14-17 December, Bylakuppe-Karnataka, India
Summary Report
Global Vision for Young Tibetans (GVYT) Conference is a biennial yet one of the most significant events being organized by Empowering the Vision Project (ENVISION) since its inception. The fourth GVYT was held in Lugsam Tibetan settlement, Bylakuppe in Karnataka, South India from December 14-17, 2017. Mindful Tibetan with a Global Vision as the guiding motto, the GVYT 2017 Conference in one of the largest Tibetan settlement in exile enlisted the participation of over sixty young Tibetans who came from Nepal, Dharamsala, Delhi, Baroda, Mysore and Bangalore.
The inaugural session on 14th December at Lugsam Nyamdrel Hall began in the presence of the Chief Guest Prof. Dr Siddiq Wahid, Director of the Institute for Kashmir Studies in Kashmir and Guest of Honour, Dr B Tsering, Director of the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Studies where officials and community leaders of Lugsam and Dekyi Larsoe, the two Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlements were also invited.
The panels of the conference with its two main components motivational and learning session endeavored to engage the potential and the enthusiasm of the youth into self and community development, while celebrating the achievements of many of them. Both the Motivational sessions – Celebrating Success (I & II) and Emerging Tibetan Generation (I & II) – in the mornings, had panelists from diverse backgrounds such Entrepreneurship, Corporate, NGO, Central Tibetan Administration, Scientist, some of whom were direct and in-direct beneficiaries of ENVISION’s programmes as well. All of them articulated their stories of “Success” and their ideas of “Leadership” through the challenges, struggles and the opportunities they met with but urged the participants to explore their own definition of “Success” and the possibilities of giving back to the society their own way. The sessions being interactive ensured participants had an active discussion with each panelist. The afternoon sessions on learning led by Jaya Iyer, co-founder of Lunar Energy, a theatrical group was a space for self-introspection and developing skills to equip young Tibetans with the capacity to embrace their role in the community and society at large. In this workshop participants were engaged through group activities, theatrical presentations and discussion on themes like nonviolent communication, the power of empathy, social change and identifying and expressing feelings/communications in their day to day lives.
A settlement educational tour along with an interaction with local change makers (as the panel) was also part of the GVYT 2017 Conference that highlighted the self-reliant model of Tibetan settlements in India. The last day of the Conference dwelled on reflections, observations and feedback. With the first part of the session spent on seeking feedbacks and critique on the Conference from the participants; the last session worked on ‘Participant Initiatives to make a difference (s)’. Participants were made to come up with individual an action plan (initiatives to make difference in the society) and then democratically choose the best five affirmative change/initiative amongst all, and form groups to work on the adopted action plan. The five chosen plans are 1) Cyber Security and Safety initiative, 2) Health Awareness Campaign, 3) Career Awareness Initiative for School Children 4) Employment Generation and 5) Think-Tank. The Champions (idea initiator) are then expected to follow on their action-plans and herald respective initiatives/activities by coordinating amongst themselves while ENVISION has committed support (type dependent on available resources) to carry forward these initiatives led by the students themselves.
The GVYT 2017 was a resounding success as the participants felt the four-day learning and engagements to be fulfilling and an enriching experience. Many hitherto less visible professionals some of whom single handedly build a state-of-the-art Home for the differently-abled, while some in their twenties are founders of start-ups, an event company, one from Nepal with a very tragic yet inspiring story of hope and triumph, so on and so forth made an indelible impression on the participants. The formal and informal events at the Conference, the active engagement of the panels and participants amongst each other, and the thoughtful community engagements all helped in shaping the discourse on ‘how young Tibetans with a sense of purpose and motivation could become change agents in the community and the world at large’. It was also encouraging to note that the participants without imposition agreed to implement what they learnt from the Conference in their respective place of residence.
The GVYT 2017 conference was made possible with the funding from the ISDELL Foundation facilitated by the Tibet Fund and also the continued and generous support of our core funder Tibet Relief Fund. ENVISION is grateful to the three organisations for their support in delivering the 2017 GVYT Conference successfully.