Project overview
In the summer of 2016, FairFight expanded its activities to Northern India. We partnered with the AshaDiya Foundation, an Indian NGO that runs girls safehouses in the holy city of Varanasi by the Ganges, and Dragon Martial Arts Academy, a group of local karateka run by Senseis Sohan Kumar (3rd Dan) and Devesh Verma (1st Dan), with the help of his senpais Amit (1st Dan) and Pankaj (1st Dan). The main location of the project is Disha girls’ safehouse in Varanasi. The safehouse is one of AshaDiya’s two projects in Varanasi, and is home to two dozen girls who were rescued from a precarious life in the slums or as the children of migrant workers. Their ages range from 7 to 17 and they live in a community-like environment under the guidance of the AshaDiya Foundation’s local coordinator Uday Shankar.
Number of Girls |
22 regular girls |
Local Trainer |
Devesh Verma |
Local Partner |
AshaDiya Foundation |
Impact Visits |
July 2016, January 2017, January 2018, October 2018 |
Project Stage |
Stage 2 |
The girls
Impact Visits
Impact Visit 2016
In July 2016, FairFight sent a team of 3 black belts in karate, aikido and tang soo do to Varanasi, including FairFight founder Ginie Servant, Zimbabwe project veteran Floris Eland and newcomer Krissi Silianova to kick off the collaboration. The team attended and taught classes at the Dragon Martial Arts Academy, a group of roughly thirty karateka located in a Catholic girls’ safehouse in Sarnath, 15 kilometres North of Varanasi. FairFight ran a 5-stage introduction programme at Disha House, based on the same principles as were developed in Zimbabwe:
Through Sensei Devesh Verma, FairFight was able to purchase karate outfits for Disha in advance of their visit so the girls were able to train in their “karategi” from the first day.
The team also taught at Asha coaching centre, the second project of AshaDiya which looks cafter the schooling of 40 to 65 underprivileged children of both genders at any given time.
Impact Visit 2017
In January 2017, a new group of FairFight volunteers coordinated by Laurent Masson and comprising Pearla Papiernik, Master Madeleine Papiernik, Master Wahing Lee, and Master Lijnie Reijers went to Varanasi to support the development of the project. The group coached a series of seminars in Sarnath and in Gorakhpur with the International Shotokan Karate Federation. They also attended classes at Disha and Asha. Unfortunately, due to an overload of other activities for the children, the classes at Asha were subsequently cancelled and the FairFight focused its attention on Disha. The impact visit of 2017 was FairFight's most challenging visit to date - we struggled to come to grips with the great cultural differences between the practice of martial arts in Europe and in India. Given the challenges, the project was not able to move past stage 1. But this visit set the scene for a different approach to our Indian project in 2018.
Impact Visit January 2018
In January 2018, FairFight veteran Floris Eland coordinated our third impact visit to Varanasi with a team of four also comprising Katie Alexander and Mary Stevens from the UK and Myrthe Minnaert from the Netherlands. The team went with a specific mission to get our project into good operational shape again:
Impact Visit October 2018
Mary Stevens, having been to Varanasi for the first time in January, gathered a group for a second visit of 2018; she was joined by Guy Shpak and Jet Huwae from the Netherlands and Charlie Stevens from the UK. The team’s goals for the second 2018 visit to Varanasi included checking in with the instructors, checking in with the girls and working on self-defence skills with local martial artists. The team overall felt the project was a success:
You can find a more in depth account of this project on Mary’s daily blog, www.fairfightvaranasi.wordpress.com.
In July 2016, FairFight sent a team of 3 black belts in karate, aikido and tang soo do to Varanasi, including FairFight founder Ginie Servant, Zimbabwe project veteran Floris Eland and newcomer Krissi Silianova to kick off the collaboration. The team attended and taught classes at the Dragon Martial Arts Academy, a group of roughly thirty karateka located in a Catholic girls’ safehouse in Sarnath, 15 kilometres North of Varanasi. FairFight ran a 5-stage introduction programme at Disha House, based on the same principles as were developed in Zimbabwe:
- General introduction to Martial Arts
- Introduction to footwork and punching
- Introduction to kicking
- Introduction to selfdefence
- Introduction to sportssparring (with gloves)
Through Sensei Devesh Verma, FairFight was able to purchase karate outfits for Disha in advance of their visit so the girls were able to train in their “karategi” from the first day.
The team also taught at Asha coaching centre, the second project of AshaDiya which looks cafter the schooling of 40 to 65 underprivileged children of both genders at any given time.
Impact Visit 2017
In January 2017, a new group of FairFight volunteers coordinated by Laurent Masson and comprising Pearla Papiernik, Master Madeleine Papiernik, Master Wahing Lee, and Master Lijnie Reijers went to Varanasi to support the development of the project. The group coached a series of seminars in Sarnath and in Gorakhpur with the International Shotokan Karate Federation. They also attended classes at Disha and Asha. Unfortunately, due to an overload of other activities for the children, the classes at Asha were subsequently cancelled and the FairFight focused its attention on Disha. The impact visit of 2017 was FairFight's most challenging visit to date - we struggled to come to grips with the great cultural differences between the practice of martial arts in Europe and in India. Given the challenges, the project was not able to move past stage 1. But this visit set the scene for a different approach to our Indian project in 2018.
Impact Visit January 2018
In January 2018, FairFight veteran Floris Eland coordinated our third impact visit to Varanasi with a team of four also comprising Katie Alexander and Mary Stevens from the UK and Myrthe Minnaert from the Netherlands. The team went with a specific mission to get our project into good operational shape again:
- Renew our bond of trust and partnership with our local trainers
- Strengthen our collaboration with our local partners AshaDiya
- Understand our girls and the impact that we have on them
Impact Visit October 2018
Mary Stevens, having been to Varanasi for the first time in January, gathered a group for a second visit of 2018; she was joined by Guy Shpak and Jet Huwae from the Netherlands and Charlie Stevens from the UK. The team’s goals for the second 2018 visit to Varanasi included checking in with the instructors, checking in with the girls and working on self-defence skills with local martial artists. The team overall felt the project was a success:
- Guy, who (amongst a vast range of martial arts experience) is a qualified military Krav Maga instructor, ran a self-defence seminar over the weekend. Both the students and the instructors had fun with the material, and picked up a lot of new skills; we hope these very practical techniques will be a helpful addition to the local instructor team as an extra dimension to their regular teaching.
- Mary and Jet conducted interviews with all the girls in small groups throughout the week. With the help of our translators, Dheer and Moyee, the girls were able to have a good discussion with each other and the FairFight representatives, and so we received a lot of helpful insight into what they think of their training and what it means to be a girl in India at the moment.
- Mary also led two key discussions with the instructors on the ground regarding possible future expansions for the work they’re doing; they’re all keen to open a new club, and we’re excited to help them work towards this goal. There are a number of obstacles to overcome before this will be possible, but having face to face discussions (again facilitated by translators) really helped us understand what support they need. Opening a new club seems to be a natural progression of the project, and a highly constructive step in terms of sustainability, and so we’re keen to ensure that they’re in a strong position to make this happen.
- The team’s visit coincided with a visit from Elizabeth Bernard, the founder of Act and Help, who enjoyed watching the girls’ training and had a meeting with Mary regarding the work of FairFight and Elizabeth’s own experiences of working with young girls in India. The chance to continue building a strong relationship with Act and Help was another very helpful opportunity which arose from this visit, as communication between FairFight and Disha house is crucial to the project’s stability.
You can find a more in depth account of this project on Mary’s daily blog, www.fairfightvaranasi.wordpress.com.