SAIIER 2021:Disha Info Desk & Events

Auroville Campus Initiative		Scholarship and Educational Fund (SEF)
Disha Info Desk & Events a project of Entity::Auroville Campus Initiative by Author::Valentine

Many of the youth in Auroville are not necessarily aware of all the opportunities the city holds for them after they are done with school, nor are they aware of how Auroville functions. The aim of Disha is to provide personalised support to the youth that are seeking guidance for the next step of their lives.

Description of project:

Disha sought to provide support to the youth through two means:

1. First, as an “information desk” for individuals seeking guidance through connecting them to resource people, providing emotional and technical support and helping them navigate Aurovillian administration.
2. Second, as an event holder that held workshops that supplied participants with tools that would empower and enable them to choose their next steps in a manner that is more true to them.

14 youths reached out to us for support. During an initial meeting their needs would be identified and relevant support would be provided. This would come in the form of linking them with resource people within and outside of Auroville, helping with writing emails to relevant services of Auroville and in some cases providing psychological support through holding a safe space and providing guidance. Based on individual needs, follow up meetings would take place with some meeting almost every week.

A total of 6 workshops were held: 3 online and 3 in SAIIER. About 35 people in total attended the workshops, including older Aurovillians, volunteers and registered guests. The topics of the workshop were Goal Setting, Vision Board, Core Values, Ikigai and Core Identity Model.

Some new initiatives emerged this year:

• Unending Education group: Disha joined the Unending Education group that also includes Savi, the Auroville Research Platform, Auroville Campus Initiative, Anveshan and YouthLink. This is an initiative that aims at vitalising and promoting the concept of unending education (post-school) in Auroville. Out of this the ‘myunendingeducation’ Instagram account was created and was managed by Disha.
• Collaboration with Scholarship Fund: The youth interested in applying for a scholarship through the Scholarship and Education Fund now need to meet with the Disha team for screening prior to approaching the Scholarship Fund. The screening includes understanding the individual’s needs and motivations and exploring alternatives within and outside Auroville. This is to ensure that the individuals are well informed of their choices prior to seeking an educational loan. (This year Disha did not receive any requests from potential applicants).
• Youth Survey: A survey was created to understand the perspectives of those who either grew up or currently go to school in Auroville regarding the challenges and opportunities they encountered.

Outcomes:

• 14 people received individual support of different types – both Auroville youth and bioregion youth.
• 6 workshops were held, 3 online and 3 in person. 35 people including volunteers, Swadharma program participants and Aurovilians participated.

Reflections:

It is clear that the youth are uneducated when it comes to the administration and the working groups / governance of Auroville. There seems to be a fear of asking and a feeling of being disenfranchised.

In some cases it was apparent that there was a very severe lack of parental support which affected finances, housing, physical and mental health, and decision making. The role of Disha at times was that of a social worker but without the proper resources. An entity that could provide support to these vulnerable youth is sorely required.

During the workshops there was no participation by the Auroville youth. Giving workshops through the schools may have had more impact, but none of the schools responded to the introductory emails that we sent.

We appreciate the trust shown by the Scholarship Fund and feel that this collaboration makes sense.

There were many interesting insights and learnings from the Survey results. Our detailed reflection will be shared at a future date.

The collaboration within the Unending Education group has been energising and we are optimistic about what can be achieved in the future.

Conclusion:

Due to the lack of human resources, Disha will not be continuing. What has been observed while doing this work is that a systemic change regarding how we support the youth is needed. Much of the youth of Auroville requires assistance in the form of material, emotional and social support.

There is a real concern that our youth have to provide for themselves, which is not conducive to a healthy learning environment. They are too busy working for their basic needs to actually be able to pursue something that is both fulfilling and contributes to the community. The number of ‘apprentice maintenances’ is too low and the criteria to be eligible for them is very alienating.

Although the principle within Auroville is that we are here to dedicate our lives and give our energy to this project, it is not realistic to expect young people to connect with and embody this philosophy. Many of us that can connect to this philosophy have had the privilege of choosing this life and the youth should be given the same opportunity.

The schools have not used our service. This, in itself, is ok but if there is no centralised guidance-counselor service then the schools would need to assume this responsibility. As it stands, the schools provide minimal support to their own students when it comes to the next steps in their life and the youth that have dropped out of school for any reason do not even receive this minimal support.

To summarise, the youth would benefit greatly from the following services:

1. Social Services
2. Guidance Counseling
3. A maintenance that would allow the youth to support themselves while learning in Auroville.