In June 2012, ECF visited Samyak and Magic Bus to expose the team to other organisations working with similar aims and methodologies. These two organisations were initially chosen because Samyak works with engaging men for women’s empowerment while Magic Bus mobilizes children living in poverty towards livelihood, through the medium of sports.
The purpose of the visit to Samyak was to learn about organisations working with men on the issue of violence against women, understand their working model, and create a platform to initiate a dialogue for sector research on engaging men to end violence against women. The dialogue with Anand Pawar, founder of Samyak, gave our team an insight into the historical, social and political contexts of working with men in India.
On the other hand, the visit to Magic Bus was more helpful in understanding the methodologies of working with children in lower socio-economic communities. Their approach is to empower children through sports-based activities in becoming confident young leaders in their communities and creating viable livelihoods for themselves.
An important thing we learnt from Magic Bus was to make modules that are easily replicable and create content that is simple in its delivery and powerful in its impact.