Last Blog Post. Maybe.

I took screen shots of all my emails with my judges and mentors. I heard back from all my judges. I have all the forms and papers and documents; I just need to organize it all. Everything is due tomorrow.

It was a good thesis. Thank you to everyone, especially Mr.Correa, for making this all possible. I could not have done it without you. 

Abstract

I finished my abstract today. I need to get Correa's signature today for the hard copy cover sheet.

I also need to explain to him the issue of my product. Alrighty! Bye. 

Process Records and Paper

I am almost done with my process paper. I am building off my midterm and the after effects of my presentation. I included some questions I was asked during my presentation and some responses to my survey questions. I mention my product and how I come to this point. I start from the very beginning of the year and work my way up. My mid-term paper helped a lot with this. It reminded me of what I was trying to do without having to scroll all the way through my blog posts.

I am also taking screen shots of my emails and communications and taking pictures of my hard copy surveys. I need to also add in the photos from my presentation since it was off campus on a weekend. My product will also be on the same memory chip. They are clips of the debate.

That's what I am currently doing. I am not looking forward to organizing all these documents. 

EdGE Week 12

This was the last week of the course.

It summarized safety, organization, volunteerism, and pre-departure advice! I can say that this was honestly a very helpful course. Before the course, I was not aware of how much goes on in abroad volunteering. This course gave me an unbiased view of social problems that would be hard to comprehend if I jumped straight into volunteering abroad without all this prior knowledge. I also completed a survey judging the course. The survey was well put together. It asked a lot of questions about the administration, the team, the mentors, the different subjects in the course, the concentrations, and the resources and links and videos within each week during the course. At the end of the week, there was celebratory music and a tutorial on how to blog through the Omprakash Dashboard.

I have to regularly keep up with my mentor, who is Barclay Martin. She is so sweet and funny. I have Skype called and emailed her a couple of times. I am currently asking her for help on coming up with ideas for my Capstone Project. I have to turn this in 8 weeks within coming back. I want to have a firm idea of what i want to create before I leave for my trip. Also, I have to book my flight ticket from Delhi to Varanasi.

I just completed the whole week today. It was a fairly short lesson and wrap-up.

EdGE Week 11

Exercise: ROP (Record of Perspectives) Practice

This week may require you to step out of your comfort zone, but you each have voluntarily chosen to go work in a foreign country for a few months, so now's a great time to practice stepping out of that comfort zone!

1.Just like last week, pick a venue where other people are hanging out -- it could be a coffee shop, the library, the cafeteria, etc. -- and take some time to record fieldnotes about what you observe.

2. Then solicit the perspective of at least one other person at your chosen venue. For example, if you're at a coffee shop choose somebody or a group of people (maybe other customers or baristas or anybody of interest), approach them, and ask if he/she/they will answer a few questions for a class project. You don't need to conduct an interview. 2 or 3 questions will suffice. In a coffee shop you might ask: "what does 'fair trade coffee' mean to you?" or "would you rather have a delicious cup of non-fair trade coffee or a bland/mediocre cup of fair trade coffee, and why?" In a cafeteria you might ask diners, "how much food waste do you think is generated in this cafeteria each day?" Then you might ask a cafeteria worker, "what do you think of all the foodwaste that's thrown away each day?" In a library you might ask, "do you feel like the library provides you with a sense of community?" or "if the library caught on fire and you could save books from only one genre, what would you save and why?" Your questions do not need to be of grave importance, but try to ask questions that could directly or indirectly shed light on a relevant issue, or a sense of community, or a sense of power.

3. Post your mini ROP into the forum!

My post: 

I went to the library cafe this weekend. I asked people why they hang out with the people they hang out with. 

First person 

(name: Stephanie): I hang out with Lexie because she's awesome. Just kidding. Just kidding again. She is a good influence. She drags me here and suggests books for me to read. She has probably read everything in the sci-fi section of this library. 

Lexie: She's my neighbor and the library is close by. I just want to utilize all my resources. If not here, we would be doing something else to waste our time. This is a better waste of time.

Next table:

(first person): I come here with my boyfriend. My best friend's boyfriend is my boyfriend's best friend. It's a great group overall. We don't actually go to the library. We come through the cafe entrance and just hang out. It is a good place to catch up.

(first person's boyfriend): I like her because she is usually right. She told me not to wish for coconut pie on the ride here. When I came here, they didn't have any coconut pie made. I was less disappointed. 

*whole group laughs*

(other friend's boyfriend): I like this group. I think I met her (his girlfriend) here as well. We knew each other from before, but we didn't like each other like that. She's a cool person, though. She has watched all of Star Trek and Star Wars. That's my type of girl.

Last group of people:

Serena: I just met her. She was alone and the tables were all clean. I go to North Lake College. It's the community college nearby. The cafe inside gets really crowded, so I come here. 

The other girl: I come here for the same reason. The kids inside the library are really loud. I check out my books and come here. I just wish the wi-fi was better. I think it is better inside. 

Serena: I have to go. Thanks for letting me sit here (to the other girl).

That was it. The library and cafe were about to close in half an hour anyways. I had to leave. It was fun. I wish I had more time to observe people coming in and walking out and talk to more people. Maybe, next time. 

Presentation Continued

I am working on my process paper right now.

My judges did not have time to complete the scoring sheets. I emailed them, and they have agreed to return the sheets and judge profile forms back to me by April 24th.

I took 10.4 GB worth of videos of my presentation. I have to figure out a way to store 10.4 GB somewhere. I am working on editing the video on "Movie Maker" so I can show it to Mr.Correa and give it to IANT to put on their Facebook page and website. I might create a "Sheroes and Heroes Unite" Facebook page as well before the end of this school year. IANT took some photos of me speaking and the debate. I can send those photos in for the time being.

I also sent a survey to an IANT board member. They have agreed to include it for free in their weekly newsletters. I want to know, honestly, how much my product helped or will help my ultimate goal: address gender disparity and work towards gender equality everywhere. I want to know where to improve and what to keep the same.

Survey

(Y/N)

1. Was this empowering?

2. Does this type of forum (Sheroes and Heroes Unite) help?

3. Can it make a difference?

4. Is the radio idea a good one?

5. Should we do these types of debates again?

6. Will you recommend others to come to this event next time it happens?

7. Is this what you expected?

8. Are you interested in being part of an online forum? 

Free Response

Speak Again (email me at rubyopandey@gmail.com or message me on Facebook “Ruby Pandey” or email any one of these lovely IANT women and they can forward the email to me)

What did you learn today?

What should be changed? (Removed or added)

How much should the youth be involved? 

Overview of my Presentation

Presentation time: around 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

About 40 people attended

So I started my presentation with a slideshow and read off of my script. I talked about my process, my research, and my project.

I started off with a little introduction of myself, my school, and what a thesis is.

• I explained how thesis is a year long process where I have to research something I am interested in and then present a product or proposal or research at the end of the year. I notified the audience that they were going to take part in my thesis product right after my presentation. 

Then I talked about my process throughout the year and how I came up with what I did (a forum called "Sheroes and Heroes Unite.")

• I explained why I chose women empowerment and gender equality. To me, it was a big deal because I thought of it as a root issue. If genders cannot get along, we cannot expect other differences to not make us upset (races, ethnicity, religions). Also, gender is a very large audience. A problem that affects almost everyone means that the issue needs to be addressed. I made it my job to address it over the year. 
• I explained how, in the beginning, my idea was to create a self defense workshop for women. I was thinking more along the line of "safety" than "empowerment" and "gender equality." However, I realized that I did not want to support feminism as much as I wanted to support women empowerment because there is a difference. 
• So, I did some research and realized where these disparities occur the most. They happen mostly in the workplace and in homes and workplaces of citizens in LDCs. Since I wanted to focus abroad, I had to know what my role was in abroad aid. Therefore, I took a course called "EdGE" by Omprakash. It is a 12 week course that explains my role as an abroad volunteer. Most of my research comes from this course. It helped me get the idea for my project. It taught me to pay attention to who I was helping more than my ideas to help. That made me realize that this isn't only my problem to fix. It is everyone's. Therefore, everyone, especially the inferior women, should have a say in the solution to "gender disparity." EdGE also gave me a global perception. It gave me facts and numbers to corroborate what I said to my audience. 
• EdGE comes with its own mentors. At the end of every week, we are supposed to write in a forum about what we learned or what we wanted to add or share. All the volunteers write and express. This gave me the idea to make my own live forum called "Sheroes and Heroes Unite," which would focus on gender issues. This forum helps to close the gap without labeling. It is to bring people from all walks to express their ideas, get inspiration, and search for a solution (long-term or short-term) 
• For every problem, I made 4 steps that can be summarized with the acronym: RISE.
• R- realize, I- identify, S- speak, E - execute
• Then, I let the audience know that "today is about knowing your voice counts and connecting the women here and bringing more next time."

Then, I explained RISE more in depth:

• Before starting the actual live forum, I want you [audience] to know why we need to have a forum about it in the first place.
• R-realize. I explained how we will never have any problems if we just simply believe they do not exist. Most of us have ignored problems. So, today is about letting them in. Today is about connecting with the problem and making it yours to solve. Usually, we do not acknowledge a problem because we cannot relate with it or it's too far off. I did simple exercises with the audience to teach them how to make a matter personal. I used "Jyoti Singh Pandey" as my example. I have done lots of research on her. She was the victim of Delhi's 2012 gang rape case. To this day, she has not gotten justice because rapes still happen, the court hasn't settled, and women are still seen inferior to men (in this case, we're talking about India).
• I explained how "Jyoti" is my friend's mom's name. "Singh" is my best friend's last name. "Pandey" is my last name. Something that happened 3 years ago, many kilometers away, has now become my issue because I made it so. So, the "realize" step is to acknowledge the problem, make the matter personal, then make it arguable. 
• I- identify. Once, a person has made it their personal problem, they will have to dive deeper and identify where the problem actually is. They have to look at facts: do their research. "Why do women need to be empowered in the first place?" We need to be empowered because we feel and we are "less than." I had a couple of slides that gave credit to this fact. The first image was the "global gender gap" that ranked countries from the least gap to the most gap. India was 105 on that list. The list had 135 countries. This explains how not only do the genders differ from one another, but different women from different countries may have more or less than women from other countries. So, identify is where we take all of this into account. The next two images showed how the gender gap is big enough to laugh at. The first image explains how the wage gap is about 23% between men and women. Although, there are some legitimate reasons behind this percentage, there are some other reasons that only prove that a disparity does exist. The last image is a satiric remark about how girls cannot do math. So now, we have some facts to back up our reasoning to stand up and fight in the first place.
• We made it our problem, we have the facts that prove that it may be a problem for more than one person (in this case, millions of people) and that it is an actual, factual problem, so, now it is time to share it and speak with other people who have gone through "R" and "I" themselves.
•  S-speak is the most important aspect. This is where the forum begins. The first two steps can be done individually. However, this step's vital aspect is people, especially like minded people, preferably who have gone through "R" and "I" of RISE. 
• Nothing can be done about big problems, if people who want to do something about it just keep it to themselves. How come gender (women) is such a large population, yet cannot do much about their inferior status even after so many years? It is because no one speaks. So, this part of RISE is almost the most important. You may have to literally rise and give yourself the courage to speak. No one can understand a women's problem and gender disparity more than the people who are victims of the crime. I cannot be the only one solving this because I do not know what it is like to be on the other side of the spectrum. Thus, we need the victims, all different people, plus more who are not victims, to share their sides, stories, and ideas. Just speaking about an idea proves that it was worth enough to talk about. It gets gears turning and it spreads the message. 

From here, I transition to the live demonstration of my product: Sheroes and Heroes Unite. It is a forum where people get a chance to do the "S" part of RISE. Technically, the acronym "RISE" is also part of the product. RISE is a wholesome approach to a problem like gender disparity, women empowerment, etc. However, "Speak" is the more visual part of the product. I have video recorded my presentation and as much of the "speak" portion that I could.

MY THESIS IS DONE

YAYAYAYAY!

Script

Pass out pens and surveys.

Sorry if I sound like Himesh Reshemmiya. The allergy season is getting to me. Can everyone hear me? Before we start, I want everyone to write on the back of their “dolls” three choices they think every woman should have. Just hold on to the paper and pen. Alright.

Hello Everyone! My name is Bhagyashri Pandey, but I go by the name “Ruby.” Rarely does anyone call me Bhagyashri. Only like 4 people have got it completely right on their first try.

Anyways, I am a senior (12^th grader) at the School for the Talented and Gifted. Today, I present to you “It’s your turn.” I want you to be completely unbiased, listen to me talk for a while, and then speak. I believe that the best speeches are the ones with presentation, participation, and prizes. So watch out, and let’s get started!

Slide Change

Gender Disparity and Women Empowerment and Me

OK. So, how am I here today? I have always been interested in Social Change. I do volunteering all around. Keep Irving Beautiful, Pratham, Vibha, Akshaya Patra, etc. I even co-founded a little group called “Kids’ Mission with these two.” So, when senior year arrived and I was told to choose a project to research on for a whole year, I chose to deal with women empowerment.

My thought process was “If people who live in the same space but constantly struggle for the same rights and resources because of their genders, how are we expected to make treaties with nations with different religions and ethnicities?” I found this “gender disparity” to be a root issue. Also, gender is a large audience. Bringing women together brings religions, castes, ethnicities, and races together. If 50% of the population feel “less than” their counterpart and we find a way to alleviate that stress, we will have a 100% working, empowered population. In the beginning, however, I looked at it a different way. I thought it is more important for a women to be safe and literally fight for herself. So I was planning on constructing self-defense workshops for these women. However, that is promoting more “feminism” than empowerment. That was not my goal. So, I joined “Omprakash,” a non-profit, to guide me. They led me to “People for Parity” in New Delhi, India, where I will be going this summer. I will be working on an app called “Pukar.” If anyone feels unsafe, they tap a button and the local guards hired by People for Parity all across New Delhi will be alerted. With all my research, I got a global perception. I decided maybe this is not my problem to fix. I am not the only woman who sees all this as a problem right? Maybe there are a few who want to help – man or woman. So, my solution to gender disparity is a forum called “Sheroes and Heroes Unite.” It is to close the gap without labeling. The more we talk about women growing, women rising, women fighting, we forget that we might be leaving the men out in important discussions and actually increasing this gap. We are going to try this forum out today. So, go home today and talk to your husbands or equivalent counterparts about what we discuss. Today is about knowing your voice counts. It is about connecting the women here and bring more people with your next time such an event happens.

Slide Change

Today’s main theme is “How can we thrive?”

Slide Change

I have a proposal. Like I said before. Presentation, participation, and prizes.

The first step is to Realize. Realize the problem. There’s a phrase in Hindi “jab tak ghar pe nahi aati, tab tak humari musibat nahi.” It means “until the problem isn’t on our door, ringing the bell to come in, it isn’t my problem.” Ok. We are going to play a game called “Nose Goes.” I pick these four people. On three, put your finger on your nose. Ah. What’s your name? OK. So, let’s relate this to the real world. The hand to the nose action represents “it’s not my problem.” Everyone says “It’s not my problem.” The last person, bechari ______, has to fix all of this now. She alone will have to empower women. This represents our government. BJP Party, Ahm Aadmi Party, democratic party, republican party. But you know what, since the group is so small and they didn’t exactly choose to solve this problem, they will get bored. The process will get slower. The problem will never get solved. I get it. We cannot empathize with something unless we know what it must be like. I don’t like dealing with problems that are not mine. This is why we have “My tax filer.” Taxes are their problem. We have “Apsara Skin care” because my skin’s problem is how the company thrives. But women’s problems? Their rights? Their ability to speak out loud without being punished? Their ability to thrive? That should at least be a women’s problem. OK. Let me show you how to make a matter personal. I live in USA. This incident happened 3 years ago in Delhi, India. A place I have never been. Her name is Jyoti Singh Pandey. I stopped. Jyoti is my rakhi bhai’s mom’s name. She lives less than 20 minutes away from me. Singh is her last name. She is probably the only person who knows everything about me. And Pandey. My last name is Pandey. Now her unrightful assault and her justice is my problem. See. You don’t get a math solution and you try to look for where the problem is. No. You get a math problem, then you look for the solution. That’s why it’s called “problem solving.” Same thing in the world. If you don’t even acknowledge the problem, you will never try for a solution. The solution comes after the problem. So today, I am asking you to realize the problem, make it your problem then only will you care, then go on to solve it.

Slide Change

Identify

See. Realizing is the biggest step in my perspective. If you can make it across the first step, the rest is going to be easier. Now that you have acknowledged a problem, you want to look deeper like I did for a year in research. Look at the facts. Soon, you will see why women need to be empowered in the first place. For centuries, we have lived in a patriarchal society. Even in countries like USA, when women do get jobs, we are “stealing” a man’s job. That’s how it is looked as. So, it looks bad. Women get upset and there are pre-conceived notions that a woman cannot handle a manager position because she is probably not used to it. Here are some images. Here, we see India is high in gender disparity when compared to other nations. 

Slide Change

They prove that the gender gap is big enough to laugh about (talk about slide).

Slide Change

Last one.  Like I said preconceived notions that girls aren’t good at math because people think a woman isn’t use to doing math problems. Even a woman may start believing this. It’s the 21^st century. By now, we would expect there to be no gap. From 1876 to today, we have from no technology to light bulbs, iPhones, GPS, you name it. Women and men have lived together since Adam and Eve, Ram and Sita. Edison was alone and had to find materials to make that lightbulb. Men and women are everywhere and just have to turn around and sincerely talk and respect each other.  That is why this is a huge problem. Even if there is progress, it is happening way too slow.

Slide Change

Speak

Ok. This is the fun part. Also, this is what women do best. However, sometimes we become quiet when we are most needed. Let’s not do that today. Keep in mind of everything I said, all the disparities and differences. They do exist. All your information is worth nothing if you just keep it to yourself.

Slide Change

Now….”It’s your turn” Today is about feeling empowered. You will “thrive” when you have control over your life and a few other things. You will thrive when things are not routine and when you learn something new. Now, we are going to watch a video. Keep in mind, anyone who goes on YouTube and searches for this link can see this video. Old people, young people, etc. Pay attention to the details. Now, I am going to let you hear someone else talking.

Play Video (Edited one) After video is done, change slides.

Wow. Do any of your three choices you wrote in the beginning match up with Deepika’s? That is something to think about. Debate Time. Let’s Split this room in half. We are about to talk. This is the definition of “empower: “to make (someone) stronger and more confident.” The debate is “is that video empowering?” This side is “yes this is empowering.” This side is “No, this is not empowering.” My friends have a large sheet of paper and some markers. You have 5 minutes to discuss among your group and come up with points that support your “yes” or your “no.” I want everyone to participate. My friends will write down your points. When time’s up, markers down. No talking.

Start timer.

I will start with the “Yes, this is empowering”’s side. You can look at your points, pick one, and explain it and support your argument. Once your point is over, the other side can argue your point or present a new point to defend their side. This goes on and on for 12 minutes. If you have a point that is not on the paper, you can still express it and then write it down later. I cannot stress enough that you have to participate. You made it this far. You can do it. It’s not the time to be shy. If it gets dry before time’s up, my friends can help. If it is getting really good and time’s up, we can extend it for 8 more minutes. Keep in mind, the winning side is the side with the most points on their paper and the most participation. Only one person shouldn’t be speaking. After you say the point, talk about how you believe it. Explain it. Don’t stop after reading a short sentence. There are no wrong or right answers. Remember to smile and sound confident. You are being recorded. Your time starts now. Starting with “yes.”

Slide Change

Execute

OK. So. The winner is _______. Here are some chocolates. Thank god for post-easter sales J Now that you have all this discussion, take it home. You know it. Share it with your kids and relatives like you did here. Kids are grassroots. They will share it with others, and this forum will be continuous. I am going to let two brave participants answer the next question and then answer it myself. I have another proposal. What if we did this same forum on the radio? Let’s say we call the show “Sheroes and Heroes Unite” or “IANT Thrive.” We let speakers like you and many others call in and share their stories and debate. We keep the forum alive. We can do other issues as well. It will keep the conversation alive. It will get people thinking. It will be like a Satyamev Jayate but with prevalent issues here. Also, it will get everyone to participate and probably more people to come to these events. Some people want to help and contribute and do not know how. This show can represent a different organizations different days. If we’re talking about gender disparity, at the end of the show I can say “check out People for Parity.” If we are talking about food distribution, I can say “if you want to contribute more, check out akshaya patra” etc. so not only is there a place to realize, identify, and speak, people have a way to execute their beliefs by going through organizations that have already made it their goal to solve this issue. That’s my idea of getting people in this community involved. Next question. I will let two other brave participants take this one.

Slide Change

Overview

Realize, Identify, Speak, and Execute stands for “RISE.” I hope you all had a great experience through these simple steps today. Thank you for coming in with compassion, debating with passion and I hope I humored you a little and presented a style that could work for you wherever you go with whatever problem you are presented with.

Slide Change

Sorry. Last slide. I promise. I have given out some surveys. Please look at the corresponding numbers and circle “Y” or “N” appropriately. This is for further improvement in my method and for this kind of event. I might be posting the video that I took of you guys somewhere online. If you do not want that, just let me know. After you are done with the survey, give it to one of my friends. Raise your hands. Please get to know them too. They are just like me with social change and they have helped a lot today. Also, you can speak using social media. I am about to create a Facebook group online called “Sheroes and Heroes Unite” where anyone can talk about anything. Just message me or email me, and I can add you. I appreciate all feedback.

 Slide Change

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I enjoyed this a lot. I hope all of you did too. It means a lot to take time out of a Sunday afternoon and thrive for a bit. Thank you to all of the IANT ladies, especially Ms.Sneha for giving me this opportunity. I hope to see every one of you again. Since I have been asking all of the questions, I am giving you an opportunity to ask me some too. 

Finalized Survey

At the end of my presentation, I want to give my audience a survey to fill out.

Here are the questions I am asking:

Survey

1. Was this empowering?

2. Does this type of forum (Sheroes and Heroes Unite) help?

3. Can it make a difference?

4. Is the radio idea (a type of debate session on the radio) a good idea?

5. Should we do these types of debates again?

6. Will you recommend others to come to this event next time it happens?

7. Is this what you expected?

8. Are you interested in being part of an online forum?

Speak Again (email me at rubyopandey@gmail.com or message me on Facebook “Ruby Pandey” or email any one of these lovely IANT women and they can forward the email to me)

What did you learn today?

What should be changed? (Removed or added)

How much should the youth be involved?

This will be near the end of my slide show presentation. The first 8 questions are answered with "Y" or "N." The last three questions require more explanation and feedback. I want this so I can improve my product, my ideas, and my presentation skills. 

:)

Debate

I will be doing a 20 minute presentation. Then, I will be hosting and conducting a 25 minute live debate or forum I like to call "Sheroes and Heroes Unite," which is part of my product. This way, the judges can see the presentation and a live demonstration of the product at the same time.

We will be debating on the topic: "Is this video empowering?"
This video is very recent and is released by Vogue Empower India. It is called "My Choice" starring Deepika Padukone as the lead actress. 99 women came together to make this short-messaged film.

This is the unedited, original video:

I had to edit it from 0:47 to 1:08 since children will be in the audience, and I would like everyone to participate. Here is the edited version. Although, the edit makes a great difference in the video, it should not alter how strong either sides of the debate should be. I think I did a pretty good job editing the film.    :)

Previous Blog Post's Email Reply

Hello Bhagyashri,

Great to hear that you enjoy IANT programs and thank you for your support!

It makes me so happy to see young  leaders like you taking active interest in such causes! Congratulations and best wishes!

I love your idea about the debate and it will be great to have you and your friends conduct the debate for us.

Please send me your contact number or call me at 972-375-6377, and we can discuss the details.

Looking forward to talking to you soon.

Thanks,
Snehal Phirke
Chair, Women's Forum
India Association of North Texas
972-375-6377

Yay! This is exciting!

Today, I am starting the PowerPoint presentation I will use as a reference. 

This is the flyer for the event:

Women's Forum on April 12th

Email I sent:

Hello,

I am Bhagyashri Pandey, and I am a high school senior at the School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas Downtown. I love all of IANT's events and love taking part in them. In fact, I emceed all day at "India Day" this year. Thank you again for the opportunity. I would love to attend this event on April 12th. 

I also have a proposition. I have been doing a thesis on women empowerment and gender disparity for about a year now. I am going to Delhi, India this year through "Omprakash" to volunteer at "People for Parity." I am very passionate about this subject. I have a fun and exciting way to conduct the debates at this event. It will not take too long (maybe 25-30 minutes), but it is a good way to encourage discussion and action. I will also bring girls from my school to help out with the debates. I would make sure all the people at the event leave empowered. 

Please look at my attachment below. It is a short summary of how I would conduct the debates. Please let me know how you feel about this idea.

Thank you.

Bhagyashri Pandey

The attachment I sent:

EMPOWER (RISE)

  Realize

 Identify

Speak

 Execute

·         R(ealize): There are never any problems unless we acknowledge them. Most problems, we redirect or ignore. If the recipients (women) of the cause can live without the aid and are fine with their current status, then there is no use in others trying to help these recipients. Usually, we do not fight unless the matter is personal. Make it personal. Bring the battlefield to you. Make it affect you. Bring it home.

·         I(dentify): Where is the problem? Look at the facts. Are we equal within our own gender? Are we allowed the same liberties? Which situation do we address first? This is the most important phase in empowerment: Where to start?

·         S(peak): We are fond of this activity (speaking), but it falls weak where it is most needed. To empower others and ourselves, we must speak about what we identified. We must speak about our experiences. Discussion aids in empowering because it gives the recipients a feeling of control. In the age of social media, empowerment should become easier. Speak to millions. The more thought you give it, the more it sinks in and invigorates. Discussion becomes a driving force. You yourself will speed the process to execution.

·         E(xecute): You have arrived at a “solution,” or you have found a method to address a situation appropriately. Take a major role and focus on executing the idea all the way through. This empowers you and the people around you. Always, stop and take the time to pat yourself on the back. To get to the “E” in “RISE” itself is an accomplishment. 

Sheroes and Heroes Unite Website

Sheroes and Heroes Unite

1) Women Empowerment

• Forum where everyone can talk about their issues and present their solutions
• The issue with the most discussion will be posted
• Debates on how to resolve or address the issue appropriately
• Solution with most votes wins
• Forum closes. 
• Financial team estimates the cost of executing the solution
• Launches an indiegogo to meet this goal
• Open your own "Sheroes and Heroes Unite" Chapter and help raise money. 
• If the goal is met, the solution is executed. If the goal isn't met, the money is saved for another solution. 
• 5 Chapters that raise the most money are invited to see the execution happen and take the experience back home. 

approximately 2-4 projects a year (process repeats). The first project will concern women empowerment

• I contacted Wix.com for a pro to help me out
• One of my judges that was helping me with the non-profit process is not replying. 

Seminars in Dallas dealing with Women's Empowerment

A Better Plan B- Empowerment Seminar

A Better Plan B - Ron Williams

Weekly Event - Every Thursday: 7:00 PM (CDT)

Dallas, TX

http://www.meetup.com/Living-Out-Loud-Womens-Conference-2015/

http://www.meetup.com/YourEmpoweredSolutions/

http://www.meetup.com/The-JOY-Factor-Meetup/

http://www.meetup.com/MS-FITSINC-MOTIVATED-SISTERS-FOCUSED-INSPIRED-TO-TRANSFORM/events/

http://www.meetup.com/WOVI-Flower-Mound/

http://www.meetup.com/IMPACT-Involved-Motivated-People-Acting-Courageous-Together/

http://www.meetup.com/Plano-Womens-Self-Defense-Workshop-and-Networking/

http://www.meetup.com/YWTFDallas/

http://www.meetup.com/WOWDems/

Senior Panoramic Photo

Panoramic Photo took about 50 minutes or more. It was hot and very crowded. However, I felt like an actual senior, so that was nice.

I started working around 12:05 PM. This is what I got done today.

I am going to answer these questions based on "Nacirema" in this week's lesson.

1) Magical practitioners are at the top, giving them the most power. Everyone lower in the hierarchy automatically have a sense of respect and obligation to the few at the top.  "In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated as "holy-mouth-men." There is a hierarchy in this culture. A real comparison could be the Hindu caste system. People arrange marriages according to caste, and the people at the top are "Bhramins" or the people who run temples. The "top" had some power long before, and the rest have come to believe that the top should rule the community as well. For example, "Ivy league" does not mean "the best school," it just means it's a private school long established with a sports team in the East coast of US. Over the years, after gaining so much attention and funds, they managed to actually become "top-tier" schools. Then, we believe everyone who comes out of these schools to be smarter than those who come out of other colleges and universities. The same goes for this situation. After the medicine men had power for a while, the people got used to the men having all the power and believed that any medicine man is better than the people below and should therefore lead the community.  The culture (people in a community have different roles) created a hierarchy, and the hierarchy brought in power.
2) Over time, most community leaders were probably magical practitioners. Hence, what they did and what role they played in the community became very important. Since they lead many rituals and were leaders, followers began to believe the rituals were the most important thing to maintain a stable community. Slowly, people began making these rites and rituals a huge part of their living... (couldn't finish)

Until next time!!!

So far what the non-profit-making process looks like

Sheroes and Heroes Unite

Determine what type of nonprofit organization you want to create.

·         Promotes togetherness and equality between the members and the recipients of our projects

·         Give everyone a voice

·         Beginning with gender disparity, gender roles, gender based violence

Choose a name for your organization. 

·         Sheroes and Heroes Unite

·         “Your voice counts. Speak”

·         “At least be aware”

·         “Know. Talk. Care.”

Apply for the name

·         Call TX’s state corporations division

·         Small fee to reserve the name until I have filed “Articles of Corporation”

·         Contacted my judge to help me with the name and filing

Formulate a Mission Statement

·         On another document

Make a logo

·         I have an idea…I need someone to help me digitalize it

·         Letter/Symbol that resembles an “S” and a “H”

·         Same colored Greek gender symbols connected by two gold chain loops

·         All of it contained in a “Superman” logo border

EdGE Week 9

How would you answer that concluding sentence: "given the true complex nature of 'community,' is this 'engagement' possible?"

Instead of finding a group that is representative of the "community," every person from the actual village should attend the meetings and share their personal thoughts and opinions. Especially since this village was pretty small, one member from every family could have shared their true desires. Community need not be homogeneous. A community is more like a group of people who have to interact on a daily basis. People for parity helps the community it surrounds, which is mostly Delhi University and IIT Delhi students. Thus, the community is the college campuses and the markets right outside of the colleges. Once you have identified the community's interactions and divides, a group of volunteers can choose to deal with specific types of people and ideas present in the community. This way there is a representative for each type of person and not a representative for a non-existing "homogeneous" group. Each volunteer works with their part of the community. Together, everyone is working on the community to make it a better place in whatever way. Yes, the nature is definitely complex. Volunteers and members of the community must make a full effort to engage. Only then is engagement possible. It's a two-way relationship. You must know enough to empathize with them and listen to their ideas. They must know you enough to trust letting you represent their ideas. A government exists due to factions. A community exists because of its divides. Our job is not necessarily to extinguish the divides, but it is definitely to notice the non-homogeneous society and to give or find fair representation.

Grant Interview and Week 7 EdGE

I had my grant interview on Friday, March 13th (Friday the thirteenth. SPOOKY).  I think it went pretty well. If I get the grant, I have no need for my Kick starter or indiegogo, which will save me a lot of time and money. I would love to become an Omprakash Ambassador. The idea of being responsible for all my actions and representing such a selfless team will induce a sense of respectfulness and leadership inside of me. The interviewers asked me how I would spread the word and work of Omprakash. I will ask UTD this week if they could consider adding the EdGE course as part of their curriculum.  I will also ask the faculty members in my school to spread the word of the website and organization for future thesis students. Just through my thesis, I should be able to spread the word by mouth and media. I am creating an organization/website that will help perpetuate this process. After my ideas are concrete, I will present them to Steve Sclar, my thesis mentor, Kelly Rula, and my EdGE mentor, Barclay Martin. The Omprakash team has done plenty to help me out with my thesis and my personal progress.

EdGE Week 7

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia...

I am going to give a little background to this story. BBC made a documentary named "India's daughter" and was going to air the film on Women's Day. The documentary narrates the Delhi gang rape in 2012. There was a halt in the execution because India's politicians wanted to ban the film since it introduced a rapist and gave him a platform to speak on. It was aired in some European countries for a few hours, and it created a huge divide between leaders and common folks in India. The people for the ban think that it will tarnish India's name more than necessary and that the documentary portrays an untrue picture. "India's daughters" is a huge generalization and blame. The people against the ban agree that the horrendous night should be explained to people around the world. This could be related to two themes: "good intentions and unintended consequences" and "third sector forces." This documentary was made obviously with good intentions, I hope; however, there are so many ramifications that BBC missed. There are always two sides or two factions. Videos like this could invigorate parties from both sides and splits them even more instead of bringing them together. Women could hate men even more. However, this video wasn't made for women to start hating men. It was to raise awareness about this heinous incident. Not everyone sees it this way, and since media does not direct how the viewers should view the video, more problems could be made instead of solutions. However, there are many positive aspects at the same time. Media acts as a "third sector" force. It ties up the loose ends after things go through the public and private sector. These two sectors are more about business and money and distribution. Third sectors introduce a "human" aspect to their business or organization. They can bring more to the table than just financial profits. Sometimes an argument just suggests that the topic was important enough to even argue about. To get a whole country arguing means that the whole country cares or has opinions about this topic: women's rights. It is a good start. It gets gears turning. BBC acted as a third sector that introduced a debate that is healthy for India to develop. It gives another chance for the quiet ones to roar. It has been three years since the Delhi case; this ban revived the momenta. To me, banning or not banning the documentary is not the problem. Women's rights is. This documentary will not fix or worsen this issue because the issue is not so small that it can just tip over because of a mere video. People should not make the ban the issue. They should redirect the problem back to the true issue: "stripping basic rights from women."

Question Time!!!

A scenario was given to me. There is a couple who makes belts in a rural village. Chrissie, a businesswoman, approaches them to expand their business by taking it to the USA. Alex, a critic, presses that expanding the business would not be good for the local economy and that Chrissie should stay a while in the village to see for herself. I was asked to choose a side.

My response:
I think one must step into the belt maker's lives to truly understand how the husband and wife really contribute to the community. After this week's lesson, I think I would support Alex. This situation looks very similar to the Haiti case study in this week's lesson. The "beneficiary" or the producers (husband and wife) have very little decision-making power and benefits from expanding their business to the USA. Their lifestyle would not alter as much, and they will have to work for greater periods of time. Even if Chrissie manages to build a factory and hire the fellow villagers, they would not be paid more than a couple of dollars a day in order to make great profits. Right now, some villagers sell their crops in the produce market, some weave baskets, some sell handmade clothes, and some make belts. There is variety. If these same villagers are pulled in to work to make belts, market variety reduces. Also, the workers are not autonomous anymore. They cannot schedule their own day, split their profits into how they see fit, and change merchandise design. There is very little progress in this type of business. Also, it does very little to help the local economy. I am going to prove this with some basic economics. Suppose this village is in Bangladesh. The reserve requirement for Bangladesh is around 6%. The money multiplier is around 16. 67 (1/.06). If this village's market produces 5000 takas (Bangladeshi currency) a day, the most money the market can produce is about 83, 333 takas (16.67 * 5000 takas). This depends on the velocity of the money: how many times the money circulates in the market and how many exchanges are made. However, if the belts are exported to USA, the profits are received in dollars. There are no takas added to the market; there is less of the currency being exchanged and circulated, reducing the maximum amount of money the village can produce. It may help the individual workers, but it will not benefit the local economy as a whole. The workers are indirectly helping the businesswoman and USA's economy more than they are helping their own economy. If Chrissie wants to help the village, it is a better idea that she experiences the community and learns of their true needs. Since she is a smart businesswoman, she will immediately learn how vital their own individual markets are to the community. There is no need to expand the belt market. If she wants, she can buy a large amount of belts from the husband and wife herself and sell it in USA, which helps both her and the local village. 

EdGE Week 5

This week focused on the role of the public, private, and "third" sector in relation to themes of progress and inequality. There were many articles that promoted "neoliberalism" and a few that critiqued this idea. Adjustments to the private sector usually only aids the top 10%, who do not need help as much as the bottom half of the socioeconomic ladder. Sometimes, government interference can accidentally perpetuate poverty as seen in the "Haiti" article. A quick synopsis is that the government builds a garment factory in Haiti after HOPE II made by Clinton. The garment factory creates hundreds of jobs for the local people. The cloth produced is exported to USA. However, the service provided by these hundreds of local people remain underpaid. Daily wage is $1.75. There is no room for improvement. The labor is basic and creates health problems from the chemicals and over activity. How is this any different than the local people selling juice on the streets? This, in fact, may be better. They will make a higher daily wage. They are promoting their own economy. The factory promotes USA's economy more than Haiti's. In this case, the government should not have interfered at all since it made things worse. The "third" sector consists of NGOs and other non-profits. They fill in all the gaps. They are the philanthropists. They see more human than money. There are problems with all these sectors, which makes it harder for normal people to see that some people are actually trying to make things better.

The warm-up:

1. You are in your host country and walk past a beggar on the street. It is a young woman holding a baby. She rubs her belly and gestures towards her mouth, indicating hunger. She holds out her hand. You have plenty of money in your pocket. What do you do?
2. Your host organization runs a free library that lacks English books. In your hometown, lots of people have books they aren't reading. Before you begin your field position, your host organization asks you to collect books and bring them to donate to the library. What do you do?
3. Your host organization runs a free non-government school that struggles to find money to pay its teachers. You mention this to friends and family, and they suggest that you start a crowdfunding campaign (i.e. Kickstarter) to raise money to pay teachers. What do you do?

My response: 

1. I visit India every 2-3 years to remind myself of my roots and to bring back the zeal that fades away during my time in a much more luxurious environment, America. Seeing pregnant women begging on the streets is unfortunately common in "developing countries." It's a vicious cycle. Giving money to these women keeps them on the roads. It becomes routine for them. However, it is inhumane to ignore their extending, desperate arms at the same time. Women, mothers, the crippled, and young children initiate pathos in daily commuters. If it were me, I would look at the current status. The mother and the child need food at the moment. I am pretty sure I would be unconscious of the "vicious cycle" and contribute to help the family financially. 

2. I think this is a great idea! My school hosts plenty of book drives and I have hosted a book-a-thon myself. Spreading knowledge through books is do-able as well. The books have already been bought. Thus, the publishing firm has already made profit on it. Since the books are no longer of use to the local community, it would be better for them to go to someplace that would utilize their full potential. 

3. I have a Kickstarter myself to fundraise for a photobook of my experiences with my host organization. I need money for a basic DSLR and photobook supplies. Kickstarter is a great way to raise awareness about projects and bring the community together. The Kickstarter would allow the global community to make a difference by pledging just a few dollars. If a Kickstarter would keep the school and teachers functioning, it seems like something worth trying.

The next asked my reactions about "neoliberalism"

My response:

The french term "lasseiz faire" is synonymous to Neoliberalism. I am taking macroeconomics right now. Neoliberalism could be correlated with "classical" economy or "Says Law." Both state that the government and the federal reserve should stay out of the economy as much as they can. The economy, supply, and demand will readjust to create a new equilibrium. Humans changing the system could cause serious ramifications that we missed in advance. At the same time. If there are not strict rules and regulations, there are ramifications that could be just as severe. There is a voting age of 18 in America because most people under this age would not be educated enough to make national decisions. If the voting age were changed to 16 years old, these kids would have an amount of control over serious debates: abortion, ObamaCare, etc. The same applies here. If we let all businesses do their own thing, there could be ramifications that uneducated businessmen did not forsee. Government control is important to keep businesses within their limit and keep them from going bankrupt. A mixture of neoliberalism and liberalism would be the best way to handle an economy. I am sure many have tried. It is just hard for the federal government and an individual business to interact.

There was a TED talk where Dan Pallotta says something ironic: non-profits must function as businesses to actually work. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfAzi6D5FpM

My response after watching the video:

The video is amazing. I cannot believe I was a critic of some of his ideas. He has very valid points. The 5 major differences between the rest of the economic world and non-profits are definitely points to consider. If money is one of the major factors for a for-profit or non-profit, then a non-profit must do what it needs to obtain this money. A non-profit will function better if it has the same rights as regular businesses. If it functions like a business, it will attract customers and customers have money: the money non-profits need. It's one of those good cycles; I have seen very few good cycles.

Week 4 - Omprakash EdGE!

This week's question was:

 Identify the picture with the list below and write or record your response about this picture, addressing these questions:

1. How does this picture relate to 'progress' and inequality. Be sure to reference some of the thinkers and ideas presented this week.
2. Where do you and your life fit in to the picture? How are you entangled in it?

I chose the picture:

My response: 

I am choosing the picture of slums beside tennis courts (photo #10). 
1. This picture bleeds inequality. There is a clear divide between the poor half of the country and the wealthy 1%. As Martin Luther King mentions, "Edifices that produce beggars need restructuring." The rich few have the wealth to make all the important decisions. It is their poorly thought out decisions that continue to produce beggars. They spend their money creating Wal-Marts, destroying individual markets and bringing more people into the slum part of the divide. They spend more money on social service, which is a quick-fix. Canned foods will give the poor nutrition for a week; however, it will also get them attached to the rich. The poor start to see the rich as their caretaker, increasing the power and responsibility the rich have. It is a convoluted, mutual relationship. The better long-term treatment is to initial social change. It is to find the root of the problem and break the demarcation between the slum and the tennis courts. It is to allow the poor to see the rich. The huge wall makes it impossible for the poor to imagine the affluence of the rich. Once the wall is broken, they will see that a year worth of cans will never be worth the money and space the tennis court is taking up for the mere pleasure of a few family members. Progress will be made when there are more social changes and a break in the mutual relationship. The rich know they would not be rich without the poor. The only thing more powerful than fear is hope. The rich feed the poor to make the slum-half fear what life would be without these food items. The rich do not want the poor to have other priorities, or god forbid, hope of ever breaking out of the cycle. Distraction is suppression in modern times. It happens daily with fewer harsh divides. Television features the Kardashians to keep the population entertained long enough to ignore true problems. The rich few who know of the true problems do not have enough people working as a team to solve the problem. The solution is to turn off the Kardashians and feature the problem on all channels, but then, the rich would not be powerful. I think we give the rich their power. The poor feed the rich figuratively while the rich feed the poor literally. If we introduced social change, the poor would know to avoid the "fluff" or the "entertainment" provided by the rich to distract us. If we make the poor involved in the problem of poverty (ironic right?), we would have a better chance of improving the situation. 
2. I have seen these harsh divides before. I play tennis, but I am definitely not affluent. I know I can find a tennis court at the recreational center. That is where it should be. There are many ways the rich can share their wealth without actually giving monetary benefits. Make the tennis court public. Promote the girls to have a tennis team and compete with the boys team. Give social service and promote social change. Keep the wealth but divide the responsibility and power. Money is not power. People are power. The 1% would benefit more from the support of the 80% than hatred from this large population. I think I would want the bottom half of the socioeconomic ladder to make more decisions for themselves.

My mentor's feedback:

Wow Ruby, some big questions here, thanks for giving me so much to think on! 



"The rich know they would not be rich without the poor" - how can you relate this to Friere's concept of conscientization? Can we argue that 'the wealthy' are actively repressing 'the poor' through conscious actions? As a society, how responsible are we for ignorance & how does this play into education, and oppression (as per Friere's constructs)? 



I really thought this statement of yours was great: "Distraction is suppression in modern times" and I wonder if this is a modern affection - or if distraction has always been a tool of suppression/oppression. In the town I was near to in Bosnia, to appease a poor community that had limited infrastructure (many families had no running water) the local government had installed one of those giant swings, the ones you see at fairs, rather than provide them with tools or improved infrastructure.