Work as theory was sorted in the wonderful two years at DSSW. The integration of theory into practice is achieved only with perseverance.
It takes at least three years for a fresher to set foot in the sector amidst rigid mindsets of people and most importantly one’s fears and expectations. Thus taking one day/one project at a time and keeping an open mindset is extremely important.
Ultimately your perseverance will win in the end and you will see a light at the end of the tunnel
I’ve come across many who has ‘Fixed Mindsets’ clubbed with ‘Know it All’ attitude, which I feel is the end to learning.
The development sector gives many avenues to try new things and in the process explore your strengths and weaknesses. There is just so much knowledge out there that one should be open to learning from one another and not taking others as competition
This is done and tested at so many occassions, such as, initiating Entrepreneurship Development Training with rural artisans; forming the first ever Refugee Social Enterprise – ILHAM Afghan Cuisine; and launching the MADE 51 Chapter in India.
I’ve realized with time that the development sector gives you a lot of hope and opportunities to try, test, and experiment with ideas. The key is that you should be willing to do it.
My venture ILHAM would not be existing today had I not ‘experimented’ at the Weekend stall at Dastkar at Crossing Boundaries exhibition back in 2015.
This has been the best learning for me. Everyone is fearful to enter a new domain, to leave the comfort zone, start something new, to work with communities and people around etc. But at the end, fighting your own fears and giving yourself the chance to explore your courage and limitations is the need of the hour. Thus, believing in yourself will lead you towards courage.
At the end, I will quote Khalil Gibran, to sum up my journey: “The river needs to take the risk of entering the Ocean, because only then will the fear disappear, because that’s where the river will know it’s not about disappearing into the ocean but of becoming the Ocean”. #grateful
Aditi has been working in the impact sector for more than a decade and has a breadth of experience in education, arts, livelihoods, and global migration. Her expertise lies in developing, leading, implementing and monitoring read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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