Training of Trainers on Women’s Empowerment for Tibetan Women

The Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) organised a Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop for nineteen women from over ten Tibetan settlements across India. The ToT was from 11th to 16th March 2011. From PRIA, Martha Farrell, Julie Thekkudan, Nandita Bhatt and Saswati Baruah undertook the training.

Participants from Tibetan Settlements & Trainers from PRIA

The Objectives of the workshop were:

• To boost self esteem and raise self confidence of the prospective trainers to take independent decision in their respective role in the settlements;
• To gain more in-depth understanding on concepts for women's empowerment and its impact on development programmes;
• To build skills to identify problem and develop executable women empowerment programmes in the respective settlements; and
• To enhance understanding and skills in designing, conducting and facilitating Participatory Training.

Working on Action Plans

Some of the key themes covered in the ToT were biological and social constructs of women and men; process of socialization and patriarchy; understanding stereotypes for women; women’s access and control of resources; women’s reproductive health; understanding leadership; getting to know self and the other; women’s leadership in the political spheres; importance of participatory training; designing a training and selecting the training methodology and understanding group processes - decision making in small groups.

A Session on Gender Stereotypes

The sessions were very interactive enabling the participants to share interesting insights from their communities and culture. The group was diverse with women enthusiastically participating in the training programme.

Field Visit : Exposure to the activities of an NGO

As a part of their field visit, the participants visited a non governmental organisation and a village in Haryana to meet women belonging to Self Help Groups. The field visit enabled them to understand how rural women are engaged in income generation activities, thereby supporting their families. The interaction was very fruitful. The participants shared that they will carry back some of these experiences to their own communities and will form self help groups at the community level.

Interaction with women from Self Help Groups at a village in Haryana

On the first four days of the ToT the participants underwent training, while the remaining two days were for them to practice how they would undertake trainings as future trainers. This served one of the key objectives of the ToT which was to ensure that these women become effective trainers and are able to undertake trainings in their settlements, so that they reach out to many women and empower them.