Why a blog?
I've switched from mass emails to keeping this blog so that you can check up on me at your own leisure. :)
Quick Update
I have just finished my first senior year at UCSD and I will be heading off to Dharamsala, India at 3AM on July 5th, 2008 for a three week volunteer project. A team of UCSD students and I will be working up in the beautiful Himalayan mountains (right next to the Dali Lama!). The rest of this blog entry will address specific questions that you may have about my trip this summer.
The Purpose of my UCSD Volunteer Project
Alternative Breaks at UCSD (alternativebreaks.ucsd.edu) is the group that I am currently affiliated with which will be involved in this international volunteer project. We are teaming up with Cross Cultural Solutions (http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/) and our statement and goals are to: "facilitate national and international service and learning trips that cultivate lifelong socially active and globally conscious leaders through direct service, education, diversity, reflection, investigation of social justice issues, and reorientation." Our student organization will be sending UCSD students to the following sites this year: India, Thailand, Ghana, Brazil, China, Russia, Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, and the California National Parks in Big Sur.
Why India?: Social Issues: the Plight of the Untouchables and Unequal Gender Roles
India is a beautiful country and is different from anything I have ever experienced before. This, however, is the smallest of factors for my interest in going to Dharamsala, India. The Caste system has denied a majority of the population equal rights and the plight of the untouchables, also referred to as the "Dalits," maintains a strong presence in the country. Ghandi refused to call the untouchables "Dalits" because that word means "crushed underfoot" and "broken to pieces."Instead, Ghandi referred to them as "Harijan" which means "children of God." He once said "the taint of untouchability is an intolerable burden on Hinduism. Let us not deny God by denying a fifth of our race the riht of association on equal footing" (1958). Here's a little insight into the heart of a Dalit, through a Dalit Devotional Song:
I search for God, who shall I hear?
I made stone temples, carved God out of stone
But priests are like sone,
They imprison God.
Whom shall I hear?
We were born untouchables
Because of our deeds.
In addition to the untouchables, the treatment of women in the country is very different from what Westerners are accustomed to. Because of the dowry system, women are less valued at birth and infanticide is still a common practice. In some regions, men out-number women three to one. There have been about 200 reported rapes within on region of India within the last two years, not even to mention the assaults that have gone undocumented. (I will be in a safe region and our program is dedicated to ensuring our safety so there is no need to worry)
Spirituality in Dharamsala: I have been speaking with my Indian friends that live here in San Diego and several of them have explained to me that Dharamsala is a very spiritual place--which makes perfect sense considering that it is a place fostering Tibetian refugees and the Dali Lami. While Hinduism is the prominent religion in India, this region will have a hybrid presence of Buddhism and Hinduism, and I predict that there will be a strong sense of spirituality because the area is a prime destination for meditation. As a woman of faith, I am personally looking forward to experiencing the spirituality of this region of India and being able to see how Indians and Tibetans perceive faith, religion, spirituality, religious texts, religious institutions and organizations, and whatever else is there that I can't predict experiencing and noticing.
India and my Future
Being involved in AB:India@UCSD has allowed me to encourage undergraduate students to be global citizens and to be informed about international social issues. I have been able to join the collaborative student effort which proactively promotes cultural diversity and global awareness. At the student level, I believe that investing into this community is also investing in the enrichment of the rising leaders of the United States through helping them gain international perspectives. In addition, I will soon be a college gradate and wondering what to do with my bachelors degrees in International Language Studies and Human Development. I hope that this experience will help me to decide if I would like to base my next few years in another country working with an NGO or living abroad while getting a Masters in International Relations or Social Work. Likewise, my previous experience in Spain has remained with me throughout this past year and I am considering starting a life for myself back in Barcelona in which traveling to India will me more accessible and establishing ties with India this summer may become a lifelong partnership working towards promoting social justice in India.
That just about wraps it up folks.
I love you all and thank you all for the roles that you have had in shaping me to be who I am today.
....until the next blog entry.....
Irene Lynette Trevino
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