“Be the change you wish to see in the world”-Mahatma Gandhi.“If people were silent,nothing would change”-Malala Yousafzai.
The Birth of Awaaz:
Formed in 2011, Awaaz San Antonio is a nonprofit organization that strives to promote awareness of family violence issues in the South Asian communities of San Antonio and South Texas, and focuses on the self-reliance and empowerment of South Asian victims and survivors through multi-lingual community outreach, confidential peer support, and confidential referral services. We envision a community based on healthy relationships, tolerance, and a strong support system. Awaaz works with women, men. children and the elderly. People have often asked-why do we have culture specific organizations such as Awaaz when there are mainstream Domestic Violence agencies around the US. Decades ago, South Asian social workers and counsellors realized that many immigrants, especially the new ones were reluctant to go to mainstream organizations for help due to language and cultural barriers. Many did not know where to go for help or how. It was easier for them to come to us; that is people from similar backgrounds who understood their culture specific issues, knew their history and spoke their languages. Even those who did reach out to mainstream agencies were underserved due to cultural and language gaps in communication between mainstream organizations and our immigrant clients. This led to the birth of what we call culture specific organizations such as Awaaz. Besides working with victims and survivors, we also engage in outreach and educational activities as we believe that building awareness and dialogue about abuse and violations of an individual’s basic human rights is key to ending them.Here I must want to register my great experience with Awaaz team. May 6th Awaaz conducted a seminar, Awaaz Director Ms Tapasi and Gowtham have invited me, as a reporter I went in a curiosity,without any idea. but it was a game changer experience! Here you go-
‘Our Children, Our Future’- Seminar  
Awaaz and the University of Texas(UTSA) Department of Political Science joined forces to host a thought provoking and highly interactive seminar on child neglect, abuse and trafficking in the Carlos Alvarez College of Business on the stunningly beautiful campus of The University of Texas in San Antonio (UTSA). Titled Our Children, Our Future-this event brought together passionate individuals who, through education, advocacy and grassroots activism, are working unrelentingly to shape a better future for our children and the world. The speakers drew upon their experience, research and work on the ground to make highly informative, eye opening and engaging presentations. As one UTSA news source wrote-“Attendees had the incredible opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions and gain valuable insights from esteemed speakers. The seminar shed light on crucial topics such as child trafficking, education, gender equality and social justice, highlighting the pivotal role we all play in creating a brighter future for the next generation…the event was filled with energy, knowledge sharing, and a genuine sense of unity”   
The Speakers: 
Dr. Monica Das, a retired professor from Delhi University is a member of The International Association of Feminist Economics(IAFFE). She has also authored several fiction and non-fiction works, including Her Story So Far, The Other Woman, The Child Woman and others. Available on Amazon. She has produced documentaries and docu-dramas including a series, Anwesan, for India’s Doordarshan Television based on her legendary grandfather’s works.  Mr. Gowdham Rajan is an IT executive and San Antonio lead for Cry America. He had served as the President of the India Association of San Antonio(IASA) and also that of the Tamil Sangam of San Antonio, Mr. Rajan had also been a Secretary of the Asian Alliance of San Antonio.Ms. Teresa Rachel Scheller is currently the Director of Legal Services for Family Violence Prevention Services, Inc. She provides family law legal services to the residence of the Battered Women and Children Shelter, in Bexar and surrounding counties. Ms. Scheller has also worked with child victims and survivors of trafficking. The highly engaged audience attendees contributed tremendously to this enriching experience. Together, we can make a difference and pave the way for a better world for our children.
 Heartfelt thanks-
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Awaaz San Antonio and the UTSA Department of Political Science and Geography for organizing such an inspiring seminar, and to all the speakers and attendees who contributed to this enriching experience. Together, we can make a difference and pave the way for a better world for our children. â€œTo make a tangible difference in the world you need to get involved in solutions”. All our services are 100% free and 100% confidential.  We are an all-volunteer run organization. Our advocates are trained and relentlessly dedicated individuals. Besides working directly with clients, Awaaz remains deeply involved with educational and outreach activities within the South Asian communities, as well as in mainstream educational, legal, DV prevention and other human rights advocacy institutions.  We work closely with local agencies such as the Texas Family Violence prevention Services, San Antonio Police Department, Family Violence Prevention Services ( Battered Women Shelter), the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative of SA, the domestic violence unit of Mothers Demand Action, Bexar County Domestic Violence Task Force, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid to name a few. We also network regularly with South Asian organizations around Texas-Asian American Family Support Services of Austin(formerly Saheli), Daya, Houston, Chetna, Dallas, etc.People ask why a South Asian or Asian organization when we already have the San Antonio Family Violence Prevention Services, that is the Battered Women and Children shelter etc. Two reasons- both based on cultural and linguistic issues. 1) We realized that many immigrants, especially the new ones were reluctant to go to mainstream organizations for help due to language and cultural barriers.  Many did not know where to go for help or how. It was easier for them to come to us, people from similar backgrounds who understood their culture specific issues, knew their history and spoke their languages,  2) We also realized that our communities were underserved for the same reasons-as there are lot of cultural and language gaps in communication between mainstream organizations and our new immigrant clients. That’s where we come in-to bridge that gap. We network extensively with similar organizations in San Antonio and teach them about our culture, traditions and history so that they are sensitive to our client’s specific issues and fears. We rely heavily on these sister organizations who help our clients with many services including housing, legal and counseling advice, etc. These organizations include the Family Violence Prevention Services of San Antonio(FVPS) what is also known as the Bexar County Battered Women and Children shelter, TRGLA, Texas Advocacy Project, Texas Family Violence Prevention Services, Salvation Army shelters of San Antonio, the PEACE Initiative of San Antonio and othersWe are an all volunteer organization, and have very little private funds, but thinks to couple of small grants we have also helped some of our clients directly with legal, medical and counseling services, rent, food, transportation, educational supplies, Recently we were able to pay off one semester of tuition for someone.  But we are stiil struggling against lot of odds, particularly lack of human resources.  We need a lot of volunteers in many areas-technical for our website and social media, outreach so you can help us with our tables at events like this one tonight, find and network with similar organizations so that our clients have access to more resources., grant writing and keeping up with the meetings and conferences with organizations in Texas and around the country. We can definitely use the help of lawyers and social workers and counselors. We provide training for all our volunteers and work with them every step of the way.  -Thanks for these Informations the Director Ms.Tapasi Misra-Our NRI Reporter Sheela Ramanan