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). 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 16 and they live in a community-like environment under the guidance of the Foundation’s local coordinator Heifara Danielsson.
Number of Girls |
22 regular girls |
Local Trainer |
Devesh Verma |
Local Partner |
AshaDiya Foundation |
Impact Visits |
July 2016, January 2017 & 2018 |
Project Stage |
Stage 1 |
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 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:
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 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