Mission 1000 is 2016 finalist at Project Inspire

Mission 1000 is 2016 finalist at Project Inspire the multi-award-winning initiative presents 18-35-year-olds worldwide with an opportunity to win a US$25,000 grant to assist an existing organisation which supports women and girls in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East or Africa.

Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World is a joint initiative from the Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard, to help young change-makers create a better world for women and girls in Asia and the Pacific.

Launched in 2011, to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day and the 25th anniversary of MasterCard Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Project Inspire presents 18-35 year olds with a five-minute platform to pitch their inspired idea, for the chance to win a US$25,000 grant. Today, Project Inspire is a multi-award winning initiative, and one of the most high profile CSR programs in the Asia Pacific region.

Project Inspire 2016 will take on the theme of ‘Empowering Women Through Safety and Security’. Applicants will be asked to demonstrate how their ideas harness safety and security concepts to empower women throughout Asia and the Pacific.

Mission 1000 is 2016 Finalist at Project Inspire. Our project is among the 10 top problem solvers.

Established in 2014, Mission 1000 is a project that empowers women by aiming to teach self-defense skills to 1000 young girls, at no cost to them, every financial year. We are now holding workshops, which are led by the founder Anand Koti. Every workshop is now able to teach 50 young girls. Koti, who has a 2 black dan belt in Karate and a green belt in Kobudo, trains these girls to kick, punch and block assaults from sexual attackers. He also teaches them to meditate and how to develop a calmer and more focused disposition.

Learning self-defense skills at a young age gives these girls the confidence they need to interact in India’s society at a later age. Self-defense skills will open up avenues of self-development by providing India’s women with a safety net to make crucial life decisions.

Equipped with the knowledge to protect themselves, young girls will be more likely to consider studying independently in India’s cities or to set up a business that requires them to venture beyond their comfort zone. Girls that have attended these workshops immediately demonstrate greater self-confidence and have also been found to spread this knowledge to their own female network of family and friends. By teaching a young girl how to defend herself, Mission 1000 will be protecting her larger female network.

By equipping each child with self-defense skills, Mission 1000 hopes to tackle the sexual abuse, which include harassment, assault and rape, against women in India. As Mission 1000 believes in providing free-of-charge self-defense workshops, this programme largely relies on donated funds. 

Mission 1000 is focusing its efforts on Mahadji Shinde High School in Pune, where almost 300 girls have learnt self-defense skills. These Mission 1000 workshops target batches of 50-60 female students from the 8^th to 11^th grade. Taught by the founder of Colorss Foundation himself, Anand Koti, the students have been learning several skills on how to punch, kick and block assaults. Each child has also left each session with a boost in her stamina, self-esteem and confidence. 

Mission 1000 makes a difference to the lives of these young women. Those who have completed the Mission 1000 workshops express gratitude in learning self-defense. Some have even taught these skills to their own family members. The daily fear of being harassed is now a thing of the past for many of these young women, who are now more confident in interacting with society. 

Please help us protect these young women by helping us sustain these Mission 1000 workshops. Be part of the Mission 1000 movement by reaching out to us at emailcolorss@gmail.com or visit our website to give securely at http://colorss.org/donate/. 

By Asyura Salleh