Indian summer
Ms Divya Vinod, National Secretary-Youth Development of the YWCA of India relates the visit to the YWCA of India by Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of the World YWCA and Ms Juli Dugdale, World YWCA Programme Director for Asia and Pacific.
We have Guests!!
Our guests arrived on the evening of June 13, 2010, and the next day the YWCA staff met them for the first time over lunch. We had been preparing for their welcome for several weeks, so to finally greet them amongst us was very exciting for all.
Ms Kalpana David was in charge of the events, Ms Mousumi Gupta of decoration, Ms Shrinidhi Bagrodia of food, and I was in charge of programmes.
Ms Sharon John took Ms. Juli Dugdale out shopping. She returned wearing the traditional Indian clothing “salwar-kameez”. It was touching to see her dressed like the rest of us.
As a part of the welcome we organised a short interactive session in the International Guest House lobby, followed by a get together on the YWCA lawn.
Ms Rema Daniel welcomed our guests, as well as members of different organisations whom we had invited to talk about their work, Ms Vina Majumdar spoke about The status of women in India, Ms Razia Ismail Abbasi shared concerns relating to children in India and Ms Sunitha Dhar spoke about safety and shelter for the homeless. Our guests then addressed the audience, and the interactive session ended with thanks from our National General Secretary, Ms Beulah Shekar.
The scene then shifted to the lawn which we had decorated with ‘rangoli’-flower beds, diyas etc. The traditional welcome began with the garland and ‘tilak’ - a ritual that includes putting sandalwood paste and vermillion on the guests’ forehead and sprinkling rose water on them. Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda and Ms Juli Dugdale then lit the lamp at the ensuing ” lamp lighting ceremony, which takes place at the beginning of any auspicious programme.
The cultural programme followed. It included songs and street plays on the three themes of the YWCA of India - Who are my neighbors? - Neighbor to the victimized, neighbor to the right and just and neighbor to the earth. A dance was then performed, as well as a play about female infanticide-‘ajanmi tanya’ and one about “ragging” in colleges. Everyone was then invited on the dance floor.
The evening ended with typical Indian food and drinks from Old Delhi - roti, kebabs, tikka, pakoras, and traditional Indian sharbats and Lassi served in earthewear, followed by Jalebi and Rabri for dessert
On June15, visits were scheduled to two Delhi based NGOs- Deepalaya (the role of self help groups in empowering women in India) and the Childline India Foundation (its role in the prevention of victimisation in India).
Together with our National General Secretary, our World YWCA guests then had a last meeting with the staff. Over ice cream, we talked about our passions, our families and ourselves. During their last evening our guests enjoyed a rickshaw ride in Old Delhi, a meal at Chandani Chowk and the sound and light show at Red Fort.
During their visit, Ms. Gumbonzvanda and Ms Dugdale also took the opportunity to visit UNIFEM Regional Director, Anne Stenhammer, and Action Aid India Executive Director Sandeep Chadra. They also had dinner with a former World YWCA President, Razia Ismail.
