Safe spaces and the potential they hold

What is a safe space? 

Is it a space which gives you the comfort of being yourself? Is it a space where you can be vulnerable? Is it a space for difficult conversations with ease? Is it a space where mutual trust is given? Where you can take leaps of faith with the freedom to make mistakes?

Is it a space that can mould itself according to your desired growth?

Do we have enough safe spaces in our everyday lives? Our workplace, home, and schools, do they offer safe spaces?

How important is a ‘safe space’ in educational institutions? What role does 'ownership' of the space play in it?

If there is no freedom to express, share or confront difficult questions in a learning space, what kind of learning does it offer? Is it driven by ‘curiosity’ or ‘fear’? What kind of community does it fuel?

It really felt that the Nook had a significant impact on their lives one way or the other. Some said they were idle back home with nothing much to do; but coming here and getting involved in different projects with everything provided to try their hands on, changed the way they see themselves. 

They learnt a lot of soft skills. Most of them were so shy to stand and speak in a group or give presentations, but now you see a lot of them in the reviews and exhibitions speaking and presenting with so much confidence and clarity, it shows how much growth they went through !…

-Natasha Gore, Learner, Bulawayo Nook Hub

So it isn’t a question, but an essence of educational (learning) institutions to become safe spaces, to offer and accept growth unhindered. To feed the freedom to truly ‘explore’ and ‘express’.

To not ‘choose’ for the learners but build enough trust to support their choices.

Have Nooks been able to create safe spaces, or are they just skill-building centres offering material and tangible resources?

A glimpse of any Nook might create an initial idea of a maker space or skill-building centre, with quite a variety of tools and resources to tinker with. But a longer stay reveals its true essence, lying in trust building, sharing and pushing personal boundaries.

Sharing circles play a very crucial role in the Nook being a Nook.

As the name suggests, they are intended for collective feedback and sharing, where learners get together and voluntarily take turns in expressing their ups and downs, in the Nook as well as in their lives. The very basis of the Nook lies in the accessibility of choice and decision-making.

Coming to the Nook has changed me drastically in quite a few ways. I have tried my hands on most things I ever imagined of. From tailoring to carpentry to electronics to make up and Mehendi. But the biggest gain has been the shift in my confidence in public speaking.

I dropped out of school early to take care of my siblings and manage household chores, so there wasn't much stepping outside home. Talking to any stranger has been a big deal.

Now it doesn’t matter whether speaking on a mic to a bunch of people or interacting with a person I’ve just met, I can go on for half an hour. I like meeting new people too, opening up to them gives me more confidence about myself...

...The encouragement and appreciation I receive here have made a lot of difference. In fact, I talk the most in the Nook, I can open up about things I can’t discuss at home or anywhere else. We have opening and closing circles at the Nook where everyone gathers up and discusses all sorts of things. We share our learnings and challenges both at Nook and outside of it. Hosting these circles took a big shift in my communication skills. I’ve also realised the importance of listening to people even if I don’t agree with them...

We all come here to learn and have fun. Once at the Nook, it doesn’t matter what age or gender you are. My favourite partner to work with till date is a 15 yr old kid. There’s no limitation to what one can learn and who they can learn from. No one really grows alone.

-Ameen Shaheena, Learner, JP Nagar Nook

Highlights of the quarter

Katchipedu Nook held its second Nook exhibition and it was an interesting example of how fruitful a shift of ownership can be..

On July 16th Katchipedu Nook, Chennai hosted the 2nd Nook Exhibition marking the completion of 2 learning cycles. And this time it was entirely in charge of learners to lead the event. While it had its share of chaos and exhaustion, there was a new space of shared leadership and whole hearted involvement.

The learners introduced an age-old instrument of the community as a medium of expression, known as the Parai. A dying part of the local culture for centuries, it's a form of drum historically used for public announcements and entertainment. The learners walked through the village beating the Parai asking the community to join in their celebration.

The exhibit saw a variety of projects ranging from electronics to music to tailoring to videography, all presented through small plays or skits learners had prepared. The event went on for few hours longer than planned, but the energy and enthusiasm of the space remained intact till its wrap.

A major development that occurred since the last cycle was the active participation of adult learners of the community in Nook, which was earlier perceived as a learning space for kids.

Introducing CODE (Consortium of Designing Education) - A step ahead in building ecosystems of change-makers and educators

Moving against the mainstream and establishing a viable alternative to it has never been easy, and has always required a collective effort. Hence, a long-thought initiative , CODE had its first two gatherings in Johannesburg, South Africa and Kampala, Uganda.

With the aim of bringing together those radically re-inventing the idea of education, the event was designed to engage together in activities, discussions and screenings around reimagining education and the values that define it. It was also an early step towards setting up Nooks on scale in different geographies.

Two Nooks at CMYCs in Meghalaya had their first exhibitions

Chief Minister's Youth Centres or CMYC's are our first on scale implementation of Nooks in partnership with the Govt. of Meghalaya and Sauramandala foundation.

Nooks at CMYC Shangpung and CMYC Umling celebrated the completion of their first learning cycles with quite some pomp as the learners flaunted their unique projects. Each event had a turnaround of around 200 people including the community members, partners, govt officials and potential investors for the projects.

One of the highlights was. a husk remover machine made by two learners in CMYC Shangpung which gained widespread recognition and appreciation all over.

We decided to work on this project because our village is heavily dependent on agriculture and this machine can help our community in reducing costs and drudgery.

-Deiwamut Lapasam and Nicky Padong

These learners also made a prototype of a solar powered fan and other environmentally friendly projects. Apart from these, there were projects around knitting, tailoring, baking, carpentry, soap making, electronics etc. Organic soaps by learners from CMYC Umling were also a big hit and quite in demand.

All the 22 CMYCs in Meghalaya are solar powered as step towards a more sustainable future.

The newest Nook at Uganda is active now

A new Nook at Uganda was set up this year, which had the on-grounds presence of Hoppers from the DEFY team to initiate its full-fledged functioning while training the Nook fellows into running it.  The hoppers travelled to Uganda, stayed for 2 months, engaged with the communities and brought the Nook to an active state along with the help of our partners.