MOVEMENT OF LIFE

Finalista del desafío

Esta presentción ha sido seleccionada como finalista del desafío
Gamechangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport .

Dance movement as alternative approach to recovery, healing, selfexpression for empowerment & psychosocial rehabilitation for vulnerable women & girls

Sobre ti

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Información de contacto

Title

Ms

First name

Sohini

Last name

Chakraborty

Your job title

Founder & Director

Name of your organization

Kolkata Sanved

Organization type

NGO

Annual budget/currency

INR 1200000

Mailing address

60 Dasnagar, Ground Floor, Lake Gardens, Kolkata 700 045, India

Telephone number

033-6415 9281

F-a-x number

NIL

Country

India

Email address

Alternative email address

Ubicación

Project Street Address

60 Dasnagar, Ground Floor, Lake Gardens

Project City

Kolkata

Project Province/State

West Bengal

Project Postal/Zip Code

700 045

Project Country

India

tu idea

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Choose your sport: (check all that apply)

Dance

If you chose "other" for Sport, please define in 1-2 words below

What approach does your initiative incorporate?

Capacity Building

Year the initiative began (yyyy)

2004

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If your project has a website, paste the web address here:

Ubica tu innovación en el mapa de innovaciones:

Barrier

Social stigmas and prohibitions

Insight

Let girls lead

This field has not been completed.

Name Your Project

MOVEMENT OF LIFE

Describe Your Idea

Dance movement as alternative approach to recovery, healing, selfexpression for empowerment & psychosocial rehabilitation for vulnerable women & girls

Innovación

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What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?

Dance movement as alternative approach to recovery, healing, selfexpression for empowerment & psychosocial rehabilitation for vulnerable women & girls

How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?

Through our 54 classes per month, we have 2500 participants per year from populations in redlight areas, slums, domestic workers, trafficking victims, platform children, populations at-risk of trafficking, mentally-challenged populations. Indirect Reach: Thousands through advocacy, performances, seminars, and government/corporate/NGO outreach.

Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.

We are partnering with 30 organizations in South Asia, to whom we provide dance therapy: Apne Aap Women Worldwide (Kolkata and Bihar); All Bengal Women's Union; Ananda; Ashurali Gram Unnayan Parishad-CBO; Bengal Service Society; Bhumika Vihar; Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of West Bengal; DonBosco Ashalayam; Diksha; Education Media Research Center; Grouppe Development SARO; Health Vision; Newlight; Pathabhavan School; Praajak; Parichiti; Sanchar; Sanlaap; Stree (Andhra Pradesh); Nirman- CBO; Samadhan- CBO; Sambhana. - CBO; The Goethe Institute –Kolkata; Vital Voices; World Dance Alliance-West Bengal Chapter; West Bengal Dance Group Federation.
International Partners: Association for community development, Bangladesh; American Dance Therapy Association; Antarang, Nepal; APC- Nepal; CWIN, Nepal; DEPDC, Thailand

In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)

Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .

How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?

Our curriculum has evolved into a method of therapy and a voice of expression for vulnerable populations and victims. Specifically, the method focuses on using dance as a vehicle for learning selected life-skills, renewing a healthy mind-body relationship, addressing psychosocial handicaps and developing new community bonds. Our therapy has yielded results, proving that body movements, when used sensitively, can become a powerful tool for confidence building, rehabilitation, reintegration and advocacy. From being labelisation/stigmatization, our clients tranformed to being “proactive advocates”: individuals who've made peace within their violated souls and are now ready to voice their concerns.

Impacto

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Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact

From being cowed down and killed by a sense of hopelessness and societal rejection, our clients are now proactive advocates for change.

What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation

Victims and vulnerable populations report that initially they were victims of violence and abuse. They considered that to be part of THEIR normal life. But after our workshops, they report gaining social and legal awareness about their rights which have encouraged them to protest against such abusive behavior at home and in the workplace and establish their own social identity in the social strata. The mind and body, which so far have been abused, exploited, and violated, are now transformed into creative agents of expression. This makes a huge positive impact on the survivor’s self image and how she will lead her life from now on. In the words of three survivors: “I gain a sense of freedom through dance.” ; "DMT has helped me change my own life and how I deal with the world. I feel that I am human too, with rights like everone else." ; “When I dance, I feel a release from all that worries me. For me dance is an achievement."

Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?

We are already impacting policy. West Bengal Govt's Deptt of Social Welfare is using DMT therapy as a form of psychosocial intervention. There are talks with the Education minister to incorporate DMT in state-run schools as part of life-skills training. The NGO sector is partnering with us in incorporating DMT in their psychotherapy in government-run mental hospitals.

Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?

The field of Dance Movement Therapy is very new in South Asia. Kolkata Sanved aims to evolve as a Centre of Excellence in South Asia first, and globally later, advocating the practice of its pioneering, powerful rehabilitation method that has shown almost 'magical success.' In many cases DMT has worked better for our clients and proved more effective than traditional counselling and therapy.

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Sustenibilidad

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How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?

We receive support funding from UNIFEM; Global Fund for Children; Global Fund for Women; local consultancy fees for classes, workshops; fundraising performances.

Fuente de financiamiento

Annual budget

INR 12,00,000

Annual revenue generated

INR 14,30,000 from support funding, consultancies, fundraisers.

Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)

15 full-timers; 2 full-time volunteers; 11 occasional volunteers including national and international dancers, therapists, academics.

What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?

Two funding proposals are currently stuck as we're in the process of getting FCRA clearance from the government. DMT being a non-traditional therapy, it doesn't gain immediate currency with funders and requires a lot more effort to get funding.

What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?

Our partners are our strength. However, as all DMT trainers are past survivors initially, the challenge was to get some of our partners to accept these women as trainers. Another example: in a school setting, when students learned the trainers were formerly from shelter homes, they reacted adversely. With news of our reputation having spread, this is no longer really a challenge.

La historia

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What stage is your project?

Ongoing project .

What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.

As a dancer trained in numerous dance forms, Sohini Chakraborty began the search for a synthesis of art and activism for social change as an MA student of sociology at Calcutta University.

It was during her work with Sanlaap, a human rights and anti-trafficking organization, that her view on dance began to find a new meaning. While working at Sanlaap, she introduced dance movement to the rescued victims of trafficking and sexual abuse; the process included self inquiry, confidence building, and empowerment. As she began researching about trafficking and the prostitution in Kolkata through field experience as well as literature, Sohini experimented with breaking the barriers of traditional dance. She evolved Dance Movement Therapy as a tool for rehabilitation and empowerment for vulnerable populations after 9 years of experimentation and learning

Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative

Emerging from a rich background in the performing arts, Sohini Chakraborty fused her years of training in Navanritya, Bharatnatyam, Contemporary Dance, Dance Therapy, and theatre with her academic career to create Kolkata Sanved, and pioneered the use of dance movement as an alternative approach to recovery and healing, and for the psychosocial rehabilitation of vulnerable people. “What I fight for is not just to teach them dance, but make them strong, dignified citizens."

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162 weeks agoSohini Chakraborty said: Thanks for your interest in our programme. Kolkata Sanved uses Dance Movement Therapy as an alternative approach to counselling. i am ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
162 weeks agoSohini Chakraborty said: Thanks for showing your interest. Here are the story of change: “Inspite of having immense pressure of household work, I dislike ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
162 weeks agoSohini Chakraborty said: Thank you very much for your inspiring comments. With Regards Sohini about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
162 weeks agoSohini Chakraborty said: Thank you very much for your information. I will visit the website and also will join the Women Wing group. Regards Sohini about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
162 weeks agoSohini Chakraborty said: Thank you for your questions and your interest in our programme. I am listing the challanges we face - 1. In the past two years there ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
162 weeks agoSohini Chakraborty said: Thank you very much for your comment. We are a young organisation and we are dependent on grants. However we strongly belive in the ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
163 weeks agoCynthia Drayton said: Hi Sohini, Congratulations on being selected a Gamechangers finalist and on your important work using dance therapy to empower ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
172 weeks agohoda pishvaie said: Hi Sohini- I was really moved after reading your initiative! Can you provide examples of how you specifically use DMT to help ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
174 weeks agoDana Frasz said: Hello Sohini, It is great to see your entry in the competition! Could you please share with us a story or two of the women that you ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >
175 weeks agoRenata Affonso said: Hi Sohini, There is another entry from Brasil that also uses the power of dance connected with the empowerment of black women and ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más >