Manoj Chenthamarakshan
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A 40-minute animated documentary film that asks children to identify the ‘superhero’ (their talent) is the vision of Manoj Chenthamarakshan, a Neuro-Linguistic Programming trainer based in Coimbatore. His Superhero Project — a quest to find one’s superpower is an interactive way to capture the attention of young minds to self-reflect and find their intelligence within. It has earned him the International Sustainable Academy (ISA) fellowship, a nine-month education training programme in Germany, sponsored by the United Nations. The programme, funded by the German government and the UN, is a collaborative fellowship where people from developing countries can look for solutions in Germany and implement the model in their respective countries.
Manoj, who is also the author of self-help books, will be among 13 fellows selected from other countries like Tunisia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Jamaica and the Philippines, who come together in Hamburg to find sustainable solutions for some of the greatest challenges on planet earth. The United Nations categorised the world’s problems in 17 buckets as Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). At number four is quality education. “The objective is to make an important contribution to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” says Manoj who is among the two fellows selected from India.
The team has scholars researching on topics related to sustainable agriculture, environment and global warming like hydroponics, water pollution, urban planning, flood reduction, health care, and climate change, to name a few. “Did you know that each person has unique intelligence and that we thrive in certain learning environments while struggling in others?” asks Manoj adding that there are eight different categories that cover visual, logical, musical, linguistic, verbal, interpersonal and interpersonal intelligences.
Sustainability goals
His project is divided into two goals — creating the documentary and creative journal. “It is a sustainable project because of the digital format, and it is not bound by demographics or time.”
Manoj, who is brushing up his skills in German as he prepares to touch down, will be visiting schools in Hamburg and Finland that have already adopted this model and made a positive change. “Once I am back in March 2023, the movie will be released on YouTube and the journal will be published as well. I plan to have more interactions with children and help them identify their niche talent. My film shows children as superheroes and will have a strong emotional connect.”
To know more on the scholarship, visit isa-germany.com
