THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 11th edition of ‘Kanthari Talks’, a platform to create changes in the society, will be held at Kanthari campus in the city with the theme ‘Food for Thought’ from Friday to Sunday. ‘Kanthari Talks’ is the culmination of a seven-month leadership course, where people share their life stories and solutions for issues they have been facing which they intend to implement in their societies. The Kanthari organisation has been helping in bringing up such issues in front of a larger society.
About 20 social changemakers from nine countries will take part. The change-makers come from different strata of the society and are usually selected on the basis of their drive to bring about real change in their societies.
“We want to initiate talks and conversations about things that matter to people. There are a variety of social changemakers who include people who are affected by social evils, those who have overcome adversities and who want to initiate social projects for the benefit of the society. For example, there is a blind person from Kenya who wants to start a training centre for the blind,” said Paul Kronenberg, co-founder of Kanthari.
Discussions include alternative education, environment, reducing e-waste and reforestation. Meghana Raveendra, a staunch advocate of quality education, will focus on alternative education.
She will talk about creating learning spaces within schools for children who suffer from anxiety and depression.
Keith Ndlovu from Zimbabwe will talk about how he plans to create a space for empowering the LGBTIQ+ community in Africa. Kanthari has been able to train about 206 people from 45 countries across the world for the past 10 years. This has resulted in more than 130 projects reaching out to thousands across the globe.