The Invisible Visible: The Tibetan Women’s Leadership Conference
In most areas of the world, indeed in all, a cloak of invisibility has, for the most part, shaded the achievements of women. Most Tibetan women find themselves underneath this cloak, struggling to become visible.
To address this need, the Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) held, from December 21st-25th, its annual Tibetan Women’s Leadership Program in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India. The twenty seven Tibetan participants came from all over India to attend the workshops lead by four prominent guest speakers (Lenny Matthews, Doris Hargrave, Youdon Aukatsang and Mr. Vishwanathan) and facilitated by B. Tsering Yeshi (President of TWA), Esa Aldegheri and Tenzin Palkyi.
On the first day, Lenny Matthews focused on the achievable goals and dreams of the listeners. She discussed the many obstacles that cause these dreams to remain stagnant. The most prominent was the fear of failure and the only way to overcome it was to give oneself the permission to fail.
The second day was the stage of Doris Hargrave. She coached the participants on public speaking techniques and body language all the while encouraging them with words like "there is nobody like you in the world". The students culminated their learning in a presentation, in front of a video camera, of certain hot topics in the Tibetan exiled community.
The third day saw Youdon Aukatsang, the first Tibetan guest speaker, who lead a workshop on time management. The young women discovered through practical activities how to make their time more effective.
The fourth day began with a panel discussion on Tibetan women’s issues with questions like "What can you do as a woman?" and "How can Tibetan women get organized and work together to help the Tibetan cause?" at the forefront. It was a healthy debate that gave hope to those who participated. The fourth day ended with an inspirational lecture by Mr.Vishwanathan. His talk filled the students with the spirit of change. The final day wrapped up, with some male participants attending, with a conversation on the differences between sex and gender and their roles in stereotyping both males and females.
The final day wrapped up, with some male participants attending, with a conversation on the differences between sex and gender and their roles in stereotyping both males and females.Both the invisible and visible leadership found its place in the five day workshop. B. Tsering recognized the invisible leadership (like the always constant mothers), meant to lead from behind, propelling others forward in an act of servitude, while at the same time encouraging the participants to break free from, as Youdon Aukatsang said, "traditional conditioning", and find the visible leadership that Tibetan women deserve and have found a voice in.
B. Tsering gave examples of the many Tibetan women who are visible leaders in the Tibetan society and the students were surprised at the sheer number of them (the invisibility cloak, is not just a struggle from within, but from without). This surprise initiated a conversation with B. Tsering and Ms. Aukatsang, outside of the workshop, about the nature of the primary obstacle facing Tibetan women. They said that women are expected to excel when they reach the visible light and if they fail, they are often not forgiven. The patriarchal system may allow women to fail but it is not allowing them to stand up from their failure and try again. Throughout history men have been constantly failing and from their failure, succeeding. It is time for women to do the same. It is time for men to allow them to do the same.
The women’s voice is a passionate voice and it is speaking always. Let us listen to it so we can fail together, get up together and succeed and excel. Let us never give up.