Women2Women
Cultural Connection & Leadership
Program
Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA
August 10, 2008
We prepared for an early morning on the 10th of august and since it was a Sunday we were free for most of the day. We were invited down to the White Hall (common cafeteria) where we all had breakfast together and were able to start off with introductions. Soon after we had just begun to form acquaintances we were treated to a trolley tour of the charming city of Boston, and which surprisingly turned out more English looking than I had expected. From the Charles street to the beautiful white suspension bridge known a Tobin bridge, everything has a story behind it that in one way or another inspires you, from the Robert Could Shaw statue that represents the acceptance of black slaves in the army to the fact that the right foot of John Harvard statue is shinier than the left one because students rub it squeaky clean before taking an exam, as a sign of good luck!
We prepared for an early morning on the 10th of august and since it was a Sunday we were free for most of the day. We were invited down to the White Hall (common cafeteria) where we all had breakfast together and were able to start off with introductions. Soon after we had just begun to form acquaintances we were treated to a trolley tour of the charming city of Boston, and which surprisingly turned out more English looking than I had expected. From the Charles street to the beautiful white suspension bridge known a Tobin bridge, everything has a story behind it that in one way or another inspires you, from the Robert Could Shaw statue that represents the acceptance of black slaves in the army to the fact that the right foot of John Harvard statue is shinier than the left one because students rub it squeaky clean before taking an exam, as a sign of good luck!
The
whole town is filled with monuments that in their
selves are achievements, like the first public
library whose motto stands to be: built by the
people and devoted to the advancement of learning
and the beautiful Copley square fountain which
provides a beautiful and peaceful respite to the
people working or studying nearby. The students
gather there books and sit by the fountain while
the kids pull off their shoes and go playing in it!
Over all Boston seems to be the home for the
intellectual since almost three hundred thousand
students come to Boston every year to study in the
various phenomenal colleges in this town for
example Harvard University, MIT and Lesley etc.
We went around the town and then we had some free time to go shopping so we travelled off to Macey's, which is a huge shopping Mall about 45 minutes away from Lesley University’s dormitory. After a little retail therapy we were completely prepared to start our work on the conference and so when we got back we were not only exhilarated but absolutely thrilled about getting to work.
The orientation began with Mr. Rick Rendon telling us about the history of Women to Women and Empower Peace and it was amazing to see how passionate he and everyone affiliated with him was about what they did and how much they cared about making a difference in the lives of youths all around the world. They started with live video conferences and three years ago they had the first Women to Women conference in which people actually were invited to the states and I was proud to know that not only did Pakistan participate in that first attempt in breaching cultural barriers but also our participating teacher was well remembered.
Rick said that he believed in "incentives" and announced that they were going to offer cash gift vouchers everyday which proved out to be pretty good for me because I won fifty dollars! They stuck a sticker beneath a chair at random and I happened to go sit on it! It was great to see that they try making everything a little fun so that even while we’re learning we don’t get over burdened by anything.
After being happily shocked by that little event we were addressed by Mrs. Diane Caldwell who happened to be one of the most encouraging people that I had encountered so far and once again I found myself being happily faced by the fact that these people were not just there because they were doing this event but they were there because they cared about carrying through with this event. But what touched my heart the most was everything Mr. Todd Patkin said. He is the man who funded the whole event and a business man here in Boston and even though he lives here in this peaceful charming little town he is not only aware of everything that is happening around the world but is also disturbed by the violence and feels for the people whose lives are affected by the numerous wars raging between and within different countries. When he mentioned Pakistan and addressed the problems being faced by the people of the Muslim world because of the wars being raged by the US government I was, at first a little surprised and then incredibly touched! I was at that moment, gladder than ever that I had decided to be a part of this amazing attempt at empowering us enough so that we may be able to do something to improve the condition of people (in general) and women (in particular) in our country.
This made me realize that its just the first day of the conference and I already have so much to take back to my country because people there also need to realize that not all Americans agree with the Presidents policies on the "war on terrorism" and that most people in America do not even know what's happening in countries like ours and Lebanon and between Israel and Palestine. It's like what the Director of program development here, Eva Gordon, who happens to be one of the nicest people here, although its hard to tell because all of them are very sweet, said that "the Americans became aware of the condition of terrorism around the world when it came to them in America on the 9/11". And I find that to be true in some ways and also to be the cause of many (or perhaps all the) discriminations and crimes against Muslims in America and many other countries. Most people here generally have no issues with Muslims, a good example would be Mr. Asad Butt (multi media director here at the Empower peace organization) who's great at what he does and happily working without any issues!
After listening to all that Mr. Patkin told us about his family, and other things here, I realized that all the misconceptions that we have all over the world are mostly because we never gather to talk anything out! There is so much to learn from other people and so much to teach them. Whether or not our problems are going to be solved depends only on our perception, if we believe that there is something that we can do to make a difference in our lives, the lives of people around us and even those all across the globe, then we really can, and precisely what they are trying to do.
As the evening proceeded we heard from Tricia Raynard, who is the executive director and looks like a very fun loving person, how the whole system of Empower peace worked and about some of the things that we are going to do in the coming days and then we were lead into the Alumni Hall where we had an ice breaker session with two of Lesley Universities students named Jeff and Adam, which turned out to be more fun than I had thought. We had to go around the room and fill out a Performa looking for people who had done some specific stuff like ever broken a bone or if they loved skiing. Turned out that Jeff has eaten crickets, two other girls had eaten chocolate coated insects and one ate a worm! That kind of DID break the ice!
As soon as we were all comfortable with each other and had settled in a private concert with Sharon Katz and the Peace train was held and I guess I don't have to say how that went. Obviously awesome! I had heard them before but not a lot so this up close encounter made me realize how much meaning their songs really had and the reason for t ha probably is that they really feel what they say.
They really do want you to get on the "Peace train".
The day was filled with excitement and fun but most importantly learning and realization. Watching the news I have often thought how any nation in the world could be so oblivious to our pain and the pain of people around the world but this has made me appreciate that no one has forgotten or over looked us, there are people working for us, now we have to work with them.
We went around the town and then we had some free time to go shopping so we travelled off to Macey's, which is a huge shopping Mall about 45 minutes away from Lesley University’s dormitory. After a little retail therapy we were completely prepared to start our work on the conference and so when we got back we were not only exhilarated but absolutely thrilled about getting to work.
The orientation began with Mr. Rick Rendon telling us about the history of Women to Women and Empower Peace and it was amazing to see how passionate he and everyone affiliated with him was about what they did and how much they cared about making a difference in the lives of youths all around the world. They started with live video conferences and three years ago they had the first Women to Women conference in which people actually were invited to the states and I was proud to know that not only did Pakistan participate in that first attempt in breaching cultural barriers but also our participating teacher was well remembered.
Rick said that he believed in "incentives" and announced that they were going to offer cash gift vouchers everyday which proved out to be pretty good for me because I won fifty dollars! They stuck a sticker beneath a chair at random and I happened to go sit on it! It was great to see that they try making everything a little fun so that even while we’re learning we don’t get over burdened by anything.
After being happily shocked by that little event we were addressed by Mrs. Diane Caldwell who happened to be one of the most encouraging people that I had encountered so far and once again I found myself being happily faced by the fact that these people were not just there because they were doing this event but they were there because they cared about carrying through with this event. But what touched my heart the most was everything Mr. Todd Patkin said. He is the man who funded the whole event and a business man here in Boston and even though he lives here in this peaceful charming little town he is not only aware of everything that is happening around the world but is also disturbed by the violence and feels for the people whose lives are affected by the numerous wars raging between and within different countries. When he mentioned Pakistan and addressed the problems being faced by the people of the Muslim world because of the wars being raged by the US government I was, at first a little surprised and then incredibly touched! I was at that moment, gladder than ever that I had decided to be a part of this amazing attempt at empowering us enough so that we may be able to do something to improve the condition of people (in general) and women (in particular) in our country.
This made me realize that its just the first day of the conference and I already have so much to take back to my country because people there also need to realize that not all Americans agree with the Presidents policies on the "war on terrorism" and that most people in America do not even know what's happening in countries like ours and Lebanon and between Israel and Palestine. It's like what the Director of program development here, Eva Gordon, who happens to be one of the nicest people here, although its hard to tell because all of them are very sweet, said that "the Americans became aware of the condition of terrorism around the world when it came to them in America on the 9/11". And I find that to be true in some ways and also to be the cause of many (or perhaps all the) discriminations and crimes against Muslims in America and many other countries. Most people here generally have no issues with Muslims, a good example would be Mr. Asad Butt (multi media director here at the Empower peace organization) who's great at what he does and happily working without any issues!
After listening to all that Mr. Patkin told us about his family, and other things here, I realized that all the misconceptions that we have all over the world are mostly because we never gather to talk anything out! There is so much to learn from other people and so much to teach them. Whether or not our problems are going to be solved depends only on our perception, if we believe that there is something that we can do to make a difference in our lives, the lives of people around us and even those all across the globe, then we really can, and precisely what they are trying to do.
As the evening proceeded we heard from Tricia Raynard, who is the executive director and looks like a very fun loving person, how the whole system of Empower peace worked and about some of the things that we are going to do in the coming days and then we were lead into the Alumni Hall where we had an ice breaker session with two of Lesley Universities students named Jeff and Adam, which turned out to be more fun than I had thought. We had to go around the room and fill out a Performa looking for people who had done some specific stuff like ever broken a bone or if they loved skiing. Turned out that Jeff has eaten crickets, two other girls had eaten chocolate coated insects and one ate a worm! That kind of DID break the ice!
As soon as we were all comfortable with each other and had settled in a private concert with Sharon Katz and the Peace train was held and I guess I don't have to say how that went. Obviously awesome! I had heard them before but not a lot so this up close encounter made me realize how much meaning their songs really had and the reason for t ha probably is that they really feel what they say.
They really do want you to get on the "Peace train".
The day was filled with excitement and fun but most importantly learning and realization. Watching the news I have often thought how any nation in the world could be so oblivious to our pain and the pain of people around the world but this has made me appreciate that no one has forgotten or over looked us, there are people working for us, now we have to work with them.