Minakshi's Trip to Our Cabana!

Girls in

every country across the world are being subjected to many forms of violence – this is wrong and must stop.

Girls have the right to live free from violence and the fear of violence. They need to be aware of their rights – and find the voice to create a global movement and actions to end violence.

Building from a whisper to a shout, we need to talk, join together and inspire action around the world.

Stop the Violence is a campaign that is run by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in partnership with UN Women. There was a seminar held at Our Cabana, one of the World Centres of WAGGGS, in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Sangam World Centre here in Pune is another of the WAGGGS World Centres. There are two more located in London UK and Adelboden Switzerland. Sangam is very excited to be one of the pilot World Centres to help WAGGGS and UN Women to create a curriculum for girls and young women all over the world to be able to Stop the Violence.

Even though I have worked at Sangam for 17 years and have been working closely with many foreigners, this was my first time travelling outside India and was an awesome experience for me. I was very excited to attend the seminar as Sangam's representative as well as to visit Our Cabana and meet their staff that I have heard many good things about for many years.

There were 27 participants from all different countries like New Zealand, Bahamas, Madagascar and more. As the group of pilot member organizations, we worked on the 1st draft of the curriculum to make it work practically and for all cultures and ages. We worked in small groups as well as big groups for discussions. We discussed about child policy, about different issues for girls and young women in different countries, and shared international friendship.

Sangam will implement this curriculum during our events in July, August and September. We also plan to share this information with our local community partners. On 10th April we shared this information with Green Tara Foundation, Vishrantwadi, one of the local organisations we regularly work with.

I stayed in a friend's house for couple of days before and after the seminar which gave me a chance to learn so much about the Mexican culture. I found so many similarities and yet a lot of differences. I enjoyed Mexican food and different juices. The best thing I learned was self discipline. In Mexico, no one will cross the road once the red light is on, even there is not a single vehicle on the road!

On my way back to India, I had a night layover in Paris, France. I was hosted by another friend who took me to see the Eiffel Tower. It was breath taking. You are busy walking, walking, walking and you only see buildings but then you turn a corner and you see it! It was beautiful and an amazing night to end an amazing week.