Meeting the Prime Minister

• Rowlandson's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Dharamsala

Trip Start Oct 02, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Mar 02, 2007 Next
Entry

  Dharamsala, India
Friday, December 1, 2006

I am so behind with the Travel Blog - Busy has been the word for the past two weeks and I promise I will catch up. So many exciting things to write about: Returning to the Girls' Middle School in Govindgarh and a teacher in Calgary who is participating right now in the Global Arts exchange and more teachers who would like to participate as well. Dipping into the Ghanges and the Ashram in Rishikesh, visits to more village schools and the presentation we did for PRIA... I'll catch up soon. :)

Are you sitting down for today's entry? A week ago I heard that the head of PRIA's Continuing Education Department and the Head of the Gender unit at PRIA were heading to Dharamsala to lead a workshop on Gender Mainstreaming. I thought it would be so interesting to observe and asked about the possibility of going along. Permission was given and more details followed.

Are you ready for it?!

PRIA had been invited by the Tibetan Government in Exile to lead this workshop!!! They want to learn how to ensure that their departments are gender sensitive and inclusive. SO EXCITING!

The workshop today was phenomenal. Martha and Tulika were on fire in that room and the energy they stirred up was incredible. It was eye-opening. These two strong and confident women say that in EVERY workshop, many of the men in the room (no matter their class, education, upbringing) insist they are completely sensitive and that "there are simply some "ways" in women that ARE biological, but after the workshop, they GET IT - that the way men are/the way women are in society are all constructed BY society. I can't even describe the learning that took place today... for all of us. And honestly right now I feel speechless. :)

AND... after lunch we were getting ready to start the second half of the workshop and all of a sudden all of the participants stood up and in walked THE PRIME MINISTER OF TIBET!!! Are you kidding me??? The Prime Minister of Tibet!!! He spoke to us for almost an hour! He is a learned monk and very respected. He surprised me by some of the things he said... He said that Gender was not an issue in the past for Tibetans and is now an issue due to Western influence...YIKES! I wondered if Tibetan women would have agreed with that statement... In Tibetan culture, women can not be ordained, women wear aprons and different ornaments to show they are married, women can not complete the death ceremonies/rites, etc, etc. He also spoke about the richness of our ancestors knowledge and that authentic Tibetan Buddhism means all beings are treated with respect and love and in this way men and women must be equals. Anyway, it was VERY interesting!

I loved today!

The scenery here is hills, green, pine trees, snow covered mountains, and BLUE sky.

Wonderful. Eating Tibetan food again (not since my trip to Tibet in 2004) sooo yummy! It really is. Dumplings that melt in your mouth, momos filled with vegetables and tofu, Tibetan cookies.

With Gratitude for Tibet, His Holiness, and Tibetan Buddhism (even with its need for gender sensitization)... and Tibetan cookies, and for all of you (who are my favourite teachers),

C:

Print this entry Share Dharamsala hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry