A fundraising appeal for Prajnya with an introductory description of who we are, what we are trying to do and why we need your help this year (2013-14).

1. The Prajnya Team
April-May 2013
http://www.prajnya.in

2. Who we are
 Prajnya is a Chennai-based non-profit centre working on issues relating to peace, justice and
security.
 Prajnya has a triple mandate for research, public education and network-building that
determines its activities.
Prajnya’s work is presently organized into two main thematic initiatives:
http://www.prajnya.in
POLITICS, SECURITY AND WOMEN
To work for equality and women’s rights by
addressing the twin problems of invisibility and
silence –
•The invisibility of women’s participation and
work in the public sphere through Prajnya
Resource Centre on Women in Politics and
Policy
•The silence that surrounds their lifelong
vulnerability to violence through Gender
Violence Research and Information Taskforce
(GRIT)
EDUCATION FOR PEACE
To teach peace by –
•Fostering the learning of skills conducive
to communication, healing, tolerance,
reconciliation and interaction between
people with divergent interests
•Creating capacity for the resolution of
conflict and the creation of a sustainable
peace

3. Making visible women’s contribution to society
The Prajnya Resource Centre on Women in Politics and Policy works on
documentation and women’s history through two projects and allied activities:
1.The LifeStories project whose interviews record individual women’s life and work
experiences in the context of public events and movements.
2.The Prajnya Archives (http://www.prajnyaarchives.org), a user-generated
repository of images of women at work and in public activities.
The Centre also hosts the monthly Prajnya Women’s
History Roundtable Series and The PSW Weblog (
http://keepingcount.wordpress.com)
http://www.prajnya.in

4. Ending the silence around gender-based violence
Every one of us knows someone who has experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse and silently
carries the trauma within her/him. We struggle with anger, helplessness, frustration – how can we help?
Can we help at all?
Our work on this issues is two-fold – we want to BREAK THE SILENCE, encourage open, frank
conversations (on, say, the role of men and boys in preventing violence). We also want to TRAIN people
to recognise and respond to violence appropriately, whether at the work place or on the streets.
http://www.prajnya.in
The Prajnya 16 Days Campaign against Gender Violence,
organised annually since 2008, is our flagship public education
programme.
The Gender Violence Research and Information Taskforce
(GRIT) offers:
•Workshops and training programmes, both overview and
focused on specific forms.
•Training for specific groups, such as nursing students, on
responding to sexual and gender-based violence.
The Prajnya Community Café series designed to facilitate
conversations about gender violence among groups of
neighbours and friends, is another public education and
outreach effort.http://prajnya.in/grit.htm

5. Teaching peace
 When violence dominates both news and entertainment, how do you teach a child the
difference between them?
 When many adults respond to everyday household occurrences with anger and
violence, where is a child to learn how to handle difference and transform potential
conflict?
 How does one raise today's children so that their world can be a less violent one?
http://www.prajnya.in
Prajnya's Education for Peace Initiative hopes to
address this challenge through programmes and
projects intended to create awareness and facilitate
fresh thinking among children and adults alike.
•The Peace Blog – prajnyaforpeace.wordpress.com
http://www.prajnya.in/peace.htm

6. A sample of recent and ongoing activities
http://www.prajnya.in
A film festival on gender violence
featuring films of courage,
protest, hope
Madras Week 2012:
The Roads Project
Video campaign where
prominent Chennai men
come together to speak
against Gender Violence
Chennai chapter of the
international movement against
street sexual harassment
Photographic celebration to mark
centenary of International
Women’s Days
Not silence, but verse –
Collection of Poetry on Gender
violence

7. Prajnya in the Press
http://www.prajnya.in

8. The people behind Prajnya
Trustees
 Swarna Rajagopalan, Ph.D., Managing
Trustee, a political analyst and consultant
 Shilpa Anand, partner in Eastern Engineering
Company, a pan-Indian firm involved in the
textile machinery industry
 Dr. D. Jayashree, an Ayurvedic physician
 S.Sowmya, an eminent Carnatic vocalist
 Anjale Stephanos, a management
professional
 Saundarya Rajesh, Founder - President of
AVTAR Career Creators
Panel of Advisors
 Stephen P. Cohen, Senior Fellow, Brookings
Institution
 Rajmohan Gandhi, historian and biographer,
presently at the University of Illinois, Urbana
 Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General at CIVICUS -
World Alliance for Citizen Participation
 Ammu Joseph, journalist
http://www.prajnya.in
… Plus A Dedicated Team Of Volunteers And A
Large, Growing Community Of Supporters!

9. Need of the hour
Prajnya completed five years of work in September 2012
and we have miles to go before we sleep
We hope you will become a part of our community as we
negotiate this next stretch of our journey
http://www.prajnya.in
HELP US end the silence about gender violence
HELP US create a place to remember the countless remarkable
women who have tried to make a difference
HELP US teach peace

10. Appeal for donation for FY13-14
We’ve started this year,
with a little change in our pockets
and the anticipation that you, our friends,
will continue to walk with us.
And we carry with us the hope
that we can be useful in the following ways.
With your help and support.
http://www.prajnya.in

11. Deepening awareness about gender violence
Through more
Training
Dialogue
Research-based information initiatives
Closed, focused, substantive conversations
Cost: Rs. 250,000/-
Rs. 200,000/- for the 2013 Prajnya 16 Days Campaign against
Gender Violence
Rs. 50,000/- for other research, public education and network-
building activities in this area.
http://www.prajnya.in

12. Recording women’s voices and stories
Through more
 LifeStories interviews
 Prajnya Archives outreach
 And making accessible and available the work we have
already done.
Rs. 50,000/- would allow us to get interviews transcribed,
get help to edit and post them and to have a few outreach
activities.
http://www.prajnya.in

13. We also need
to find space for an office,
to find money to rent and maintain the space,
to find money for salaries for the people who will work
there…
but for now, for this drive,
we are prioritising the work we do
towards Prajnya’s objectives.
http://www.prajnya.in

14. To summarise
Between April 14 and May 31, 2013, Prajnya is trying to
raise
Rs. 300,000.00 (Rs. 3 lakhs)
to support its activities in 2013-14,
including the
2013 Prajnya 16 Days Campaign against Gender Violence
Other gender violence awareness activities
Women’s history and documentation
http://www.prajnya.in

15. Can you please help us?
 By cheque or DD (payable at Chennai) in the name of “The Prajnya Trust” to our registered
office address. Email us (prajnyatrust@gmail.com) for an address.
 By electronic transfer:
 Account name: The Prajnya Trust
 Bank & branch: HDFC Bank, T.Nagar, Chennai 600 017
 Account number: 02062560002557
 RTGS/ NEFT IFSC: HDFC0000206
 Please email us (prajnyatrust@gmail.com) to inform us of your donation, donation date,
amount and transaction details.
 We prefer not to receive cash donations.
 Donations to Prajnya now qualify for tax deduction. Donations to Prajnya from 01-04-2008
to 31-03-2011 qualify for deduction under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as per I.T.
Dept. Notification DIT (E) No. 2(573)2006-07 dated 26-09-2008.
 Please note that we still cannot accept donations from those who are not Indian citizens or
are resident abroad.
http://www.prajnya.in

16. You can also help by
Sharing this appeal with others. Adding a little note to
introduce us would help.
Organising a fundraiser for us in your circle, including
matching a specific number of donations with one of your
own.
Finding us outreach opportunities.
http://www.prajnya.in

17. We look forward to interacting with you on…
http://www.prajnya.in
https://twitter.com/prajnya https://www.facebook.com/prajnyatrust
Our other online resources:
 Prajnya Archives – http://www.prajnyaarchives.org/
 The Prajnya Trust Blog – http://prajnya.wordpress.com/
 The PSW Weblog -- http://keepingcount.wordpress.com/
 The GRIT@Prajnya Blog - http://gritprajnya.wordpress.com/
 Campaign Chronicle (Prajnya 16 Days Campaign blog) – http://prajnya16days.blogspot.in/
 GRIT Gender Violence Media Resource – http://www.youtube.com/user/gritprajnya
 Hollaback! Chennai – http://chennai.ihollaback.org/
 The Peace Blog – http://prajnyaforpeace.wordpress.com/

18. THANK YOU!THANK YOU!
For reading this.
For supporting us.
For your donation.
We are, we function,
because you support us.
http://www.prajnya.in