FROM WITHIN: YOGA TEACHER-TRAINING
MANDALA HOUSE teaches yoga, breathing techniques & meditation to survivors of gender-based violence in post/conflict regions. We partner with local organizations who already provide support for survivors and can help us logistically by recruiting participants.
Upon completion of the free teacher-training, our innovative program model encourages graduates to apply for teaching grants. These grants act as a stipend for teachers providing public classes in the community. These classes can be provided in any forum--hospitals, clinics, schools, NPOs, villages, farms--so the ripple effect is extended outside of the survivor community.
Providing an easily assimilated model that can be replicated as a complement to other counseling programs means the program can literally go anywhere.
Program efficacy will be measured via entry/exit questionnaires.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Lenny
Last Name
Williams
Website
Organization
MANDALA HOUSE
Country
United States
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is this initiative/innovation linked to any established organization?
Yes
Organization Name
MANDALA HOUSE
Organization Website
Organization Phone
646.872.6941
Organization Address
200 East 16th Street, 1C, NYC, 10003
Organization Country
United States
Is your organization a
CSO/NGO
How long has this organization been operating?
Less than a year
Your idea
Name Your Project
FROM WITHIN: YOGA TEACHER-TRAINING
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
When was the project initiated? or When are you planning to begin?
MANDALA HOUSE began in mid-November, 2009. By December 10, 2009 MADRE (http://www.madre.org) was signed on as a fiscal sponsor.
We have two program partners--one in Sri Lanka, the other, Uganda--with on-going talks in Burundi/DRC as well.
The programs are set to begin as early as March, and no later than June 2010.
Describe your idea and explain why it is innovative
MANDALA HOUSE teaches yoga, breathing techniques & meditation to survivors of gender-based violence in post/conflict regions. We partner with local organizations who already provide support for survivors and can help us logistically by recruiting participants.
Upon completion of the free teacher-training, our innovative program model encourages graduates to apply for teaching grants. These grants act as a stipend for teachers providing public classes in the community. These classes can be provided in any forum--hospitals, clinics, schools, NPOs, villages, farms--so the ripple effect is extended outside of the survivor community.
Providing an easily assimilated model that can be replicated as a complement to other counseling programs means the program can literally go anywhere.
Program efficacy will be measured via entry/exit questionnaires.
What kind of beneficiaries is your initiative addressed to?
Women, Girls, Youth, Society in general.
Describe the profile of the beneficiaries of this project
The MANDALA HOUSE yoga teacher-training program is specifically offered to survivors of gender-based violence. However, as our graduates go out into their own communities, they may offer classes anywhere. Men, women, old, young--all will have the opportunity to explore these mind/body techniques, as well as experience a sense community.
In this way, the benefits of our program are limitless. We provide mind/body awareness skills to survivors which allow responsibility of their own self-recovery. This creates trust in themselves which inevitably will spill over into their lives & those around them.
Women who previously saw themselves only as victims, will now become healers/teachers in their communities. They will provide guidance toward forgiveness & healing as they learn to appreciate themselves on a deeper level.
Also, the traditional ideas about the worth of women is challenged. No longer ostracized, these women become leaders in their communities.
Our initial Sri Lanka program will teach 25 participants--Uganda may have upwards of 60. The potential number of beneficiaries from the public classes is exponential.
What is your initiative’s implementation strategy?
Now, thanks to MADRE, our fiscal sponsorship is in place.
Program development is happening very quickly. Response to our inquiries from potential partner organizations has been overwhelmingly positive. I am trying to balance fundraising efforts/strategies & development of the yoga training program manual.
While I am still actively cultivating relationships with partner organizations, fine-tuning the manual is my most important goal for the next three weeks.
I have also begun a volunteer list that grows daily, as more people become aware of the project and share it with their friends. Currently, I am interviewing those interested & finding ways to ensure effective use of their time/support as volunteers.
I am also doing grant research/proposal/LOI work, sourcing potential in-kind donors, tweaking the website & building a support base via social media networks (facebook, twitter).
In your opinion, what are the main barriers or obstacles in connection with this theme?
So far, I have encountered only one barrier--financial support.
To date, I am the main funding source, with various friends contributing what they can.
MANDALA HOUSE is a new organization, we do not have a track record with our programs, we don't have youtube video or images of those we help--not just yet.
However, those who are on the ground, doing work in these countries know that our creative approach to this issue/crisis is well-founded, well researched, sustainable, and most importantly, replicable.
I believe initial funding in support of our Sri Lankan & Ugandan programs will open the floodgates of interest, which will equal monetary support. But without proper funding I am doing it all alone. A paid support staff is needed to execute the project efficiently.
What type of partnerships you have or intend to generate strategic alliances with for the development of this initiative? Choose all that apply
International organizations, Non-Government organizations, Social organizations, Universities, Schools, Other.
Describe with whom you have generated these alliances and how
In Uganda, we are working with the St. Monica's Tailoring School (http://www.stmonicagulugirlsrelief.org/).
Contact was established via a contact at the Whitten-Newman Foundation.
In Burundi & DRC we are working with Heartland Alliance. Contact was established via their in-country Program Director.
Our goal is to cultivate long-term relationships with our partner organizations, thus allowing the program model to evolve as needed and to provide consistent support for the communities we work in.
What are the main results generated and/or expected to generate by means of this initiative?
Our primary goal is to teach yoga/meditation for self-recovery. We hope our participants are able to fully incorporate the teachings in their lives and use the techniques to recalibrate themselves mentally/emotionally and find peace.
The aim is 25 participants per training session.
These graduates are then encouraged to teach in their own communities. Depending on their motivation, the numbers of beneficiaries ultimately reached by this program could be astounding.
MH feels that by providing survivors a new role as teachers, the community will value these women differently, examine traditional beliefs and grow together through acceptance.
What is the main impact that your initiative might generate?
Traumatic memories are stored differently in the brain, so, the betrayal continues inside the survivor's own mind & body.
Modeled on trauma-sensitive yoga, conscious breathing & drawing on non-violent communication techniques, we offer psychosocial methods that not only lead toward empowerment--helping individuals gain awareness, confidence & inner peace--but these techniques can also help re-pattern the way traumatic memory is stored.
When this happens, a shift in thinking occurs. This shift is the greatest impact of our program.
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