16th October, 2019
What’s the Matter? Performance based facilitated discussion on “well-being”
What’s the Matter? Performance based facilitated discussion on “well-being”
Moderator& Performer: Anitha Santhanam, Gududuguppukkari, India
Co-moderator: Sathyasree Goswami, Researcher Scholar- TISS, India
Opening remark: It is an autobiographical sketch that is presented in the form of a performance. It focuses on human well-being, health and healing. It attempts to see human body, identity, emotional and physical dynamics of health. It is a story of abandonment, acceptability, choices and acceptance.
It is an interactive performance session and thus we request all to interact and participate.
Discussion: The performance left the audience emotional and silent, and slowing warming up to open for discussion. The discussion was opened with a brief introduction about the performance which was based on Art Based Therapy that treats the body as source of wisdom and as a source of healing. Anitha shares how her own wound became way to find something deeper and more profound. She mentioned Carl Jung is a gigantic person who contributed to Art Based therapy. The performance is a process of many things put together to talk and express “well-being” through creative medium.
Sharing personal experience a woman in the audience expressed that she could connect with the performance. Her question was how to help children who are adopted open up. What kinds of initiative and interactive sessions would help children be comfortable to share and open up.
Response- the separation from the mother is a huge trauma. Children cannot express their pain which makes them more confined to themselves. The child does not develop the cognitive apparatus to comprehend the grief and suffering it goes through.The casual behaviour of people around such individuals and insensitiveness makes the situation more difficult. Thus, the trauma, the suffering and the pain compromises the inner “well-being” of the child. For making the child comfortable and open up, time is a very important factor and also touches. Further recognising the child is a big step which will help the child to be comfortable and understand itself. Honest discussion and sharing with the child one big step to begin with. Also time plays a big role in it.
Personal sharing of an audience-“mother” is the closest relationship that I shared which changed for me after I left home when I was 18. Distance became more constant with the change in relationship. The support system plays an important role and for me biological connections are helpful. Also the gender and social role that are imposed on us makes us push in the “guilt traps” all are lives. We are constantly moving in and out of the guilt traps.
It is very important to articulate, the vocabulary of articulating the inner landscape is the biggest challenge. Language and communication is one of the biggest challenges for mental health. How do one express experience, how do one express chronic pain? There are various platforms and medium of expressing which are through counselling, therapy etc. But if even one person listens and validates it; that is important and invaluable.
How do we measure pain? How do we measure wellbeing? Do we do it through a logical world or through statistics? There have been very less research on Expressive Arts therapy, firstly they are least interested about numbers and secondly it is least researched.
The question of masculinity and femininity should not be just looked as binaries. Also one should see men in the patriarchal society and its impact on men. How men of the patriarchal society becomes dismembered bodies in health system, justice and series of things that continue to effect men. The language that we use reflects our approach to everything. How human body parts also symbolises the patriarchal society is another interesting area. Women in the patriarchal society also affect the social and gender roles and norms for men. The spaces that both men and women occupy tell us about the society and attitude we live in. Gender colouring has been used as instruments for the patriarchal State along with the patriarchal society that needs to be addressed and changed.
Co-moderator: Sathyasree Goswami, Researcher Scholar- TISS, India
Opening remark: It is an autobiographical sketch that is presented in the form of a performance. It focuses on human well-being, health and healing. It attempts to see human body, identity, emotional and physical dynamics of health. It is a story of abandonment, acceptability, choices and acceptance.
It is an interactive performance session and thus we request all to interact and participate.
Discussion: The performance left the audience emotional and silent, and slowing warming up to open for discussion. The discussion was opened with a brief introduction about the performance which was based on Art Based Therapy that treats the body as source of wisdom and as a source of healing. Anitha shares how her own wound became way to find something deeper and more profound. She mentioned Carl Jung is a gigantic person who contributed to Art Based therapy. The performance is a process of many things put together to talk and express “well-being” through creative medium.
Sharing personal experience a woman in the audience expressed that she could connect with the performance. Her question was how to help children who are adopted open up. What kinds of initiative and interactive sessions would help children be comfortable to share and open up.
Response- the separation from the mother is a huge trauma. Children cannot express their pain which makes them more confined to themselves. The child does not develop the cognitive apparatus to comprehend the grief and suffering it goes through.The casual behaviour of people around such individuals and insensitiveness makes the situation more difficult. Thus, the trauma, the suffering and the pain compromises the inner “well-being” of the child. For making the child comfortable and open up, time is a very important factor and also touches. Further recognising the child is a big step which will help the child to be comfortable and understand itself. Honest discussion and sharing with the child one big step to begin with. Also time plays a big role in it.
Personal sharing of an audience-“mother” is the closest relationship that I shared which changed for me after I left home when I was 18. Distance became more constant with the change in relationship. The support system plays an important role and for me biological connections are helpful. Also the gender and social role that are imposed on us makes us push in the “guilt traps” all are lives. We are constantly moving in and out of the guilt traps.
It is very important to articulate, the vocabulary of articulating the inner landscape is the biggest challenge. Language and communication is one of the biggest challenges for mental health. How do one express experience, how do one express chronic pain? There are various platforms and medium of expressing which are through counselling, therapy etc. But if even one person listens and validates it; that is important and invaluable.
How do we measure pain? How do we measure wellbeing? Do we do it through a logical world or through statistics? There have been very less research on Expressive Arts therapy, firstly they are least interested about numbers and secondly it is least researched.
The question of masculinity and femininity should not be just looked as binaries. Also one should see men in the patriarchal society and its impact on men. How men of the patriarchal society becomes dismembered bodies in health system, justice and series of things that continue to effect men. The language that we use reflects our approach to everything. How human body parts also symbolises the patriarchal society is another interesting area. Women in the patriarchal society also affect the social and gender roles and norms for men. The spaces that both men and women occupy tell us about the society and attitude we live in. Gender colouring has been used as instruments for the patriarchal State along with the patriarchal society that needs to be addressed and changed.
Workshop 17th October, 2019
Complementing Legal Accountability with Community Action for Health Rights
Complementing Legal Accountability with Community Action for Health Rights
Moderator: Jayshree Satpute, Nazdeek, India
Opening Remarks: The session focused on advanced health rights through various strategies for accountability. The panelist comprises of vibrant individuals who are working through various means to achieve health rights and social justice. Accountability through legal dimension in health is not a very old approach. The individuals in the pane have been working at various levels, using various approaches and strategies to bring health care for all.
Panelists:
Owuor Erick Otieno, KAPLET, Kenya
KAPLET works as para-legal workers in the community for people’s grievance on various social issues. It works with the grass root level as Legal First Aid Watch. Constitutionality of health rights and its justiciability has been subject of expensive legal debate. The main reason of choosing a legal route for accountability is a incident that violated Chapter 4 of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya as hospitals unlawfully detained women in public maternity hospitals. The reason of detention was that they could not afford to pay the costly maternal fees. In this case the High Court of Kenya ruled that the 2 women’s right was violated and the action of detention was inhuman and unjust. The court ordered compensation to be issued which set a step towards legal precedence. The challenges of litigation is that it needs prime evidences, it is a costly and time consuming process. It can be adversarial and often responded with threats at personal and organisational levels.
The success stories are that it helps to ratify most of the treaties; be it UN declarations or international conventions. We now have Enactment of Health Bills 2014. We also ave maternal healthcare in Public Maternity Hospitals, though one needs to pay some payment (through kinds or as bribes). In 2016, Health Bill of Kenya was reviewed for the first time, Submission of Kenya’s CSD. KAPLET prepared an alternative report on ESCR that countered the Government report. The report was brought to the community and was share with the community along with the report submitted by the Government. The Kenya National Health Rights Commission reviews the Government of Kenya’s commitment on the implementation of the ESCR on a yearly basis.
Download Presentation here
Devika Biswas, HealthWatch Forum, Bihar, India
“Legal petition was never an area I thought that I would be part of. I never thought that Govt. can be a perpetrator until I came across the failed Govt. initiated sterilisation camp. I was shocked to realise that govt. can violate laws without mercy.” Fact finding is important as it gives it clearer narratives and closure view of the real scenario. Lack of information and awareness pushes people to ignorance and also deprives them of voices and choices. The expected level of achievement and targeted intervention often leads to fulfilling statistical data through unlawful means. Legal petition is a challenge in India as firstly the question of citizenship comes into picture. Also the fear of losing the cases which would again make the individuals/ people have to pay fine to the Government. Even though Government has come with interventions through policies and laws, there has been no implementation, no follow-up or even compensation in any ways.
Kabanda David, CEHURD, Uganda
Social accountability cannot be divorced from legal dimensions. Awareness is a big part of it which often makes up compromise with our rights in terms of acceptability, affordability, availability and accessibility. In our country, National Constitutional Guarantee is not a priority and thus one has to look into various places and bright it to the community. Right to Health is still not accounted as Human Rights. Government facilities should be for both the service providers and receivers for health care system delivery. Court is an important part of the Government, if people cannot come to the court where do they look up to? An incident made us realise that there is so much of information dissemination that the community is not aware that the local health care instructions are accountable and answerable to the communities. To make the institutions more accountable and to make health rights more inclusive for the community to participate, few strategies are community engagement; choices of parties/ avoid many respondents; legal expert convening; civil society engagement; international NGO support; media engagement and judicial Collaborations.
Download Presentation here
Rajdev Chaturvedi, HealthWatch Forum Uttar Pradesh, India
The discussion was mainly based on a lived story sharing of a woman based on three main aspects. The easily the services are available; the difficulty and delay in accountability and judiciary is seen as the last resort and the challenge in seeking legal aid. A woman was suffering from gynaecological condition from one place to another in search of financial assistance. Finally was treated by an NGO, in a private hospital with Out-Of-Expenditure of around 50 thousand. A case was field in the High Court of Allahabad in 2007 and it took 11 years for the court to come with the ruling. It came up with report on health budget allocation of UP of the last 10 years, all the bureaucrats and government officials must go to the public health sector (only public health services would be reimbursed). 50% of human resources were to be fulfilled while monitoring their posting and work. The court encouraged to appoint women doctors. There should be a committee for direct surveillance of private practitioners and during referrals from public to private health care institutions, the factors should be checked, monitored and reported. The major challenges are the 10 years of health budget audit. The social audit should have people working actively in the area of health care and grass root level. But unfortunately there was no compliance and no follow up.
Jayshree Satpute, Nazdeek, India
Nazdeek is working with the Tea Plantation workers of Assam and the Slums of Delhi, NCR. It follows a mode of rights based training in the areas of health, food, housing and sanitation. The major question is how to bring accountability at the local platform. The organisation has a grievance forum which is held one or twice a month, where people bring up their issues which is discussed. Thus, following a Grievance Redressal Mechanism is focused upon where people can open up to and discuss. The organisation is also trying to come with a mechanism of call and register grievance through phone calls with the collaboration with the Government. This aims to bring in a feeling of ownership and power.
Questions and responses highlights-
How do you difference legal and social accountability? What are the areas where both social and legal accountability comes together? Responses- legal and social accountability comes hand in hand; one cannot be separated from the other.
What is the role of private sector in health care delivery in violation of health rights? Human Rights Commission do not accept private sector grievances, what are the institutions/ organization that deals with private sectors? Responses- Private sector is accountable to health rights as Article 12 talks about it. Also if you want to file complaints against the private sector you can go to the consumer forum.
In your personal experience, how many times have there been condemned of court? Have you ever being threatened by Government officials, how do you work then? Responses- Human rights advocacy in health is difficult. At times even the community go against us. Then it becomes difficult. Threats are common from both bureaucrats and government officials. Some cases are handled through alternative means, as not all and cases needs legal platform. Some cases are intervened individually and some through organisation’s shield. Threats are common and will continue, but we cannot give up. We need commitment and determination for the work we are doing.
What are the models/ modes of work that attract younger legal practitioners and how can one make it sustainable? Responses- Funding rising is an important way to make the engagement sustainable. For young legal practitioners we do not hire them, they come and work with us and walk along the way. They are free to choose if they want to stay or choose different option- David
How do we sustain the process of social litigation movement? Both legally and ethically, especially in terms of donor organisation? Response-“ Individual litigation rather than community can be a way for sustainability, where 10 individuals with similar issues files cases. This would make us not dependent on donor organisations and thus the issue of ethical and moral would also be addresses. But again threats are common, especially for a woman activists who is pushed at a vulnerable state; with no response from the government and many a times also from the community”
Opening Remarks: The session focused on advanced health rights through various strategies for accountability. The panelist comprises of vibrant individuals who are working through various means to achieve health rights and social justice. Accountability through legal dimension in health is not a very old approach. The individuals in the pane have been working at various levels, using various approaches and strategies to bring health care for all.
Panelists:
Owuor Erick Otieno, KAPLET, Kenya
KAPLET works as para-legal workers in the community for people’s grievance on various social issues. It works with the grass root level as Legal First Aid Watch. Constitutionality of health rights and its justiciability has been subject of expensive legal debate. The main reason of choosing a legal route for accountability is a incident that violated Chapter 4 of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya as hospitals unlawfully detained women in public maternity hospitals. The reason of detention was that they could not afford to pay the costly maternal fees. In this case the High Court of Kenya ruled that the 2 women’s right was violated and the action of detention was inhuman and unjust. The court ordered compensation to be issued which set a step towards legal precedence. The challenges of litigation is that it needs prime evidences, it is a costly and time consuming process. It can be adversarial and often responded with threats at personal and organisational levels.
The success stories are that it helps to ratify most of the treaties; be it UN declarations or international conventions. We now have Enactment of Health Bills 2014. We also ave maternal healthcare in Public Maternity Hospitals, though one needs to pay some payment (through kinds or as bribes). In 2016, Health Bill of Kenya was reviewed for the first time, Submission of Kenya’s CSD. KAPLET prepared an alternative report on ESCR that countered the Government report. The report was brought to the community and was share with the community along with the report submitted by the Government. The Kenya National Health Rights Commission reviews the Government of Kenya’s commitment on the implementation of the ESCR on a yearly basis.
Download Presentation here
Devika Biswas, HealthWatch Forum, Bihar, India
“Legal petition was never an area I thought that I would be part of. I never thought that Govt. can be a perpetrator until I came across the failed Govt. initiated sterilisation camp. I was shocked to realise that govt. can violate laws without mercy.” Fact finding is important as it gives it clearer narratives and closure view of the real scenario. Lack of information and awareness pushes people to ignorance and also deprives them of voices and choices. The expected level of achievement and targeted intervention often leads to fulfilling statistical data through unlawful means. Legal petition is a challenge in India as firstly the question of citizenship comes into picture. Also the fear of losing the cases which would again make the individuals/ people have to pay fine to the Government. Even though Government has come with interventions through policies and laws, there has been no implementation, no follow-up or even compensation in any ways.
Kabanda David, CEHURD, Uganda
Social accountability cannot be divorced from legal dimensions. Awareness is a big part of it which often makes up compromise with our rights in terms of acceptability, affordability, availability and accessibility. In our country, National Constitutional Guarantee is not a priority and thus one has to look into various places and bright it to the community. Right to Health is still not accounted as Human Rights. Government facilities should be for both the service providers and receivers for health care system delivery. Court is an important part of the Government, if people cannot come to the court where do they look up to? An incident made us realise that there is so much of information dissemination that the community is not aware that the local health care instructions are accountable and answerable to the communities. To make the institutions more accountable and to make health rights more inclusive for the community to participate, few strategies are community engagement; choices of parties/ avoid many respondents; legal expert convening; civil society engagement; international NGO support; media engagement and judicial Collaborations.
Download Presentation here
Rajdev Chaturvedi, HealthWatch Forum Uttar Pradesh, India
The discussion was mainly based on a lived story sharing of a woman based on three main aspects. The easily the services are available; the difficulty and delay in accountability and judiciary is seen as the last resort and the challenge in seeking legal aid. A woman was suffering from gynaecological condition from one place to another in search of financial assistance. Finally was treated by an NGO, in a private hospital with Out-Of-Expenditure of around 50 thousand. A case was field in the High Court of Allahabad in 2007 and it took 11 years for the court to come with the ruling. It came up with report on health budget allocation of UP of the last 10 years, all the bureaucrats and government officials must go to the public health sector (only public health services would be reimbursed). 50% of human resources were to be fulfilled while monitoring their posting and work. The court encouraged to appoint women doctors. There should be a committee for direct surveillance of private practitioners and during referrals from public to private health care institutions, the factors should be checked, monitored and reported. The major challenges are the 10 years of health budget audit. The social audit should have people working actively in the area of health care and grass root level. But unfortunately there was no compliance and no follow up.
Jayshree Satpute, Nazdeek, India
Nazdeek is working with the Tea Plantation workers of Assam and the Slums of Delhi, NCR. It follows a mode of rights based training in the areas of health, food, housing and sanitation. The major question is how to bring accountability at the local platform. The organisation has a grievance forum which is held one or twice a month, where people bring up their issues which is discussed. Thus, following a Grievance Redressal Mechanism is focused upon where people can open up to and discuss. The organisation is also trying to come with a mechanism of call and register grievance through phone calls with the collaboration with the Government. This aims to bring in a feeling of ownership and power.
Questions and responses highlights-
How do you difference legal and social accountability? What are the areas where both social and legal accountability comes together? Responses- legal and social accountability comes hand in hand; one cannot be separated from the other.
What is the role of private sector in health care delivery in violation of health rights? Human Rights Commission do not accept private sector grievances, what are the institutions/ organization that deals with private sectors? Responses- Private sector is accountable to health rights as Article 12 talks about it. Also if you want to file complaints against the private sector you can go to the consumer forum.
In your personal experience, how many times have there been condemned of court? Have you ever being threatened by Government officials, how do you work then? Responses- Human rights advocacy in health is difficult. At times even the community go against us. Then it becomes difficult. Threats are common from both bureaucrats and government officials. Some cases are handled through alternative means, as not all and cases needs legal platform. Some cases are intervened individually and some through organisation’s shield. Threats are common and will continue, but we cannot give up. We need commitment and determination for the work we are doing.
What are the models/ modes of work that attract younger legal practitioners and how can one make it sustainable? Responses- Funding rising is an important way to make the engagement sustainable. For young legal practitioners we do not hire them, they come and work with us and walk along the way. They are free to choose if they want to stay or choose different option- David
How do we sustain the process of social litigation movement? Both legally and ethically, especially in terms of donor organisation? Response-“ Individual litigation rather than community can be a way for sustainability, where 10 individuals with similar issues files cases. This would make us not dependent on donor organisations and thus the issue of ethical and moral would also be addresses. But again threats are common, especially for a woman activists who is pushed at a vulnerable state; with no response from the government and many a times also from the community”
Workshop 18th October, 2019
Expressing Citizenship: Promoting community participation in policy development for health equity and justice
Expressing Citizenship: Promoting community participation in policy development for health equity and justice
Moderator: Issac Benson, Azim Premji University, India
Co-moderator: Shreelata Rao Sheshadri, Azim Premji University, India
Opening Remarks: The present presentation is a part of a series of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO). Augusto Boal said “I believe that the truly revolutionary thearterical groups should transfer to the the means of production in the theatre or the people themselves may utilize them. The Theatre is a weapon and it is the people who builts it” (1993). Boal was a Brazilian activist who created thsi form of theatre, who was very much influence by Paulo Freire. Freire’s work is founded on teh premise that human beings become more human, through authentic relationships and meaningful work. TO is a form of theatre where people actively expore. Show, analyze and transform the reality in which they are living.
Discussion:
Download Presentation here
Co-moderator: Shreelata Rao Sheshadri, Azim Premji University, India
Opening Remarks: The present presentation is a part of a series of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO). Augusto Boal said “I believe that the truly revolutionary thearterical groups should transfer to the the means of production in the theatre or the people themselves may utilize them. The Theatre is a weapon and it is the people who builts it” (1993). Boal was a Brazilian activist who created thsi form of theatre, who was very much influence by Paulo Freire. Freire’s work is founded on teh premise that human beings become more human, through authentic relationships and meaningful work. TO is a form of theatre where people actively expore. Show, analyze and transform the reality in which they are living.
Discussion:
- The best way to understand Theatre of the Oppressed is to perform and be part of it.
- The play that was enacted was a legislative theatre, which is based on exploring social change, accountability and social rights.
- TO includes sets of games structures and exercises which aims to create space for dialogue through which pathways are created to converse about social activity, pedagogy, psychotherapy, research, politics and activism.
- Legislative theatre is a process of participatory democracy where people get a platform to express their concerns on citizenship and reclaim their role as active, transforming agents in the world.
- The theatre gives a lot of attention to the politics of methodology. Many a times many things remains in closed door and un-noticed due to methodological constrains. As content do not fit in the methodological needs and demands, they tend to get lost and never highlighted.
- The politics of narratives is important as it includes power positions and spaces for negotiations. Power remains in set up structures that are continuously polished by social roles of the society that we do not question but tend to be tangled in and follow on.
- Self-naming and self-definition are central to the narratives.
- The methods of interventions should be multiple as the issues are subjective and multi-dimensional.
Download Presentation here
