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Community connections

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There’s less than a week left before I fly to São Paulo. It’ll be my first time in South America – and needless to say, having expectations is futile. I don’t know what I will experience, and I’m happy not knowing! The joy of travelling is that it opens up entire perspectives on our ideas of life, society and the whole of humanity. And these are things that you cannot even imagine until you get there. As I prepare for the trip, I realized that I have been thinking a lot about what the word ‘community’ means to me. Of course, the Warriors without Weapons program is all about community development through entrepreneurial practices, so being able to understand what ‘community’ really means seems important to me. How similar or different is it going to be at the favela of Baixada Santista, compared to my experience in Dharavi, Mumbai? I can only guess. A short while ago, I made a short video on my idea of ‘community’. It’s a short, rather vague poem, juxtaposed with scenes...
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The Yes Path!

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Today, I would like to share with you the selection process for the Warriors program. Over a period of 18 days, each of us had to complete a series of five tasks. This process was called the Caminho do Sim, or the Yes Path. The Yes Path is so called because it is about reiterating the positive aspects of the self, having the self-belief and enthusiasm to accept all challenges that might come your way, and practicing a more positive approach to life! Firstly, I made a short film to express a little bit about myself and outline the reasons for applying to the program. I had realized that there was an empty wall in my house that looked too blank, so I painted my story on the wall and just filmed that! The Yes Path for me was a transformative process. It was a process of looking inside myself, understanding better the motives for my thoughts and actions – and finally, really learning to stop taking my abilities and strengths for granted, and developing a more positive v...
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Would you like to Help?

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Hi! Thank you for visiting my blog! I look forward to sharing my journey to the Warriors without Weapons program with you! Today, I wanted to share a little video that a friend helped me make on Dharavi. The two of us spent about a week in the famous Mumbai slum, documenting whatever caught our eye, trying to capture the chaos and energy of the place. It was edited in a hurry, but it's okay:) It still gives a good snapshot of what it feels like: Dharavi was important for me since it was where I began to understand urban communities more deeply, as well as the socio-economic and political factors that shape our cities, from skyscrapers to slums. I started to think about the meaning of community, of citizens' rights and community engagement. It sparked a thought process that has brought me to where I am today, ready to take the next step in this search!  Turning from thinker to doer – my motivations The first question I asked myself as I began to prepare myself fo...
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