The leadership training program for adolescents at Maivarai began yesterday (21.05.2026). Although it was originally planned for only 10 participants, the workshop commenced with the enthusiastic participation of 15 children.
This camp, attended by boys and girls aged between 12 and 16, offered experiences that are important for all of us to understand. Therefore, I am sharing the key insights here as a series of posts.
The first day’s session focused on violence and non-violence in society, perspectives, and how these relate to one’s personal way of living. After a brief discussion, the children were divided into groups and given a task.
Each group was provided with a daily newspaper and asked to identify the number of incidents related to violence reported in it. They were also instructed to list three incidents that deeply affected them and analyze the root causes behind those events.
From the nine incidents of violence identified by the three groups, five were related to sexual violence against women, one to dowry-related abuse, one to terrorism, one to war, and one to substance abuse.
The children’s perspectives on society and their discussions went beyond our expectations and were truly remarkable. In their classification, 66% of the incidents involved violence against women and children, while substance abuse, war, and terrorism each accounted for 11%.
This exercise clearly highlighted how women and children are the most affected in various forms of violence occurring in society.
More experiences will be shared in the next post…
