THE MAHILA MANDALEE, the women’s arm of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, yesterday, held its first women’s conference at the Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud Dharmic Sanskritik Kendra, under the theme ‘Inspiring Change: Today’s Hindu Woman in Perspective’. The one day event entailed a series of presentations and discussions, and group sessions addressed social issues facing Hindu women in Guyana. The open forum anticipates developing solutions to those challenges and charts its future course. More specifically, the Mahila Mandalee attempted to focus and tackle challenges inherent in the 21st century.
One of the presentations, “Women in our scriptures: lessons to be learnt”, was aimed at reaffirming the teachings of scriptural role models. The Mandalee believes that in identifying modern day challenges of Hindu women, an examination of Hindu scriptures may draw a correlation between these role models, the challenges they faced and the solutions applied. As such, the example may serve as a guide by which Hindu women today can address issues they are faced with.
Additionally, a discussion on domestic violence was identified to be most fitting after the Mandalee realised that there is an alarmingly high rate of domestic violence in Guyana. This specific discussion sought to highlight possible corrective and coping methods women should be aware of.
Present at the event was First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar, who expressed her support for the initiative which she saw as necessary for development in Guyana; and Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, who commended the work of the Dharmic Sabha.
The Minister praised the exemplary work of the organisation over the last 40 years, not only in the promotion of their religion, but in their support of national culture, encouraging strong family values, intellectual and emotional empowerment and development of youth, and through other programmes to address social issues, poverty alleviation, and domestic and sexual violence in our society.
Minister Webster stressed the need for greater social support in combating social issues, especially with reference to women and children on whom the scourge of domestic, sexual and physical abuse and other social ills have had a negative impact. As such, the minister posited that religion plays a crucial role in one’s life, as spiritual upliftment enables an individual to understand the importance of moral values, among other things.
“Religious bodies have always been a cornerstone for the empowerment and support of families and the less vulnerable within our society. They have also been a powerful source of nurturing women for their various roles in society. They are, therefore, a key contributor to ‘inspiring change’ by influencing behavioural patterns and attitudinal change in a person,” Webster noted, while assuring that she supports the view that women must be seen as agents of change for our country’s national development.
The Mandalee’s founding members Indranie Persaud, Chandra Gajraj and Savitri Balbahadur, developed a framework in which to address a range of issues facing Hindu women in the society. The trio provided leadership in initiating and implementing a range of programmes and activities aimed at disseminating information and enabling competencies to confront challenges facing this population.
The Mandalee conducts programmes and activities for women aimed at enhancing livelihood and as avenues to express their creativity. Overall, their initiatives have been tailored to address the needs of women as they evolve. Classes were conducted in dressmaking, fabric painting, embroidering, floral arranging and Indian cookery. In the earlier years, classes in typewriting, shorthand and English were conducted. Programmes to develop the social, cultural, educational and religious awareness of Hindu women in our society are continually presented by members.
President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, also made a presentation on ‘the Hindu woman today and choices’. The president must be acknowledged for her tireless efforts in impacting not only Guyanese women, but the population, in a positive way through humanitarian efforts. Only recently, the Dharmic Sabha, under the stewardship of Dr. Persaud, commissioned Bal Nivas, a centre for children who have been victims of abuse in Ankerville, Corentyne, Berbice.
The conference was conceptualised as a means of connecting women of varying ages, backgrounds and geographical locations to engage in the candid discussions aimed at inspiring and empowering Hindu women.
Written By Ravin Singh