Posted on Nov. 20: Peace Studies helps poor women of India

McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies is hosting a Festival of Light fundraising dinner on Sunday, Nov. 24 to help poor rural women in India learn how to improve village life.

Funds will go towards training camps that promote peace by teaching women about non-violence, peace and democracy. In these camps, women learn about their rights and responsibilities and essentially about how to stand on their own feet. Many of these women are members of the village council who were elected two years ago after a constitutional reform gave women more power by reserving one-third of the seats in all elected bodies for women. For many, this is their first chance to learn what democracy means.

The peace training camps, called Women's Shanti Sena, began last February with an International Peace Conference in Vaishali, India, co-sponsored jointly by the Centre for Peace Studies and an Indian non-governmental organization located in Patna, India. Since that conference, about 2,000 women have been trained with the financial help of the State level UNICEF office. Also at the conference, the Vaishali Sabha People's Assembly became a Vaishali Sabha Peace Movement. There is a great demand for holding similar Women's Peace Training Camps in other parts of India.

At the fundraiser, members of the Peace Centre, including religious studies professors Graeme MacQueen and Anne Pearson and biology professor Rama Singh, who participated in the Vaishali Peace Conference, will present their thoughts on the conference as well on the ongoing work of Women's Shanti Sena.

The fundraiser takes place at the Michelangelo Banquet Centre and
will consist of an exhibit on Vaishali, cultural program (Kathak dance) and an Indian vegetarian dinner. The cost of the dinner is $50 per person (tax receipt) and it will start at 5 p.m. Interested individuals should contact Rama Singh at 905-525-4471 ext. 24378 singh@mcmster.ca