We work with an organization called 1M1B. 1M1B is an organization that aims to teach leadership skills to teenagers and then asks them to apply these skills to create a project aligned to the United Nations sustainable development goals.
Our aim as a team is to achieve greater acceptance in our society and prevent religious, regional, and racial discrimination, aligned to SDG 10, Reduced Inequality.
1. Tell us more about yourself and your life.
Saachi Chennur, Adarsh Chittimoori, and me(Aaria Chandwani) were students in Chirec international till last year. We have just completed grade 10 boards in February. Saachi is a singer and plays the violin, she is entering an art school next year in California, the US to pursue her dream. Adarsh is extremely funny and keeps our sessions lively, he is continuing in Chirec.
I (Aaria) enjoy dancing and English, so I try and apply my English interest towards our project by writing a research paper that is coming out soon and planning the blog page. Three of us are have become close friends over the year and work together to increase acceptance in our society.
2. What led you to the creation of The Lighthouse?
We work with an organization called 1M1B. 1M1B is an organization that aims to teach leadership skills to teenagers and then asks them to apply these skills to create a project aligned to the United Nations sustainable development goals. Our aim as a team is to achieve greater acceptance in our society and prevent religious, regional, and racial discrimination, aligned to SDG 10, Reduced Inequality.
We joined this organization in Grade nine and initially, all of us took different paths, but we conducted interviews with around 50 people and when we learned that even a young boy in our very own community was being discriminated we chose this aim without hesitation.
3. What is that one causes your organization cares deeply about and why?
How to reduce cultural, religious, and regional discrimination by helping the youth connect across communities and countries. And be more accepting of their differences. As I mentioned before, we chose to work towards this cause because we were shocked that even in modern society with advanced mindsets, people still differentiate and discriminate based on color, a piece of clothing, or even religion.
We heard stories of how our own family and friends were discriminated against based on their religion. Our helpers informed us of how they are treated differently in their colony because of their religion, and as soon as we learned heard these stories we passionately wanted to stop this irrational behavior.
4. If one wants to contribute and make a difference in social causes, how can one do it?
We believe it's really simple to make a difference. We're just 15-year-olds and we've been able to affect over 100 people directly and over 1000 indirectly. For a cause like equality, communication is key. Talk to people you have been afraid to because of religion or race, make friends, and automatically these fears mindsets tend to disappear. You don't have to start a project, talk to your family and friends, and read about it.
It's simpler than you think. We ask everyone we come across to perform this simple activity- We would request that today all of you reach out to one person different than you and have a discussion on how to promote diversity in your workplaces or in your homes. That one conversation can contribute to the space you live in. Do support us on social media and definitely connect with us to make an impact!
5. What impact does your organization aim for in the near future?
We want to help teenagers tackle discrimination and replace their fear with acceptance. We try to build a community of more open-minded people who generate a positive response to diversity. We emphasize three main ways to form this response: school sessions, International sessions, and interviews with influencers.
For the school sessions, we spread awareness and make them more conscious of their thought process through hypothetical situations. What was majorly voiced was students were generally willing to open up about their personal experiences. Because it is a global issue, we connected with countries outside of India. Our Indo-Pak and philippine session included talking about things we have in common to help them realize how we are able to connect despite our differences.
Our volunteers are trained to continue our sessions for our future plans, and we are starting school sessions in multiple other cities. We will also continue our interview series and our blogs to ensure we reach an audience we cannot connect with personally.
We have begun planning out research papers and a website to continue growing our reach. Lastly, once the pandemic calms down we want to reach people from government schools and aim at students who do not have access to gain awareness from other sources like social media.
6. What are some of the challenges and roadblocks you have faced along your journey?
The major issue we often had was that some individuals became rigid when we introduced our project. With our young age already being an obstacle, the sensitivity of the topic made it harder to convince people it is essential for our community to learn and gain awareness about these topics. Over this course, however, we grew as individuals.
All the mentoring sessions from 1M1B helped us learn the importance of small things like storytelling and knowing your facts. Our communication and social outreach skills have visibly improved over time, as we now watch ourselves speak to professionals and journalists without missing a beat. Initially, we worked on other projects but the 1M1B team assisted and guided us and we finally found what all of us were passionate about.
7. What did you do in your current role that makes you feel really proud of yourself?
We personally are proud that we are able to talk to the youth from multiple countries and learn about other cultures. We cannot believe that we got a chance to overcome social stigmas and talk to people from Pakistan and not only play games but make friends from other cultures.
Interviewed By: Nishad Kinhikar
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