Toward a brighter, stronger future by acknowledging the importance of new and old ways of learning and making information more accessible.
While we have many projects we would like to share with you, we are mentioning a few here. Please reach out to us, in case you have any questions regarding these projects, or if you wanted to contribute or participate in these. Our most updated activities and events are up on our Blog
STORYTELLING FOR CHILDREN
In June 2021, MIEF published its first monthly (global) children’s magazine. This is being shared with school children in India, Canada, and the US. Children are able to submit artwork and thematic writing which is then selected for publication by the editorial team. MIEF also hosts weekly or bi-monthly storytelling sessions on Zoom for children from ages 6-14. More inputs are available on Instagram here.
https://www.instagram.com/peerbagh.stories/
SCIENCE POPULARIZATION
Awareness of Astronomy through Taramandal – Mobile Planetarium: MIEF has worked with NCSTC Division, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India and has been able to showcase a mobile planetarium- called the Taramandal in the Delhi NCR region for several years. MIEF volunteers and experts work with children to build their awareness of astronomy and share the learnings with them. To make these sessions interactive, quizzes and other activities are often conducted for children, which usually receive a great response. Children are often excited by the prospects of seeing stars and gaining knowledge about the planetary systems. Considering this is a ‘mobile’ system, the planetarium has visited several parts of the Delhi NCR region so far. The planetarium shows allow free access to children.
From April to December 2012, 320 schools participated in this program, and 733 shows were held at National Science Centre, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, and also at various school premises in the Delhi NCR. About 12,519 students witnessed the Taramandal shows. All these students also took part in the Astronomy quiz and shared their excitement with MIEF. Apart from students we also had about 6,328 viewers who witnessed the Taramandal shows. The project is still in progress and will resume post the COVID pandemic.
Climate Change Awareness: Science popularization in young people: MIEF conducted a survey to study the attitude and mindset of youth towards climate change-related issues in Mumbai followed up by a conference. The participants discussed how young people could be involved in sensitizing everyone about climate-related issues in Mumbai. This project aside, MIEF has been involving student participation in celebrating World Earth Day and more recently the World Ozone day project with young people in colleges and schools.
DISEASES COMMUNICABLE FROM ANIMALS TO HUMANS
Zoonosis- Prevention of common communicable diseases: MIEF is the first and only NGO in India working on building awareness in the area of Zoonotic diseases and bringing together various stakeholders on a common platform. Due to the COVID pandemic, the last two conferences have been taking place online on Zoom. This year’s conference will be held on July 6, 2021. Updates and registration information is updated in news here.
A book entitled “Zoonosis” on Preventive guidelines on diseases that have the potential to get transmitted from animals to humans was released with support from the NCSTC Division, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. This project aimed at creating awareness among the people who have pets, rear animals, handle animals (Veterinarians, NGOs working with animals, medical practitioners). 5,000 copies have been printed and distributed free of cost to all stakeholders. 2,000 copies were distributed to schools in Delhi NCR through Vigyan Prasar, New Delhi.
The project also included a 3-day workshop to discuss the diseases and the content that would form the educational material for dissemination to the target groups. The 3-day brainstorming workshop was attended by experts from the Veterinary and Medical sectors in the country, who provided their valuable inputs through presentations and discussions about the diseases.
MIEF has also published a COVID prevention book (illustrated edition) aimed at school children. Details in the publications section.
PRESERVING CULTURE AND ART IN COMMUNITIES
Reviving Sharada Script: MIEF is the first organization in the world to take up Sharada Script Revival programs in India since 2013 in association with famous and renowned central & state universities. Partners include Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, Mumbai University, University of Jammu, Karnataka Samskrit University among others. Capacity and skill-building workshops have been held in-person and online, and over 500 scholars have been trained on the script.
MIEF began collaborating with the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2013. Since then several other universities including the University of Mumbai, Jammu University, and others have joined for capacity building and programming for revitalizing Sharada script learning. The script was used for Kashmiri language and is now not in practice anywhere in India. MIEF aims to revive its learning through a chain of activities in this collaboration for those interested in the language. The Sharada learning project has a very active WhatsApp learning group. Please get in touch with us, if you would like to learn with the students and teachers working on this highly enthusiastic initiative. MIEF is also working with professors and resource personnel to bring out a series of books that will be available for any interested students to learn the Sharada script in the future.
Revitalization of cultural traditions of Kashmiri artists: MIEF has been working hard to revitalize the cultural traditions of Kashmiris, especially in art and culture through exhibitions, workshops. In 2020, MIEF held art workshops on Zoom with artist Anshu Mohan a specialist in Minature art from Jammu and Kashmir and the Himalayan belt.
MIEF has organized a solo painting exhibition of celebrated Kashmiri Painter Veer Munshi in March 2012. This was followed by an art exhibition curated by a group of artists from Kashmir in 2013-14.
Artisan conditions: MIEF conducted a study amongst the artisans making artificial jewelry in Delhi & Jaipur and later compared the practices followed by the two groups to suggest ways to increase the conditions and marketing potential for these artisans.=The project was supported by the Development Commissioner, Handicrafts, Government of India. MIEF continues to support artisans by conducting research and activities to promote their craft.
Vitasta: The first project undertaken by MIEF was a directory of Kashmiri Pandits who had moved to the Delhi NCR region. While it was common knowledge on where everyone lived and could be contacted in Kashmir Valley, post the migration of Kashmiris to different parts of the country, these connections became less visible. Vitasta was distributed free of cost to Kashmiri Pandits in the Delhi NCR region and the data collection, printing, and conceptualization was done entirely by MIEF. It was received extremely well by the community members.
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