INKtalks

Fellows Insights: Quality of Thought by Dina Buchbinder Auron

Apr 23rd, 2012 2 Comments

Dina Buchbinder Auron speaking at INK2011

Have you ever thought about the concept, “quality of thought”? For a long time now, I have been thinking about this concept. I think sometimes we are so used to complaining about all kinds of problems and challenges we face. The thing is, there is so much to do that we cannot afford to spend time complaining. It is right to be worried, but only so long as you do something about your worries.

When I was immersed in the INK experience I was able to confirm that these unique four days allows people to have the highest quality of thought. I was thinking that every person has the potential to be a hero; every person has amazing, breathtaking, inspiring stories to tell. If you ask me, having a better/higher quality of thought is one of the unevident things that would change this world.

This is what I felt at INK, a call to action through inspiration and admiration from the people attending this wonderful space that is filled with “anonymous heroes” from all over the world, willing to share and learn non-stop during four very nurturing days. At INK our “quality of thought” rises significantly because, instead of complaining, you are invited directly and indirectly to “change your chip”, to find another frame of reference that allows you to connect your thought to other actions that can actually contribute significantly from wherever you are. INK takes you to a state of mind where you can’t stay still waiting for something to happen. It touches the deepest fiber within each individual that is present. I could dare to state that everyone left there “not leaving” in the sense that today, four months after INK happened, our “quality of thought” has improved…

Dina immersed in conversation at INK2011

This marked not only my mind but also my soul. This resonates with me because it is what I do in life: teach children how to be better citizens, with better quality of thought that makes them change makers from those ages (6-12). I do this through Deport-es para Compartir (Sports for Sharing), an educational and civic program to teach children that they, along with all their potential, can have the best quality of thought. We translate the concept as thinking and acting upon the greater good.

Let me elaborate how. Children by nature love to laugh, play, interact and discover through their own language: games and sporting activities. Today we have inspired 45,000 children from diverse backgrounds in Mexico. My team and I dream of inspiring all children in Mexico and the world. We have observed that during and after Deport-es para Compartir (Sports for Sharing) children not only have a higher quality of thought and actions, but they also transmit this to their teachers, parents and all of their communities. In each DpC session children travel using their imagination (the power of the journey) to different, fascinating far away countries and identify similarities and new interesting facts to learn and appreciate cultural differences.

Children are all the hope we need in this world. Because of their potential, and if we give them the right tools in a meaningful way, they can develop the highest quality of thought and therefore invest time, effort, energy and passion into making this a better world for everyone from today.

We are currently working to systematize Deport-es para Compartir in order to share it with many countries and multiply the “quality of thought effect”…

Thank you INK for inviting people to have better quality of thought!!

By Dina Buchbinder Auron

INK Fellow and Director of Deport-es para Compartir

April 23, 2012

Fellows Insights: Selene Biffi and the Village Changemakers

Feb 6th, 2012 Leave a comment

Four days full of inspiration, innovation and a renewed sense of purpose. But also four days of fun, friendship and hope.

This – and much more – were my days at the INK Conference in Jaipur, this past December.

I arrived in Jaipur excited, curious and yes, a bit anxious too. It’s not every day that you get selected to become an INK Fellow out of a pool of hundreds of applications; much less so if what you do is comics.

The inspiration for Plain Ink, my non-profit, came from my participation in the UN mission to Afghanistan. In 2009 I spent six months writing a textbook for Afghan children, which soon turned into a comic book. In a country where the literacy rate is approximately 23%, comics seemed a more promising choice than a standard textbook for communicating vital public information. I wanted to use comics to circumnavigate the stumbling blocks of poverty – illiteracy, failing public health, poor livelihoods and the like.

After avoiding a Taliban attack due to sheer luck, an evacuation, and five more months of work in Afghanistan, my UN contract came to an end. What came next? I decided to invest everything that I had in creating Plain Ink, a non-profit storytelling organisation that produces educational comics for children in emerging countries, such as Afghanistan and India.

After one year in the making and several rounds of piloting in Jalilpur – a slum of 10,000 people on the outskirts of Varanasi – I was proud to show my comics for Indian children at INK. ‘The Village Changemakers’ – that’s the title of the first book – received a lot of interest and curiosity after my talk, and many people in the audience approached me to find out more and browse the sample copies that I had.

Plain Ink managed to print and distribute the first 2,000 comic books a few days after leaving INK, involving schools, clinics and children in Jalilpur as much as sorrounding areas. Educational activities involving songs, readings and demonstrations were also carried out at various locales in order to show children and their families that comics can be a lot of fun, but also very useful in teaching basic notions of communicable diseases prevention, food security and clean water access.

Plain Ink is now getting into its second reprint, and I have been in touch with all those that showed interest at the INK conference. But Plain Ink is also looking forward to broadening its reach thanks to the opportunity and visibility that INK – before anyone else – gave us to showcase our work.

What is more, Plain Ink is also hard at work on some ideas generated by our participation at INK, including children dramas, an education/livelihood program and further stories now being developed.

Being selected as an INK Fellow made a whole world of difference for me and Plain Ink and, I am sure, for many others. May this momentum keep growing, and show that another way – of living, acting and dreaming – is indeed possible.

By INK2011 Fellow Selene Biffi
February 6, 2012
You can reach Biffi at info@plainink.org
Biffi’s talk from INK2011 will be uploaded to www.INKtalks.com soon.
Check out the Village Changemakers at http://issuu.com/plaininkbooks/docs/the_village_changemakers