Dharamshala January 2-The exclusive young women leadership workshop organized by the Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) for Tibetan university students concluded in Bangalore (south India) on Dec. 30 with a ceremony graced by the presence of Mr. Gyari Butuk, member of the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies. Mr. Butuk in his address provided encouraging words to the youngsters about the need to take up leadership positions in the exile community and advised them to put in practice what they had learned during the 5-day workshop. Mr. Butuk later presented certificates of acknowledgement to the 40 participants for their active involvement in the workshop sessions.
From the thoughts and feedbacks shared by the participants, it emerged that the event was a first of its kind that they had attended so far. Some students said they felt comfortable and uninhibited learning and sharing things, as four of the five resource persons were female. It was heartening to know that TWA’s emphasis on creating a supportive atmosphere for the girls during the training sessions had achieved its results. The sessions witnessed lively discussions and queries from the enthusiastic participants.
Well-known journalist and Tibet-watcher, Mr. Vijay Kranti led the session on How to be a Good Communicator and Role of Media. He especially focused his presentation on how to communicate effectively with non-Tibetan audience about the Tibet issue and the ways in which the issue could be highlighted in the media.
Ms. Kavita Parmeshwaram of the New-Delhi based Center for Social Change spoke about gender sensitivity, self-confidence and leadership styles. It was essentially to promote self-awareness among young girls to discover their innate potential and how effectively to transform it into leadership skills.
Ms. Youdon Aukatsang, Former Senior Program Officer of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy made a presentation on the United Nations and Tibet. She traced the emergence of the Tibet issue in the UN sphere and the subsequent discussions and debates in the world body on various issues related to the vexed issue of Tibet.
Ms. Shagun and Ms. Kalpana of the Bangalore-based women’s NGO, Vimochana examined women’s role in development. They discussed various issues related to development and their implications and relevance to women and children. Issues such as sustainable development, displacement, environment, equity etc were discussed.
The sessions were interspersed with audiovisual screenings on autonomy, political participation, etc. TWA’s video, “Voices in Exile” was shown to let the students know about women’s role in the Tibetan freedom struggle. A recording of Ms. Gyari Dolma’s (vice chair of ATPD) speech on importance of women’s political participation and the DIIR-published video on the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way approach were also shown. Mr. Kranti presented an interesting slide show on his visit to Tibet.
