Internship Project Title - Stories of Inclusion
Inclusion is Belonging
Empathy is an essential ingredient in our story of inclusion. True belonging comes from an open and vulnerable heart space.
Diary Entry 1
Self- isolation gives a lot of time to ruminate and observe things and people around. Coronavirus hit the world. I like that no one thought the whole world would plunge into the waves of reclusiveness. I am a reticent person and for me thoughts and words sound better when penned down. The globe is not only facing an economic and political crisis but a dearth of emotional stability too. Lockdown has been a personal journey, a journey from within. Emotional competence has been affected largely. Zoom calls and Google hangouts have illuminated us regarding the gravity of human connection.
Most of us are privileged enough to reside with our families, it has enlightened me how life completes a full circle when parents unconsciously demand for love and attention. I go out for a morning stroll with my mother, usually she recounts the bits and pieces of her dreams, she absolutely adores gardening and I often catch her talking to her plants and our dogs. We often play UNO around 11 am, my father regularly messes up the rules and we have to explain the game all over again.
The dewdrops that hang like trinkets of silver on the corner of the grass, the silhouette of the mountains in the night sky.
I have recently fathomed how little things like breathing, holding hands, embracing people, helping each other, or sharing the last piece of chocolate adds final touch to our individuality.
Covid 19: A Defining Moment in our Story of Inclusion
“...the biggest enemy in this epidemic is not the virus, we can deal with the virus. The biggest enemy is the inner demons and our hatreds...they are all coming up....”
- Yuval Noah Harari
Corona Virus pandemic has brought the world on its knees. The rapid spread of the disease has put the whole of the humanity under a lockdown. Fear is reigning in every sphere of life. Social distancing being the only most effective way of curbing the spread of the virus, has left people isolated in their homes.
There is a deep impact on the mental health due to the loss of human connections, on people all across the globe.
The need to interact socially and to have diverse experiences is an undeniable factor to live an enriched life. However the lurking fear of the virus that kills ruthlessly, will perhaps see a world closing doors on its overseas guests, in times to come. In India, already the plight of the migrant workers and the communal discord has made the situation worse beyond comprehension. These stories of human trauma will come back to haunt us in the future.
This brings us to certain pertinent questions about how the world and India will define its story of Inclusion. This also makes us question the effect of accepting diversity wholeheartedly and building strong communities to see us through this unprecedented crises. It is time to cross the class, religious, caste, race, colour and all kinds of barriers to find ways to heal ourselves, our communities, our social fabric, our nation and our world.
It is a collective trauma and it is a collective responsibility to come together and redefine our ideas, beliefs and perceptions about each other, to find a way ahead. We have been presented with an opportunity to see through the dysfunctions that have kept us separate, for a long time. It is a perfect time to sieve what is important for us and what has kept our existence small, what are the issues which are more pressing and need our undivided attention; like human connections, climate change, healthcare, cooperation amongst people and nations, and building harmony.
- Understanding the importance of human interactions/inclusion in the society.
- Understanding psychological impact of isolation
- Understanding the importance of community bonds and inclusion in moving ahead to combat Covid-19.
- Understanding ‘global cooperation’, the way ahead to fight the pandemic.
Objectives
Internship Project Title - Trace Your Family History
Family is the most important aspect of human life. It lays the foundation for a person’s cultural heritage. When we connect to our family history we are taking a journey into our past and backgrounds. We are trying to understand where we come from, what has shaped us into the people that we are today. It is an attempt to understand ourselves better in order to understand the world around us better. We need to gain clarity about what are the cultural aspects that affect us and our behaviour. Do they lend us any prejudices or belief systems or stereotypes that shape our reality towards other people. It is in short an inward journey that we commit to when we explore our family history.
Why trace the family history?
It helps us understand ourselves better, our values and beliefs that impact our behavior. At the same time when we see the world through the prism of our own beliefs, it can lead to projection. This means we expect the world to be the way we have learnt about it. Recording the family history is an effective tool to preserve and retain oral histories of families, people and events. Details which maybe nowhere accounted for, can be tapped into and retained.
Internship Project Title - Acceptance of Multicultural Diversity
Discrimination, as its official definitions states, is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. Discrimination can come in all forms and can effect anyone, but it mostly targets racial minorities, black, brown and lgbtq+ communties and disabled people. In this case study, I will present the facts about discrimination and how people of different ethnicities face it.
