Our Work
ABC Advocacy has partnered with Mumbai-based NGO, Pehlay Akshar, in an effort to bring the vital work it does to students from underserved communities in the Mumbai metropolitan region. Raising awareness for, and building sensitivity toward, mental health issues is a cornerstone of ABC Advocacy’s mission, and so this partnership will involve the donation of original educational resources targeted at a younger audience.
The ABC Advocacy Donation Drive hosted a fundraiser with a goal of INR 75,000: the proceeds from which will be donated toward the admirable, ongoing educational efforts carried out by Pehlay Akshar. This was prompted by the realization that in addition to educational resources, these communities, and their mental wellbeing, would greatly benefit from material support that could be actioned toward their education.
Session 1
In October 2022 I developed creative comic strips, called ABC’s Buddy Brigade Series, based on original stories to proliferate educational lessons on mental health. I conducted workshops to pursue grassroots action through reading sessions based on these comics in December 2022. I presented the short story, “Bhavni at her Best” through an interactive in-person workshop for underprivileged children from the Prabhadevi school in partnership with the Non-profit organization Pehlay Akshar.
Using the metaphor of a group of friends who navigate issues related to psychological wellness through collaboration, empathy, and conversation, the first workshop exposed the children to the story of Bhavni and her struggles with social anxiety and nervousness – opening up a discussion on prevention methods, as well as post-facto coping strategies. Speaking to these children one-on-one was essential to understanding their unique thoughts, and experiences, and the workshop provided them exposure to sensitive issues through an environment of fun-filled learning. I hope to take forward the efforts calcified in this preliminary workshop, and implement reading-based workshops on the rest of the titles included in the comic strip to continue sparking essential conversations on mental health.
Key Workshops
Join us in some of our action-packed sessions (where we remembered to hit record) !
Session 2
Continuing my work with Pehlay Akshar, in February 2023, I presented another of my short stories from the ABC Buddy Brigade Series to the students at the Prabhadevi School in partnership with the NGO Pehlay Akshar. This time the workshop revolved around the story “Bharat’s New Buddies”, which explores themes of loneliness and its connection with mental health through the journey of a young girl’s grandfather and how he overcame his sadness through the help of his granddaughter and her friends. The story and the session laid emphasis not only on the importance of meaningful social connections and engagement with activities that one enjoys on a personal level, but also brought forward the often undiscussed topic of elderly loneliness and how we as a community can deal with it. The session utilized strategies of interactive learning through exercises and question answer sessions to help students learn about how a lifestyle where we lack social connection, productive work, or activities we are passionate about can negatively impact our overall physical and mental health.