Journey to Empowerment
That was the title to the Symbiosis Silver Jubilee Conference in January in Gazipur, Bangladesh.
What is normally a conference for all the Symbiosis staff and their families, was a massive Silver Jubilee Celebration as the organisation acknowledged 25 years of going into rural communities to empower the most marginalised, deprived and excluded peoples - and what a celebration it was.
The local Symbiosis staff were joined at the celebrations by 31 Aussies, Americans and a Canadian, those who have volunteered or supported in some capacity over the years.
Being present at this conference, I experienced an amplified version of what we see in our training rooms, with multiple people groups celebrating together, and encouraging each other, men and women mixing equally... quite a sight to behold in that country. Although a large majority would have been Muslim, there were many Garo’s, Hindus and Christians in the mix also. These Symbiosis workers and their families, and the supporting foreigners, celebrated well.
The Symbiosis staff work in different geographical locations covering a whole variety of projects including eye care, maternal child health, arsenic mitigation services, disability awareness, community savings groups, functional education, and vocational training, of which the EmpowerAid project is a part.
The staff and families joined for meals and spent the days in a conference, looking at the impact of their work on the communities. It was a great learning time, as presenters discussed relevant topics such as parenting in modern society, home based lifesaving skills and basic neuroplasticity around how to calm the brain. Wow, celebration and growth at its best. We were treated to a variety of cultural presentations, including dancing, singing poetic recitals and of course the national anthems of representative countries.
It was beautiful to see a team of young Australians who had come to the conference to provide care services and games for children, to enable the staff to fully engage in the conference.
For Debra and myself, we enjoyed the conference with our trainers and beauticians, and put on a Bangla style fashion parade as our contribution to the evening sessions.
The Country Director Dr Rahman made a concerted effort to celebrate every staff member, every visitor and every child.
It is easy to see how empowering the locals, to empower other locals can work, when the staff are valued in this way.
Congratulations Symbiosis, you nailed it!
