A Lot of Phone Calls

College
1) Talked to Texas Tech Honors College
2) Talked to UTSA admissions office

Thesis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk with Mentor:

• There is a course facilitated by Omprakash that helps with the "God complex" westerners might have.
• Mentor will send me more information later.
• 12 week college-level course
• Talk and connect with demographics already living in India
• Talk to woman's groups already formed in colleges
• NGOs
• add value; don't be redundant. 
• include them in the program. talk and interview their concerns
• Connections
• Chaaya Chaubey (aunt): Ph.D at New Delhi University
• Tell cousins to look out for woman's rights programs at their colleges
• Talk to Omprakash connected people
• Budgeting
• Excel Budget
• Do it in dollars
• Leave cushion with money
• Launch Kickstarter
• Presentation
• How the workshops will work
• How many people are involved and affected 
• My presentation that I will show the people there
• Invitations
• Interviews 
• Progress
• Budgeting (Kick Starter)
• Connections
• What's Next?

Thanks Kelly Rula for all the help! We'll talk soon for sure.

Exercise for Women

Address:
“Gardenia”, Vasant Valley Complex,
Near Dindoshi Bus Depot,
Goregaon - East
Mumbai - 400063

Phone 1:+91 - 22 - 28491950
Phone 2:+91 - 22 - 40032821

There is a Gold's Gym in all the locations where I want to do a workshop. They provide trainers and are really close to the colleges. I will try to get everyone who comes to the workshop to get a free membership for a year to Gold's Gym. I will try to contact them this weekend. 

"Certified trainers are available to guide members through specialized programs. Personal trainers guide, motivate and make sure the member adheres to their program. The trainers are constantly updated on latest techniques through visiting Gold’s Gym trainers."

http://www.goldsgymindia.com/facilities.asp

http://books.google.com/books?id=UuYHDRCdKQkC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=is+exercise+encouraged+for+women+in+india?&source=bl&ots=GlmheV3SDP&sig=xUJ7UXnvgXUHuVU1V27QG1kwNyU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=939vVPydEMymNsD9gsgK&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false

Locations

University of Calcutta

Hockey, cricket, and tennis are only for men on the campus. There is no gym in the college. 

Research Officer, Women Studies Research Centre - 
Dr.(Smt.) Kankana Sengupta 
M.A., Ph.D.Off.: 2479-1645 (Extn. 339)

Superintendent, Calcutta University Press - 
Shri Pradip Kumar Ghosh
B.Sc., Dip. in Printing TechnologyOff.: 2475-9466.

Vice-Chancellor - Prof. Suranjan Das (Click here for Curriculum Vitae) M.A., (Cal), D.Phil. (Oxon)	Off.: 2241-3288,
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs -  Prof. Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay M.Sc., Ph.D., FNASc, FAScT, FASc	Off : 2257-1470,

Vidyasagar University

Phones : +91 - 3222 - 276554, 276555, 276557, 276558

http://www.vidyasagar.ac.in/CentreCell/WomenStudies.aspx

They do not have well developed sports or a gym. Also, the workshops the college does is for the local women, not for female students and faculty.

St. Xavier's College in Calcutta

http://www.sxccal.edu/

+91 95554 34867

They do not have a gym as well. Also, there is no concept such as "tryouts." Anyone who wants to participate, can. There is no encouragement in the college for women or men to participate in sports. 

These three colleges have branches in Calcutta, Delhi, and Mumbai. The colleges I listed above are just the prestigious colleges I chose based in Calcutta. I believe these are the right locations because the colleges are a vital part of a community. Also, if the students and staff from nearby colleges are invited, they can take this knowledge to the colleges they teach or live in. 

I have decided to contact the Women and Gender Studies Officer in each college to ask permission to hold workshops.

That was it for today!

 

Insecurity

“I want to urge you all to start campaign to educate girl students in self defense. At the age of seven or so, every girl in school should be put through a compulsory self-defence training program which should continue till class 10,” said Bassi.

This is what the Delhi Police commissioner suggested in July. He suggests to replace the less important and repeated subjects such as Poly Sci and Sociology during early years with mandatory self defense classes. By the time the girl is in 10th grade, she should be a black belt. One of the key takeaway from the great gang rape was that many rape cases were hidden due to reluctance from the victim herself. The victim thought the rape was her fault because she could not run away or fight back. The victims choose not to report the cases due to embarrassment and a feeling of failure. However, if women were trained, they would not feel this helpless. Even if rape were to occur, they would definitely report and proper measurements would be taken. 

However, many cases prove that self defense is not enough. 

PRECAUTIONS MUST BE TAKEN.

• Pepper spray
• Emergency Speed Dial
• A map or proper knowledge of a location
• Educate men to treat women with respect
• Proper shoes
• Not too much jewelry

There is no such thing as being "too safe."

Education does not prevent attack

According to Wall Street Journal - India, domestic violence is a greater threat when women are educated or more educated than her family members. By gaining an education, women "threaten" their father's, brother's, or husband's dominant status. Women who earn and are not dependent on their spouses have a higher chance of getting a divorce. Even if the divorce happens, the woman is supposed to stay put, while the man can continue his normal life. "Ms. Weitzman’s is one of several recent studies that shows a correlation between domestic violence and women’s empowerment in India — and evincing the underside of growing gender equality. "

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/09/10/be-well-behaved-indian-police-tell-women/

This proves that my method is somewhat better than my previous ideas of educating poor women. Education will not stop men from attacking, but self-defense and physical activity will definitely keep a woman safe.

Kickstarter

I talked to the co-Founder of Pratham - USA over the long weekend. His name is Yogi Patel, and he agreed to be my judge when the time comes. He introduced me to "Read-a-thon" online, and told me to use it to raise money for my project. Also, he helped me start my own kick starter. I want to add a video on my Kickstarter page so donors could have a visual of my project. I started working on a photo album for the page and researching statistics of domestic violence, rape, abuse, acid attacks, and illiteracy of women in India. I have contacted the founder of Stop Acid Attacks, but I still have not heard back from him. I am writing my mission statement and goals for the Kickstarter. Today, I worked on some of the statements and technical additions to my Kickstarter page. After the page is mostly complete, I will encourage others to visit my page through social media.

Some similar programs I found:

DARE program:

1. To teach Avoidance of first Hostile Intrusion (To avoid Hostile situations)
2. To Teach Verbal & Eye Response to Hostile Intrusion (When he comes uncomfortably close)
3. To Teach Reaction to First Physical Contact. (When he grabs your hand)
4. To Teach Use of Force to Counter Aggression. (When he starts using force)
5. To Teach Defense Tactics to Sexual Assault. (When tries to tear your clothes) 
6.  To Teach Survival & Escape Maneuvers in attempted Rape. (When he tries to penetrate)
7. To Teach a Fitness Program for Surviving Adversity. (The Exercises to get fit in a short time)
8. To educate about Legal perspectives in Sexual offense (The Law & what is to be done)

The program's goal is to introduce women to real life adverse situations. 

Another on the news: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indians-fight-fear-of-rape-with-pepper-spray-a-ladies-gun-and-self-defense-classes/2014/02/14/b8669cc6-93cd-11e3-9e13-770265cf4962_story.html
 

Scholarships and More!

I worked on three essays for a scholars program at Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill. I also watched a movie called "Mardaani" over the weekend and am writing a summary over the movie's theme and plot. The movie is about an Indian woman police officer who tries to find Pyaari (her daughter's friend) who has been sex trafficked. The story is based on facts. It describes how the girls are kidnapped, how the whole trafficking system works, and how the leaders of this disgusting project bypass security and laws. This movie inspired me to start a new blog or write a story in diary form. That was all for today.