Off to Torpa

This will be my last post, possibly until I get back home. I don't expect to have Internet access for the next week and a half. Early tomorrow a.m. our little group heads to Torpa, near Ranchi in Jharkhand province. We will visit a women's economic development centre and a school for the local children - works of the Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ), Indian Province. I'll post some of our photos upon my return. For now, below are a couple that I found online:

                                The landscape in Torpa, Jharkhand, India.

This photo was taken by the RSCJ on International Women's Day in 2013. The women are participating in a rally to raise awareness about human trafficking in the region. 

Reflections on a Conference

Women's Worlds 2014 has come to an end. The last two days being dedicated to exploring the wonders of Hyderabad, the only city in India to be named after a woman. The highlight of the conference for me has been meeting wonderful women from all over the globe, and some new friends from home too. It was surprising to many of us that the conference was not more feminist research focused and that the politics of the university system and government were such big influences on the structure and content of the event. For example, the opening address was given by an Indian woman scientist who designs missiles, and not one of the many activists in the country who are standing up for women's human rights. However, some of the panel presentations and other keynote addresses were more challenging to the oppressive forces in the world. Our presentation was well attended and very well received by participants. In it we tried not only to speak to our experience and research about women's empowerment in the Canadian context of Indigenous-Settler relations, but to model with our lives the relationships of mutual recognition we spoke about.

                                         Meeting a participant from Kolkata.

Luckily, we did not meet any of these campus residents! 

Part of the natural beauty on the campus of the University of Hyderabad. 

Presenting at Women's Worlds 2014

                                       

                                          This is what we came for!

Opening of Women's Worlds 2014

                                          A red-carpet welcome!

Here we are at the University of Hyderabad.

An Indian floral welcome.

 

Shta-ta-ha women! (Meaning beyond phenomenal in Ojibwe)

Introducing the evening entertainment.

A few photos - Mumbai

A view of Mumbai from a beautiful park called the Hanging Gardens.

    The famous Central Train Station, Mumbai. The architect was Rudyard Kipling's father who was famous for his ability to blend Indian and British art.

The mural around Sophia College for Women was covered with graffiti. The students decided to cover it with their own. Here's one example.

The beautiful floral decoration on the floor in front to the altar for Mass on Independence Day. 

Gateway to India - Mumbai

I enjoyed my time in Mumbai very much. The highlight for me was definitely the RSCJ tours of all their places of work within the campus of Sophia College: the College for Women, Polytechnic, Sophia Nursery school, and Sadhana School for children and youth with mental challenges. Makes me proud to be RSCJ to see how much empowerment work our Indian sisters are doing through education. I was invited to give a presentation to a group of young women taking a social work course at the women's college, on my work on Indigenous - Settler relations and human trafficking in Canada. Wonderful young women. We had a great discussion together. 

The next day was India's 67th Independence Day, August 15. We celebrated with Mass, flag raising ceremony, and a peace march to the August Kranti Maidan from where the Quit India Movement was launched. This is where on August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the famous Quit India speech that began a movement of civil disobedience and called for the British to leave India. It was quite something for me to be part of this and to experience the wonderful sense of gratitude and national pride these young women of all difference backgrounds have for their country. In the afternoon, two RSCJ gave me a tour of south Mumbai. 

Now I am in Hyderabad getting ready for the Women's Worlds 2014 Congress, which begins this evening.

The monument below is called, Gateway to India. It was erected in 1911 to welcome King George V and Queen Mary.

The Journey Begins

On my way to India! First stop will be Frankfurt. Here is the plane as they prep it for the trip.