Dharamsala, July 17 – What are the responsibilities of a leader? How important is it to share each other’s opinions and have the ability to empathise with the other’s problems? What qualities should a facilitator have while dealing with two parties in conflict? These are some of the questions raised in the ongoing workshop titled ‘Understanding conflict, building peace’ organized by The Henry Martyn Institute, Hyderabad. The week-long workshop being held at the Men-Tse-Khang hall has participants from areas of conflict like Kashmir, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura.
Ms.Diane D’Souza, Associate Director and also one of the facilitators in the daily activities, describes such workshops as a way of creating space to those who are challenged everyday with situation of violent conflicts. She said, “It is an exercise to think and reflect upon their life back home; And also to open up new horizons in their outlook by meeting people from other background with similar problems”.
The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) based in Dharamsala is helping the organiser as local facilitator. The organiser finds the hill town an ideal place for such a workshop. “Dharamsala is the home of the exile Tibetans who have faced lots of difficulties and our participants have learned a lot from them,” Ms. Diane said. She thinks the participants have seen and understood more clearly the Tibetan people’s adherence to non-violence and peace.
There is no mistaking that the workshop has a long-term goal of creating future leaders who would ensure a more peaceful society. Mr. Aijaz from Srinagar tells about his plans to use the skills he has learned from the training on return. He shared his understanding on the role of the facilitators who he thinks should be impartial during a course of a negotiation. The Kashmiri members expressed strongly on the need for educating the younger generation about such an approach of reconciliation.
The workshop activities include: reflecting on one’s problems, learning to listen, role playing, skills in effective communication and lots of team-building activities. During the course of the week-long program, the participants are also taken to the major Tibetan institutions to get a first hand knowledge of the Tibetan community.
Background on The Henry Martyn Institute
The Henry Martyn Institute (HMI) is located in Hyderabad, India since 1969. It is a non-profit organization promoting reconciliation between people of different faiths and cultures. It encourages study of religions and practical grassroot involvment with the objective of improving relationships between divided groups and communities. HMI achieves its goals through a variety of academic and praxis works with a focus on reducing prejudices and increasing trust and cooperation between individuals, communities and organisations.
