ChangeWarriors in Action – A Glimpse into our Gender Fieldwork

The fieldwork sessions at TribesforGOOD are always dynamic. After a week of mentoring sessions, it is their chance to put everything into action. In our Gender, Menstrual Health & Mental Health program, our ChangeWarriors  Prisha Uppal, Ananya Lamba & Hannah Gomez unleashed their inner gender advocates as they gave an awareness session on Gender stereotypes to high school students, with the help of their trainer Ms Heidi.

The objective of the session was to help them recognize and reflect on the gender roles present in the society, and to identify the key messages conveyed by their family, friends, and acquaintances on gender roles. The medium of fieldwork was online, and the students from our partner NGO joined the video meeting.

The Process 

Once the introductions were over, the session began with an ice breaker activity to build familiarity. This captured the students’ attention and opened them up to further activities.

The fieldwork sessions always value the input given by the students. The next activity was to understand oneself through one thing they like and dislike, as well as one fear and goal of theirs. They were also asked to share a pet name others associate themselves with – some girls are given masculine nicknames, since they wear pants, and are sometimes loud. This exercise gave them an idea on their views of self, and how others see them.

The students were then asked to share the advantages and disadvantages of being a male and a female. The students talked about their own experiences about curfews, and restrictions as girls, and some shared how women were often supported by ‘Narishakti’ movements, and sometimes boys feel left out/ less supported. The activity had a very positive responses and was very engaging for the students.

In order to make the session more interactive, the next activity was sharing two videos on gender equality, after which the TFG facilitators and the students engaged in a conversation about their reflections.

The students watched both of the videos with interest and had their responses ready when the questions were asked by the facilitators. Due to the encouragement by the TFG students, they were confident in their responses and did not seem awkward about sharing their views. The obvious and lesser known differences between the two videos were pointed out.

To carry forward what they learned in the session, they were given a homework to observe the gender related messages they receive on a daily basis.

The program emphasizes on the various intersections of gender, and before concluding  the session, the interaction between gender and mental health were made clear to the students.

As the ChangeWarriors were aware of the depth of the topic of gender, they decided to end it with a reflective, guided meditation to ground the participants.

The Takeaway

“This workshop was all about interacting with the children. They all seemed super enthusiastic to share their opinions about gender stereotypes around them” – Prisha Uppal, TFG Changewarrior

Many students were aware of gender- related issues and some wanted to pass on the information from the workshop to their friends.  They seemed excited to share and were not scared to say their opinions. In the reflective session, the students knew what they were talking about and were confident in their words. The students were asked how the session helped them, and they recollected everything new that they learned. Later some promised that they would not discriminate against others, or allow others to discriminate against them. And that before teasing, they would stop to think once, and be mindful. 

As the slogan that was raised at the end of the session, the young ChangeWarriors also promise the same.

“WE WILL BREAK GENDER INJUSTICE”