Next week, Mumbai will play host to the Seed Festival, which brings together groups from seven states across India, working for conservation and promotion of seed diversity. The aim of the festival is to celebrate the collective bio-cultural heritage of indigenous people and farming communities in India, and create public awareness and policy support to conserve seed diversity, which is under threat.

Being held on February 19-21, 2012, the festival will include a seed diversity exhibition, discussions, film screenings, cultural programmes and more. Seed savers across India will be attending this festival and will also be speaking at parallel events at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

See the event schedule and other details at http://www.gmfreein.org/sf-mum and www.facebook.com/events/359748717383521/

Also see the Seed Festival brochure and flyer for more information.

Date: February 19 to 21, 2012

Time: 9 am to 7 pm

Place: Janata Kendra, near Mumbai Central Station (W), Tulsiwadi, Tardeo (main venue for all three days)

Kshana, an NGO that organises entertainment events for underprivileged and marginalised people, is having its next event at an old age home, Jeevan Asha in Andheri, from 3.30-5.30pm on February 19, 2012.

Keeping in mind that the residents have restricted movements and a light diet, they will play Antakshari and Housie, followed by a light snack and some gifts for them.

The total cost of this event is Rs. 15,000. You could donate in any way you like. Kshana accepts cash or cheques in the name of ‘Kshana Charitable Trust’. You could donate in kind too.

The NGO needs a lot of volunteers for this event, so if you would like to contribute your time, please call Esha on 7666877077 or Roshni on 9820750480 for any more details. You can also visit www.kshana.org.

Date: February 19, 2012

Time: 3.30 pm – 5.30 pm

Place: Jeevan Asha, near Fun Republic, Andheri (W), Mumbai – 400 053. Ph: 26303076/ 26303065

Also read Mumbai Action’s article on Kshana: Living in the ‘moment’

Janta Ka Aaina — a weekly newspaper that covers issues of people in slum, human rights violations, house demolition issues, police torture and all the problems of minorities, marginalised and excluded people in Mumbai — is looking for resources to continue and expand its activities.

The newspaper was started two years ago by advocate and human rights activist Shakil Ahmed, who is also secretary of Nirbhay Bano Andolan (NBA), a group that has been working towards making the state government more accountable to its citizens.

Surviving on donations, Shakil brings out 1,500 copies for each edition at a cost of Rs 7,000. Around 50 copies are sold off the stands, while the rest are sent to subscribers.

In order to strengthen and expand its activities to better serve marginalised people, Janta Ka Aaina is looking resources — in terms in people, money and ideas. Here’s what you can do:

1) Give suggestions on a revenue model.

2) Volunteer to write stories for the paper. This will be voluntary.

3) Subscribe to the paper. It costs only Rs 100 annually.

4) Donate as much as you can and feel appropriate.

5) Sponsor one or two or several issues.

For more information, you can contact Shakil at shakilnba@gmail.com or 99699-25602/ 022-22947309.

To know more about Janta Ka Aaina, visit http://aainanews.blogspot.com

Nirantar, a centre for gender and education, is looking for people to join the team that is going to be involved in Khabar Lahariya expansion in the next year.

The centre is looking for a dynamic woman to join a team that is setting up a chain of local language rural newspapers, Khabar Lahariya, run by Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim women across northern and central India. The job involves training and mentoring rural women to be journalists and agents, to run their own newspaper, as well as providing editorial and marketing support, visioning, networking and fundraising for the newspapers. The applicant should have some experience of working as a journalist, an understanding of gender and development issues and good writing skills in English and Hindi. The job is based in Delhi but involves frequent travel.

For details, contact Subhalakshmi Nandi at nandi1610@gmail.com

OASIS, an organisation working towards promoting environmental awareness of the children, for the children and by the children, has organised an event called Haan Main Apraadhi Hoon, which is a dance and drama showcase to be performed at Carter Road in Bandra on January 21, 2012.

The event aims to showcase the students’ learning of the project Green Ideas initiated by the Environment Department, State of Maharashtra executed by OASIS with the specific theme of Flora and fauna of Mumbai through their presentation talents.

The rationale of this project was that the Environmental assets are valuable and the welfare of Mumbaikars is tied up with preservation of those assets. Community participation is a must to protect our ecological treasures that have outstanding universal values and be a part of collective responsibility. The sparrows, vultures, feathered friends and native trees are vanishing from Mumbai.

Through this project, OASIS wanted to drive home to the students the ‘native flora and fauna’ existent in Mumbai and to survey the kind of flora and fauna that existed in the adjacent lane and the species that have witnessed the vanishing of the same. The project involved students right from research to action and it inculcated the sense of ownership and responsibility to retain the natural wealth of Mumbai along with its becoming a world class city.

The project culminates in an event on the evening of January 21, 2012, at the Carter Road Amphitheatre, Bandra (W) ,between 6.30 pm and 9.30 pm, where there will be performances by school students for the officers of the Environment Dept, State of Maharashtra, parents, school teachers and students as well as the general public.

Date: January 21, 2012

Time: 6.30 pm — 9.30 pm

Place: Carter Road Amphitheatre, Bandra (W)

Arpan, an organisation that deals with the issue of child sexual abuse,  is looking for a Marketing and Communication Officer.

The primary purpose of this role is to develop, manage and maintain communication (print and electronic) material for internal and external audiences of Arpan and actively reach out to various media channels like print media, electronic media, social networking
platforms other digital promotion platforms to promote Arpan and its work.

The Officer will be responsible for all PR related activities within the organization and will be responsible for handling
promotional events for Arpan and media coverage during the same. This position will also require the Officer to develop a fund raising plan with Corporate partners and raise funds as well as manage cause-related fund raising events for Arpan.

If interested please write to info@arpan.org.in.

Job Description:

SHARE is looking for an experienced, energetic & enthusiastic individual who values grassroots intervention and contributing to the development of women artisans.  This is a managerial position requiring ingenuity, problem solving ability, strong communication skills and a thorough understanding of the mission. The Assistant Director will be responsible for the social development and advancement of women artisans and their involvement in designing their own programmes.

It is an exceptional opportunity for an individual who sincerely wants to provide opportunities to women to change their lives by understanding them, building on their strengths and abilities, and assisting in the execution of programmes.  Our model has no place for charity nor does it have any place for paternalism or autocracy.

Requirements:

• Superb intercommunication, listening skills needed
• Project planning, implementation, reporting, supervision and project reports required
• Self-starter, able to multi-task, desire to plan successful programmes
• Must have an innate respect for women artisans and see and value their potential.

Qualifications/ Experience:

• A professional with Graduate or postgraduate qualification; preferable fields of study are Development, women’s empowerment and project management.
• A minimum of 5 years (following graduation) of experience gained in a professional environment and a minimum 5 years work experience in a senior/supervisory position.
• Fluency (oral and written) in Hindi and English; Excellent computer skills necessary.

Due to the high volume of responses, not all applicants may receive a response. Female applicant preferred.

Apply to: pushpika.freitas@gmail.com

Ashoka Changemakers, a global community that facilitates social change, is seeking entries for Citizen Media: A Global Innovation Competition:

Media connects people to their world, gives voice to their ideas and dreams, and equips them with knowledge to improve their lives and the lives of others. In all these ways, media catalyzes participatory citizenship, on both a local and global scale.

But even in this age of pervasive media, many millions of people marginalized by political and economic barriers lack access to even the most basic tools of information — thereby depriving them of valuable input and connection, and depriving the rest of the world of their voices.

What do we mean by this? Well, we’re waiting for you to tell us, but here are some initial ideas for what strong entries might hope to achieve:

• Give voice to underserved, vulnerable populations, introducing them to media creation and distribution (e.g., crowdsourcing strategies, training to advance digital literacy);
• Equip journalists and publishers with tools or channels to report important news that otherwise gets missed (e.g., content creation, aggregation and distribution solutions);
• Advance free speech and privacy protections (e.g., encryption tools to protect the identity of content creators and users);
• Address the financial sustainability of quality news (e.g., micropayments systems that reward journalists, models for revenue sources); and
• Help people better navigate information and ascertain content reliability and authenticity (e.g., content sorting and fact-checking tools).

Submit your solutions before September 14, 2011, and help boost media access and participation around the world. If you know of someone with a great idea, nominate their project using this quick and easy form. The innovator will receive an invitation to enter.

Winners’ Prizes: Four entries will receive a cash prize of US $5,000. The most competitive entrants will also be considered for an Ashoka Fellowship — complete with a three-year living stipend, international recognition, and access to a network of systems-changing social entrepreneurs.

For details, visit: http://www.changemakers.com/citizenmedia

The Asha-Shree Endowment offers scholarships to economically underprivileged students in India. Applicants must be currently enrolled in one of the following, in India, solely based on merit:

• Graduate or post-graduate professional courses [Medicine, Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture, Law, etc.]
• Post-graduate courses in other disciplines
• Post-doctoral research projects of social and community interest

A scholarship of Rs 30,000 per year is awarded to a beneficiary for the entire duration of a course. The continuation of a scholarship is contingent upon an outstanding performance by the beneficiary in each semester. Up to six new students are selected every year.

Since its establishment in 1998, the endowment has helped 20 deserving students in completing multiple years of their education in various fields including Science, Arts, Architecture, and Design. The endowment has also supported doctoral projects.

On a case-by-case basis, educational institutes and other social and charitable organizations have also received donations from the endowment for their special educational projects.

Application for 2012 is now open. Deadline is August 31, 2011.

For details, visit: http://www.asha-shree.org/

An appeal from Mumbai Smiles, a non-profit organisation that works with slum communities in Mumbai:

Hello to all our supporters. We’re sending out this appeal because we need you help…

We are growing, and growing fast. Our education programme has expanded, and our health projects have kicked off and we have a burgeoning community of beneficiaries, thanks to our small and committed team that works hard to help those who are less privileged.

However, we need help, which is why we are sending out this appeal to you, all our trusty supporters. We are a non-profit organisation, and, moreover, one with limited resources, and can use all the help we can get behind the scenes…

What we need

We need writers, designers, photographers, IT experts, people who can help with documentation and office tasks, workshop trainers, and more. If you have always wanted to volunteer with a non-profit organisation but didn’t know where to start or thought you didn’t have the right skills, here’s your chance. It’s the simple tasks that we need help with.

What is in it for you

We are a fun organisation that is doing some honest and fulfilling work in helping those who are less privileged. If you helped us, you would be helping them. You also have the chance of enriching your life experience by working with a fast-growing organisation that is involved in a variety of projects.

We will be able to provide you a token compensation to cover any basic costs you may incur in providing us your services.

If you think you could contribute in any way, do mail us at info@mumbaismiles.org.

Note: At Mumbai Smiles, we are flooded with requests from people who want to volunteer with our projects. Although we appreciate these intentions, we currently don’t encourage volunteers to work in our projects, for two reasons: We ourselves are still building a relationship with the communities and we don’t want anything to deter that. Also, we prefer to involve people from the communities itself in our projects rather than bring in outsiders, as they are more invested in the work and this promotes holistic development.