The Saamarthya (Girls' Special) Dream India Camp (DIC), an 8 day residential leadership and girls' empowerment program with 85 participants from Jammu & Kashmir was conducted from 14th-21st December 2023 at Oasis Valleys.
The camp was Facilitated by Young Trustees of Oasis, Aatmaja Soni & Avadhi Shah.
22 girls from Udhampur & Jammu district, and 63 girls from Srinagar, Kupwara, Badgam & Baramulla districts of Kashmir Valley participated in this camp. Girls from various government schools studying in 8th-12th std participated in the camp.
Almost all girls were star participants of Life camps conducted in Jammu & Kashmir from April to July in 2023.
Total 12 teachers (3 from Jammu & 9 from Kashmir) also participated in this camp as faculties. They taught various subjects like Critical Thinking, Being Positive, Problem Solving, Dance, Music, Art etc.
This program was organised as part of Oasis Movement partnership with SCERT, School Education Department, Jammu and Kashmir Govt. for encouraging girl-leadership in the region.
"I believe that every girl of Kashmir deserves this chance at transformation in their lives.!"
As a girl I want to live in a society with no discrimination,
no disrespect, no injustice etc.. I want to change the society, alongside changing myself. I am ready to help Oasis for this change.
~ Sehajleen Kour, 18 yrs, Baramulla
I feel like my life has drastically changed in these 7 days. I have learned to raise my voice against wrong and injustice, which I feel is naturally going to help me a lot. I personally feel and believe that each and every girl should visit here and do this workshop. I have learned to stand for myselfno matter what others think about me. No matter how they see us, we by your actions can make them realise what we actually are.
Before DIC, I was very shy. I came here and saw Avadhi Di & Aatmaja Di & got inspired from them and I started thinking why can’t I be like this and I started smiling & opening up.
~ Shahiba Yaseen, 15 yrs, Kupwara
I somewhere knew I had the capacity of a leader but I never knew how to bring it out. After coming here, my heart, soul & mind came alive. I realised I was just missing the right platform to realise my potential, which I got here. I always did well in studies & co-curricular activities, but only after coming here I experienced the true strength of my leadership.
Here, after each parliament, session, argument & discussion - I deeply understood that all girls are capable to handle problems or to fight for themselves, whether the problem is as small as an ant or big like a mountain.
~ Aiyman Jaan, 16 yrs, Srinagar
My parents always taught me obedience. They always used to say "Nurain you alone have no power to change society!" “मर्द मर्द ही होता है” "औरत लोग जहाँ भी होता है लेकिन तब भी वो मर्द से Inferiority receive करती है।"
I always wondered how I could empower & motivate myself & my own gender to fight against female rape cases, humiliations, taunts, harassments & domestic violence. This camp gave me such an opportunity to put forward my message to empower girls. I’m so proud of my gender & Oasis camp and my friends, how we empowered each other & how we fought against inequality in this camp.
I came to know real power of unity. I identified my own qualities. I have the power to change society & I have got the power to motivate people for standing with right decision. I want more opportunities from Oasis camp so that I can empower my own region girls & conduct such sessions. I can also change society & work for my society.
~ Nurain, 17 yrs, Srinagar
Parliament session was my favorite session because in that session I learnt a lot of things like how a girl can raise her voice if she feels disrespected, how to be self-independent etc. This gave me a lot of confidence. Now this can be implemented in my whole life in every situation everywhere and yes of course my parents will love this change that their child has adopted.
~ Anika Manzoor, 14 yrs, Budgam
I liked the Parliament System at Oasis Dream India Camp because as a jury member I learned how to handle tough situations, how to see from different points of view. It gave me courage to see & separate right from wrong and to understand people.
~ Nargis Abid, 15 yrs, Budgam
इस पार्लामेन्ट सिस्टम से हमे बोलने का जसबा मिला है। जैसे मैं पहेले बोलने मे डरती थी कई कुछ गलत हो जाएगा तो सब मेरा मजाक उडाएंगे अगर अंग्रेजी मे ना बोल पाई तो सब मजाक बनाएंगे लेकिन जब मैं यहाँ आई तो मुझे बोलने का जसबा मिला, मुझे इंसाफ मिला। जैसे मैं यहाँ पर बोली वैसे मैं बहार भी बोलूँगी सबके सामने, दुनिया के सामने बोलूँगी।
~ Preeti Devi, 15 yrs, Jammu
My favorite session was Saamarthya. In this session we learned how a girl should be strong. This session inspired me and motivated me to live life strongly and confidently. I also learned to control emotions and how to face and adjust in situations happily, to handle any problem calmly. I have learnt what is responsibility.
~ Sanskrite Sharma, 15 yrs, Jammu
My favorite session was Critical Thinking. I was never punctual like I have been here. I am taking care of every second. I was not eating some things here but I made myself capable to do that, to eat that, to adjust myself in this environment.
First, I was afraid to be suppressed, but it was wrong. I believe that girls can do everything as men do. I became brave here. Earlier, I cried on small things, but now I don't.
~ Azra Mehraj, 15 yrs, Kupwara
The Saamarthya Session was very amazing because I have always learned about women empowerment but for the first time I learned that it's not women empowerment, actually it's women power. We women don’t need any empowerment we just need everyone's faith & support.
Being independent is very essential for us. After Saamarthya Session I desperately want to be independent and after going back I will surely try to be.
~ Saniya Fayaz, 14 yrs, Kupwara
मुझे सबसे अच्छा सामर्थ्य सेशन लगा क्यूंकि उस मे मेने सीखा की लड़की होना गर्व की बात है, लड़कियां वो हर काम कर सकती है जो लड़के कर सकते हैl मुझे बहुत हिंमत मिली इस सेशन से और इस सेशन की वजह से मैं अपने पैरों पर खड़ी रह सकती हूँl
चाहे मेरे सामने दो लोग हो या हजारों लोग मुझे जो करना है वो मैं कर सकती हूँ और ये सिर्फ और सिर्फ इस सामर्थ्य सेशन की वजह से।
~ Abiroo Manzoor, 13 yrs, Budgam
Photo Glimpses of Sessions
Every session in this camp was awesome. But my most favorite session was Star Assembly.
This session encourages all friends and makes them feel proud on themselves. I really feel very confident in the Star Assembly.
~ Deepika Sharma, 15 yrs, Jammu
I will miss the routine because the routine was helpful for my mental and physical health and it was hectic but was good for me. A person can be successful if he/she has such good habits of food and routine
~ Anika Manzoor, 14 yrs, Budgam
I liked the duties the most in this camp.
I like my duty, my duty was toilet cleaning. In my home I don’t like to do household work especially clean the toilets.
But this session taught me that 'no work is boring we can enjoy anything'
~ Asiya Zehra, 14 yrs, Budgam
Celebration Event & Hearty Good Bye on last day!
I started keeping smile on my face because of which I have made so many friends here and I have personally feel that kind of humanity, a kind of independence, love, affection & care towards others as well as towards myself.
And I personally feel if other girls get this chance they will learn a lot and can do many things in their life.
To be honest I am literally going to miss Oasis and specially Avadhi Di & Aatmaja Di, the way they have inspired and motivated me, I am going to miss that.
~ Shahiba Yaseen, 15 Yrs, Kupwara
Glimpses of Experience from Faculty Friends
This was a life challenging experience. This camp has really brought
change in me not only as a teacher but also as a human. I really want to change my negative thinking and respect others' emotions. I enjoyed the sessions by Aatmaja & Avadhi wherein they molded the behavior of our children through talks, and made them strong enough to show their emotions in the right way.
And highlights of Oasis Dream India Camp according me was to give power to our younger generation, especially girls. The aim was to build them emotionally strong so that they can face the difficulties of their life, and stand for themselves.
~ Sittendar Kour, Teacher, Kashmir
Teaching at Oasis Dream India Camp was a pleasant experience for me. Getting to know how our young kids process information that is not related to their curriculum was amazing. Concept of children’s parliament excited me as I thought our girls will be able to understand & discuss enormous things through that process.
I also enjoyed the Saamarthya sessions where students would open up about their personal struggles. Even feeling vulnerable didn’t stop them from sharing about their challenges. If I have to highlight specific things, it will be to appreciate the process students were facilitated through to understand and empower themselves.
~ Nasreena Lone, Teacher, Kashmir
I liked the process of Children's Parliament because it gave them leadership qualities.
This is the platform for our young generation to express their rights. It also acknowledges the leadership qualities among them. Gives them power to come forward.
~ Shaheena Akhter, Lecturer, Kashmir
The highlight of Oasis Dream India Camp according to me was exploring leadership qualities of participants in democratic education. Just as the tagline of Oasis Movement is Heart of Education is Education of Heart in the similar way this camp has definitely developed pure character qualities amongst participant in a very liberal and participatory way.
Participants definitely understood through this camp that leadership is in character, not in position and if we change ourselves we can definitely bring some change in this world.
Editor-In-Chief: Riya Shah
Editorial Team: Aatmaja Soni,Sanjiv Shah, Sheeba Nair
IT Team: Alkesh Raval, Mehul Panchal
Alive Newsletter/ Magazine6 January 2023
Year 17, Issue 1
You receive this newsletter because you may be one of the participants of Oasis activities or may have been referred by our core friends or you may have given your email address to us. Please feel free to share this newsletter with your friends, family, and co-workers. You have permission to use this content in your newsletter or email system as long as you do not edit the content and you leave the links and this resource box intact. We will be happy to receive a copy of the same. If you wish that this newsletter is dispatched directly to your contacts, you may recommend the same to us along with their key details. Incase if you do not want this Newsletter, you may unsubscribe it.
