Menu

Participatory Action Research training with the Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre

From the 28-30 January 2020 a meeting was held between SPARC/SDI, the George Institute for Global Health, India and the Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre. It was a pilot training to test out some of the participatory action research tools we will use in ARISE.
Icebreakker at the pilot PAR session
The idea was to avoid classroom training as much as possible, and use music, games, street plays, and a mapping exercise to help us learn and have as much of the discussion out in the open as we could.
street play in the par training
Each day commenced with songs, facilitated by a singer/composer PV Ramana and his team. Each song was composed in simple, local language around social themes such as health, revolution, caste divides etc.
play about water
The teams split into two and enacted independent street plays that touched upon issues of poor access to water and education among the marginalised residents and how it is possible to get access to them through collective negotiation.
Power walk from above
We also did two rounds of power walk, with power and gender roles exchanged!
sharing views on the power of mapping
The classroom exploration of mapping touched upon what is a map, how is it drawn, what is it used for and what are the different elements of it.
everone focused on how to map
A practical session as a test in a nearby slum brought more understanding to the mapping technique. Key elements of how residents can participate in a mapping exercise were discussed.
Participatory Action Research training break
Facilitated by Prasanna, everyone discussed how we could explore ‘health and well being’ with waste picking communities, what it means to researchers, what it means to the community, how do we address implicit power structures.
Group photo from the mapping exercise
We hope for a long and fruitful partnership together.
The Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre (DBRC) is based in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. It was established in 1992 to work for the empowerment of the Dalit Bahujan communities with a special focus on women, children and workers in the informal sector. It’s mission is to enable assertive interventions of Dalit Bahujan communities and mainstream them towards socio-economic empowerment.