#ChasingMemories

This is the India #ChasingMemories campaign page. To make a donation from any other country visit: http://bit.ly/1947partitionarchive.

We are running out of time to record memories of those elders who witnessed India's partition and struggle for independence 70 years ago. Those who have adult memories from that time are in their 90's today, and we are working hard to get to them fast. Otherwise, our history shall be forgotten, and our elders' sacrifices left unhonoured.

The 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan was one of the most significant events in written global history. It led to massive violence and the largest mass refugee crisis our earth has seen. When the British left South Asia, over 560 kingdoms were merged with British administered regions (British India) and re-organised into two new countries, India and Pakistan. The division happened along religious lines, leading to mass upheaval. Nearly 15 million people were displaced between 1946 and 1948 alone and up to 20 million people in the following years, accounting for nearly 1% of the world's population at the time.

Over the last seven years, our organisation has recorded and preserved stories from 8000 families. We need to file 2000 more to reach our initial goal of 10,000 memories. The recorded stories are shining a light on new histories and new incidences that have never before been documented. The stories we have preserved are helping our youth who record them develop their own identities.

Let's leave no voice behind, no story untold. Let's empower youth in the process of documenting this history.

The 1947 Partition Archive works with you to leave no refugee story behind.

Join us now in #ChasingMemories by making your donation or starting your own campaign. Several of you are running, walking, planting trees, baking goods and taking part in various activities in honour of refugees. Contact us if you would like to make a matching gift or discuss CSR options.

WHAT YOUR SUPPORT ENABLES: The 1947 Partition Archive provides a platform that empowers you to record and share your community's own story. We also provide the training and skills you will need to make this possible.

To ensure that oral histories in underprivileged communities are also documented, we administer a Story Scholarships Program. You can support one Story Scholar's complete 6-month tenure, including equipment, training, support and mentoring as well as archival space for their stories. Scholarships are named after the sponsors who make a donation to enable the scholarship.

Because this history is documented by everyday people, it is not only preserved in the archive, but also in the community. The intergenerational exchange also becomes a part of the person who is recording it.

8000 - Life-stories of Partition witnesses documented

10,00,000 - Followers of stories on social media

25 - 'Voices of Partition' community events in cities around the world

The 1947 Partition Archive's oral history program launched at a time in 2010 when the memory of Partition was nearly lost and hardly a topic of mention in mainstream popular culture. Despite the vast impacts of Partition which directly impacted nearly 14% of the world's population at the time (all of South Asia), it was largely not mentioned in textbooks and not present in school curriculums. Over the last decade, the posting of thousands of oral histories from The 1947 Partition Archive via social media that were shared nearly a billion times by users; combined with other channels such as public exhibitions, television and art, the topic of Partition has entered the public consciousness in a big way. It is frequently referenced in popular culture as well as politics, and has become the central focus of several new projects including museums, films, books and more. Much more work is needed before we truly understand this history and hence come face to face with how we got to where we are today, in politics, culture and economics. You can support this self discovery in-part by participating in this campaign. Understanding Partition also entails addressing the root causes of communal conflicts in South Asia today. Such self-reflection is required to move beyond a state of ongoing communalism and a fundamental requirement for economic advancement and social development in any community, including South Asia.