[post_thumbnail size="550"]
How can the messages and tools of the Pachamama Alliance be of service in India?
My name is Jon Symes, I lead The Pachamama Alliance's Education Program outside the U.S., and I'm also responsible for building alliances to further spread our work. As such, this question has been exercising me for some years, before, during and since the first trip I made to India two years ago.
Why? – well that much is simple, a country of 1.2 billion people (17% of the world population) that is rapidly “developing” aiming to assure rising standards of housing, health and education to all is a major player if we are to re-direct the trajectory of the human family.
My First Trip to India and Why I Came Back
Two years ago I was blessed to visit this country, hosted by individuals committed to a vision of a sustainable, just and fulfilling world. We offered the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium to audiences in Pune and Mumbai, training about 40 people as Facilitators. At that stage we had no translation or cultural adaptation of the materials but the raw power of the Symposium – that a different future is possible and that we can play a part in creating it – shone through.
Since then it has become clear that this small a group of enthusiastic volunteers with US-accented materials at their disposal face an uphill task to contribute meaningfully to the awakening of the citizens’ voice in India. We are also aware of the trap of a colonizing approach, believing that materials created elsewhere, no matter how well-intentioned, can be offered to India on the untested assumption that they are needed and have value.
A Broader Approach and Coalition
So as of late we have been taking a broader approach: the value of the Symposium message is still being made available and, in parallel, we are exploring how to support an emerging coalition of organizations and people committed to raising up the voice of the citizens of India as a force for social change.
On this trip we are spreading the Symposium message through our partnership with the India-based Brahma Kumaris (I am writing this from their HQ and retreat center in Mount Abu) as well as weaving together a web of connections with other organizations: spiritual, youth-lead, philanthropic and environmental in focus. Can we find a common view of the world and the opportunity of collaboration in this moment that can accelerate the raising of the voice for transformation here? Can we join our own insights and offers in a humble way into the efforts that are already underway?
Follow my next blogs from India as I attempt to answer these questions!
Om shanti - may we work together in peace.
