Voyage of Change By Neha Sharma, YES Alumna | Year of exchange – 2005-06 “Being a media graduate, social media and marke ng has been my profile for the longest me but the pressing social issues around India and around the world have always hovered my mind. I have worked relessly with NGOs around India but the itch to do something bigger has always been there. As a YES alumni, my perspec ve on issues has been global, I wanted to bring about a change (or atleast work towards it) so as to have a global reach. I had come to an understanding that all the issues in the world are the same, degree and magnitude varies. Issues like, poverty, water crisis, public health, women safety, biodiversity, crime against children, war and the biggest and the most pressing concern CLIMATE CHANGE. Climate change affects all of us. No ma er which country or which strata of economy one belongs to. Thanks to the YES exchange program, I was exposed to varying global perspec ves at an early age which engrained the philosophy of being a global ci zen and working towards protec ng the Earth and humanity. And, today I have made a film- Voyage For Change. A global documentary from the perspec ve of children on the issues of sustainability, solu ons and climate change. It has taken more than 3 years to bring this film together and it has travelled to France, Japan, India and California. The film is set to release in 2021.
My Exchange Experience By Divya Ramavath, YES Alumna, Hyderabad
YES Impact Stories
“Since my childhood, I have gone through a lot of challenges and I had to work hard for most of the things. I come from a middle-class agricultural family. I studied in my own local language un l 5th grade a er that I got admission to an English medium school. It was so hard for my family to pay my school fee. I worked hard and I completed my 10th grade. On weekends, I used to go to fieldwork to help my parents, and I s ll do that.
I am interested in sports. I love to play volleyball. My teachers saw how interested I am in volleyball and because of that, I got to play volleyball at the state level. I also really like to play kabaddi but as a girl, no one gave me permission to play kabaddi. My community doesn't approve of girls playing kabaddi. We have a lot of restric ons and limita ons, but I'm working towards overcoming the same. I completed my 10th grade and I got an opportunity to go abroad on the YES Program. This program created a posi ve impact on my life. When I was started my journey to par cipate in this pres gious program, each and every person was thinking that I won't be able to excel in this program and everyone discouraged me. But when I explained this YES program, the values and their mission, they understood and appreciated the same. YES program changed me so much in one year. There are lots of inspira onal stories. I appreciate the hard work of each and every person who is working for YES. I got freedom with this program. When I completed this program I got an iden ty in my society. I'm someone now. Currently, I am giving back what I learned from the program. I am giving mo va on to girls and their parents to come forward and let them become leaders of tomorrow. My goal is to become a police officer. For this, I am facing lots of challenges, but I am preparing myself to reach the goal. I am studying a lot of inspira onal stories of IAS and IPS officers. I have also joined civil classes and also training for police service. I don't know what will happen, but I know that am not gonna leave my goal and ambi on in my life. Thank you to YES Program for everything" Page 10 | October 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India
First me in the history of human civiliza on children have to strike and march all over the world to protect their future and the future of all life on Earth. “Voyage for Change” is part of this collec ve movement of children. This is not merely a film but also a film ac vism campaign aimed at transforming the current prevailing narra ve from “the world in crisis” to “solu ons for a sustainable world”. The documentary explores the challenges of today's world and the sustainable solu ons through the eyes of children from three con nents. In a subtle manner the film hopes for plan ng seeds of change in the minds of children and parents of the world. What makes the film a compelling viewing experience is the candid conversa ons between the children and commi ed and inspiring humans such as Shilpi Chhotray, Andrew, Luke Julia, Michale. Interrelated and intersec onality between the issues such as Climate Change, protec ng forests, sustainable energy, sustainable farming, sustainable food, sustainable architecture, sustainable travel, social injus ce, par cipa ve democracy, fake news and more fall under the umbrella of this project.”
