Create a Safe Space for Children and Youth

These past months were joyful ventures into exciting new creations and feeling the collective enegy. 

Constitutional Values: 

The 12-member Child Rights Central Committee (CRC), comprising children, youth, parents, and Shaishav staff, met in July, August, and September. 

 In these meetings, children expressed concerns about growing violence against children through corporal punishment and other protection violations, as well as increasing violent attitudes among children based on 

 Leadership Camp

A leadership camp was the first venture in this theme. The camp aimed to help children understand the meaning of the Indian Constitution and connect its values to their everyday lives, while building leadership, critical thinking, and a sense of responsibility.

The camp concluded with children collectively beginning to work on a Constitution for the Balsena Sangathan. This activity helped them practice democratic decision making and strengthened their sense of ownership and participation.

 This was made the general theme for the Child Rights week celebration in Dediyapada. With a compilation of games, play, movie and song the values of fraternity, non-violence, humanity was celebrated and discussed.

 During the Child Rights Week (14^th to 20^th November), in Bhavnagar, 12 schools were visited, reaching 3,057 students and 51 teachers. An anti-corporal punishment signature campaign was carried out, asking teachers to create safe, violence-free spaces in their schools. Surprisingly, some teachers hesitated to sign, openly acknowledging they may not be able to stop using corporal punishment despite existing laws against it. It is difficult to directly confront them so, we are engaging with a city level Teachers’ Union and a collective of some progressive teachers and sensitizing them to work on “Zero Tolerance Against Child Abuse”. It’s a slow and long-term process but will bare fruits in long run.

 During this week, community activities were organized at public places like Pill Garden and Sardar Nagar Circle, where 188 children and 122 adults participated through poster displays, games, and awareness interactions. Parents also supported the campaign, contributing 111 signatures. 

Balsena Annual Day

The 2025 Balsena Annual Program was as colourful and diverse as our Indian culture, with performances representing 16 states of India. The song "Aa Amaro Desh Che" (this is our nation) floated across the venue. The program's major themes were unity, equality, and respect for diversity, combining learning, play, discussion, and cultural expression to help children connect these values with their everyday lives. Age-appropriate activities focused on friendship, shared identity, and communal harmony through discussions, games, songs, and experiential learning. For instance, a simple Rock, Paper, and Scissors game was tweaked to help children understand fairness and equality. After lunch, children from each community gave performances. Each team was assigned an Indian state, and they presented about their culture through through role plays, dance, poem recitals, and traditional costumes—all arranged by the children themselves with minimal adult assistance. 

The first draft of the Balsena Constitution was presented by the Balsena Council to other children after working on it since the Leadership Camp. The current draft covers values, identity, roles, responsibilities, and the election process. The Council will continue refining the document through regular meetings to detail values and other important components. Children who represented Balsena at national and state levels were felicitated by the Chief Guest, Mr. Nitin, a renowned cultural and arts preservationist based in Bhavnagar and working at the state and national level for promoting culture and heritage.

More than 450 children partiipated in this joyful occassion marking 23rd birthday of Balsena. 

Gathering of Adolescent Girls (Kishori Samelan)

In the month of December, Kishori Sammelan was celebrated grand with 120 girls from Balsena and other girls from schools. The theme for this year’s Sammelan was “Me and My Identity” exploring oneself and reflecting about one’s own identity. This was also a topic that Balsena children demanded during the Council meeting. The activities were mostly finding one’s inner beauty, making one’s dream tree ad also exploring one’s own beliefs and values. One activity prompted children to find their role model in the recent Indian Blind Women’s and Women’s Cricket team who won world cups. The girls were able to find connection with their childhood with some of the players. This gave them the hope that the girls can also be leaders despite of the challenges. The key is consistent efforts with self-confidence.

Child Rights Sessions in Aashramshalas: This year we developed new child rights sessions that are easier for Aashramshala children to comprehend. Based on last year's learnings, children found Right to Protection and Right to Participation concepts difficult, and the Kathiawadi Gujarati vernacular did not align with the language spoken in tribal regions. The new sessions address these challenges.

In the Needs and Wants session—a precursor to child rights discussions—most children ranked parental love and affection above all other needs and wants, with a safe home and surroundings also topping the list.

After the Right to Protection sessions, children were surprised to learn that teachers cannot beat them or use any form of corporal punishment. Some children showed confidence that they will report such violence to responsible adults. We have currently asked children to share any such instances with us first to avoid blame or penalty falling on them. 

Training and interaction with students of Dl.Ed. 

Isha, member of our training team facilitated an interaction with 75 girls students studying Diploma in Education at Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya. During this training, importance of participation, creativity in education was discussed along withhow do we show integrity as adults who are role models for children. Isha also shared her own personal journey with education and her experiments of the same, along with discussion about Balsena and Aaranyak programs. 

Volunteers from colleges: 

Two girls from MKES college in Mumbai volunteered at Narmada district for 2 weeks. During this time they helped in data analysis work and took computer classes for children. 

15 volunteers from Shamaldas College and MSW college, volunteered in Bhanvagar who helped in taking sessions with children, and make presentation about different states of India. 

Capacity building

Shaishav is a learning organization. Every year we send team members to learn from the like-minded organizations so then can get much wider exposure and inculcate this learning to strengthen our programs. This year our program leaders had a meaningful week learning and experiencing the work of Muskaan and Eklavya in Bhopal. There was synergy in children's collectives and approaches to education and child-centered development in both organizations. From Eklavya, we learnt how to use library effectively to engage children actively and make reading very interesting activity for children.   We decided to adopt several initiatives and strategies in Balsena and Aaranyak, such as encouraging children's writing through simple stories and reading those stories among the

Staff trainings are a weekly routine, but during this period we also hosted two resource persons from AVEHI Abacus, Mumbai, to train facilitators on the first part of their Sangati module, centered on the theme of self and collective identity.

1. Play Manifesto

Shaishav, in collaboration with Ek Step and Shiksharth, participated in the national Play Manifesto initiative, which aimed to hear directly from children about what they need for joyful and meaningful play. Through this effort, 1,539 children from Bhavnagar and Dediyapada shared their voices. In Bhavnagar, 300 children participated through events and surveys, while in Dediyapada, 1,239 children from 16 Ashramshalas took part. Children described their Dream Playground—clean, shaded spaces with trees, swings, slides, sports areas, toilets, drinking water, lighting, and coaches, along with separate zones for different ages. They wanted play to be part of daily routines and recognized as a right, not a privilege. Surveys revealed that many children, especially girls, faced barriers such as limited time, unsafe spaces, and inadequate equipment—about 70% of older girls lacked proper play facilities. Their message was clear: every child deserves safe, open, and inclusive spaces to play freely every day.

2. Training at SWATI:

SWATI is a feminist organization working with women and adolescent girls. Shaishav facilitated two trainings with 30 adolescent girls under SWATI’s fellowship program. The first training focused on understanding gender, discrimination, and patriarchy, encouraging girls to reflect on how these affect their lives and where they wish to “break the cage.” Sessions on physical, mental, and emotional changes during puberty, menstruation, and menstrual hygiene generated great curiosity and participation. For many girls, it was the first time someone had taken time to explain these topics in such detail.

Further sessions on healthy friendships, love and relationships, and healthy sexuality helped participants explore safe choices, consent, confidentiality, and personal agency. Discussions on LGBTQIA+ identities and safe sex included learning about contraceptives, their effectiveness, and their effects on women’s bodies. The group showed enthusiasm, openness, and strong leadership qualities.

The second training was Wenlido, where participants demystified sexual violence and learned practical tools to stay safe — physically, mentally, and emotionally. Through exercises, activities, and group discussions, they built self-awareness and confidence. In their feedback, all participants shared that the training was extremely useful and that they now feel more confident in handling different situations. A common reflection was that the best part of the training was realizing their own inner strength to face and respond to challenges. 

3. Training at Disha

Wenlido Training with Disha Organization

Wenlido training was also facilitated with 25 adolescent girls of Disha organization. The training helped boost the girls’ self-confidence and challenged myths around sexual violence — especially the belief that it is the survivor’s fault or something to be ashamed of. As they understood these realities, the girls became more confident in expressing their opinions and showed greater freedom and comfort in their mobility.

4.Collaboration with Younge India: 

Shaishav collaborated with the Young India Initiative of CII to facilitate sessions with adolescent girls in various schools of Bhavnagar. The sessions focused on physical, mental, and emotional changes during puberty, along with menstruation and menstrual hygiene. Through interactive discussions and activities, the girls also learned about making safe decisions and seeking help when needed, promoting awareness, confidence, and self-care during adolescence.

Gandhi Gunjan Program

The Shaishav team participated in the Gandhi Gunjan program organized by Lokbharti Vidyalaya and facilitated games with 180 high school students. Through play, the activities highlighted Gandhiji’s values — Ahimsa, peace, inclusivity, and his holistic approach to Swaraj — helping students experience and reflect on these principles in an engaging and interactive way.

UNICEF Meeting on Violence Against Girls

Parulben, our Founder and Executive Director, was invited by UNICEF to a meeting with SALSA and Gujarat High Court judges to present on violence against girls. She shared Shaishav’s experience with Wenlido as an effective tool for preventing violence and highlighted the formation of children’s collectives as a successful strategy for addressing and reducing such incidents.

Visit by University of Milan Students

Shaishav Bhavnagar hosted a delegation from the University of Milan Bicocca, Italy, as part of their international Summer School program “Learning from the Local.” The team included 18 students and 3 faculty members who visited to learn about children’s participation and empowerment. The visit provided an opportunity for the delegation to interact with local organizations and community-based initiatives, gaining insight into the realities of grassroots development work in India. Shaishav was delighted to share its experiences and practices with the international team.

TFIx 

Collaboration with TFIx – Fellowship Program in Dediyapada

Shaishav collaborated with TFIx to launch its fellowship program in Dediyapada for local youth. The program aims to enhance leadership skills and nurture participants as Baldosts, enabling them to support the holistic development of children through active engagement and participation of children.