Hansenian Celebration: MOLDOVA'S INDEPENDENCE DAY

(This article was contributed by DANIELA BOLGANSCHI (Moldova))

On 27 August, Moldova is celebrating 16 years of independence. On June 23 1990, during the disintegration of USSR, Moldova proclaimed its sovereignty and later, on the 27th of August 1991, the independency of the State. On 2 March 1992, Moldova has become a member of the United Nations, being recognized by 180 States of the world. Currently Moldova maintains commercial relations with more than 150 states It is an important event, of which the scale and scope of this celebration is proof. The President of Moldova, together with other high-level officials, are inaugurating new streets, cutting ribbons for new constructions and sites, and making public speeches. At the opening of the events dedicated to the Republic Day, flowers will be laid at the Monument of Stefan cel Mare.


A similar ceremony is planned at the monument of the “Aggrieved Mother” within Eternity Memorial. The concert, which is traditionally organized in the National Square, will start at 10.00. The concert will bring together young singers, dancers, sportsmen etc. In addition, the programme includes the Awards Ceremony of the National Festival of young singers “Moldova – My Motherland.” The National Academic Ensemble “Joc” will present a musical-choreographic concert. The president of Moldova will deliver a congratulation speech. In addition, concerts, exhibitions, sports competition, and other events will take place in the districts of Chisinau. The programme of the events dedicated to the 16th anniversary of Moldova’s independence started on Thursday, August 23 with a ceremony in the memory of the soldiers who died in the Second World War, at Serpeni Memorial. A similar ceremonial took place at “Eternitate” Memorial on August 24.


The national rally “Independence Cup – 2007” will be organized on August 25 and 26. The state exists today, 16 years after it has gained independence, while the basic principles declared on August 27, 1991 have been generally fulfilled, but it is clear that the bases of our state must be strengthened in continuation. The territorial integrity is the only issue that we did not resolve so far. While Moldova marks its independence from the Soviet Union 16 years ago, a breakaway region in the east of the country seems likely to overshadow the official celebrations with its own.

The self-proclaimed Transdniestria region, on the east bank of the Dniester River, has been outside central control from the very beginning of Moldova's life as an independent state. Originally part of Soviet Ukraine, the east bank was joined with regions of Romania ceded under the 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact to form a new Moldavian Soviet republic. Transdniestria declared its own "independence" from Moldavia on 2 September 1990, when its Slav population feared that west bank politicians were planning to join the republic to Romania. Sixteen years on, a region, which endured an armed conflict in 1991-92, and remains in virtual political and economic isolation is trying to make its voice heard. However, we have assimilated and developed all other attributes of sovereignty of a state.

On this day, it feels very good to be a Moldovan citizen in a free, independent, and peaceful country. Long live Moldova!

Hansenian Report: RAMONA DRAGOMIR (From ROMANIA)

It was 5.30 p.m. on June 1st 2007. “Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing” were probably the words I had been expecting the most in the 2 days of traveling. They had come to give me hope after 48 hours of going through the entire range of human emotion: from excitement to fear, from being curious to feeling frustrated, from almost crying to feeling exhilarant. A trip full of adventures worth turning into a movie had ended. We had finally reached our destination: San Diego and were ready to embark on our mission here: taking part in the first edition of the Hansen Summer Institute on International Cooperation and Leadership.

But little did we know what was to come, what the great force that we call Universe had installed for us! So let me try to explain (even tough I have yet to grasp all the implications that the program has as far as I’m concerned) my time spent in the USA and being part of the Institute.

To tell you the truth, I was a bit skeptic about the whole program. This was due to the fact that when I first saw the announcement it talked about bringing together people from developing countries. So I found myself thinking: why choose Romania? In what way is Romania considered a developing country? But I got caught up in my own “ethnocentrism”, in a silly way of thinking that Romania is doing fine (it is now part of the EU; what more is there to want?) that I was failing to fully see and acknowledge the existent situation in the country.

People create conflict constantly. I see it as being part of human nature. They cannot stay out of trouble. They pick fights; get into arguments that usually escalade to worse situations…so even though Romania is not involved in an armed conflict that does not mean conflict is nowhere to be found in our society.

On the contrary it can be spotted almost anywhere you turn and in almost all areas of life: on a personal level (where neighbors cannot see eye to eye, where school children fight over stupid reasons as to who is better than the other one), at the national level (where parties that make up the government have bitter fights between them instead of worrying about the people they represent), inside/among different categories of people (where the Hungarians feel discriminated against and that they do not have enough rights and the Romanians feeling like the government has done enough to meet their needs) and the examples go on. These things might seem senseless in comparison to other world issues but the reality in the society where I come from pays a lot of attention to the matters and that is the reason why the courts are overloaded with trials- people are not accustomed to resolving their disputes outside of the legal system.

Looking back at the history of my country I realize that people lived for more than 40 years in a regime that thought them how to think, how to act, how to live. It was a regime that prevented people from developing themselves.

Once faced with a new found freedom, Romanians are confused. We’re struggling to construct a national identity, to discover the elements that link us together, that give a sense of belonging. On top of that, joining the EU does not help with solving the problem; instead it complicates it more because I feel that we have to make a decision whether we are Romanians or Europeans. This sense of confusion does not make it easier for people to communicate and get along but it builds more tension within a community and creates adequate conditions for a dispute to develop.

In this respect I want to point out that Romania can indeed be considered a developing country. But one that is trying to develop its people (the generation of Romanians that represent the future) and identity along side its economy. It is for this reason that I would suggest that it actually depends on the individuals and the manner in which they define themselves as well as the way they establish rapport with one another that actually contributes to the developing of social conflicts in our society.

Learning…

Now that the program is almost over everybody is pondering about the most important thing we take back home with us. So it is time to step back from our work and reflect about what we have done but most importantly what we have learned.

It is difficult for me to put in order of importance the activities that we took part in the last 3 weeks. There is no one more important than the other. Each one contributed in a specific way to our acquiring a better understanding of the topics discussed each week. They resemble a puzzle that put together makes sense as opposed to just looking at random, separate parts that do not communicate any message.

However I feel like a have to make a special reference to a great conversation I had on the 4t of July. It was on the day the American nation celebrates the Declaration of Independence that somebody from a different culture that the one I come from told me: “You have too much freedom”. I was speechless for a moment during that conversation. I mean: how can one have TOO much freedom?

It was then that I had my first moment of epiphany and realized the immense size of the world and the smallness of my country. Moreover I realized that the things we have taken for granted our whole life (the fact that we can talk to whoever we want, go wherever we want, do whatever we want etc.) are not present all over the world. People are not free to move around, to make their own decisions. I always thought I was aware of this fact but never actually realized that it is actually a present reality in some parts of the world. What was more revealing for me was the opportunity to touch, to see physical evidence of the differences between people, cultures and ways of looking at the world.

It has never been truer that only by comparing ourselves with others do we learn about ourselves first. It has taken 31 people from 13 different countries for me to realize that I am fortunate to have had great opportunities while growing up and start to really appreciate where I come from.

It has been inspiring to see real examples of situations and extraordinary people that have taken positive action when it comes to their own life or within their community. It is reassuring to know that it can be done and there exists a framework for analysis and action that we can rely on. But now it is our time to come up with ways of our own by which we can also touch the world round us.

I leave the program feeling 200% more confident in my own power to make a change, if not in the world at least in my community. I owe this boost of confidence to a group of people that have had an irreversible impact on my life and way of thinking. To the influence of my new friends I must also add the skills that our lecturers taught us. Therefore I can honestly say that, in my view, the program has reached its goal.

It has been a time for many “firsts” (first taco, first Kazakh met, first dorm life and I could go on for days), a time for making cultural mistakes, an emotionally challenging 3 weeks, an eye-opening experience but most importantly a constantly teaching and learning experience.

In the end I’ll be departing from the “World’s Finest City” fundamentally changed, truly a different person and enriched with bits of culture from 13 countries around the world but also divided in 13 different corners of the planet. I will go back home and try to live up to the sacred oath we took in an auditorium in a middle school in San Diego.

Hansenian Celebration: "India's Independence day"

Today (August 15) is India's Independence day.

The leaders of India’s freedom movement chose secular democracy over theocracy, oligarchy or communism. They saw it as the logical culmination of a just and peaceful, anti-colonial struggle. For the inheritors of this legacy, there is something innately romantic about a liberal setup, in which the hoi polloi overthrow the high and mighty as a matter of routine, and the transfer of power is always peaceful.

But that is only half the story. The flipside is that our free and fair elections are turning into a wellspring of corruption. Parliament's pivotal multi-party system has degenerated into a scheme of contradictory coalitions. Even the successful village panchayats have a tendency to relapse into grassroots’ bureaucracy.

India’s successful democratic rule of sixty years has clearly reached its hiatus. Our problems are finally coming in the way of our aspiration to become a global power. How else can we explain that a rising economic superpower also accounts for the world’s one-third malnourished children and a quarter of vaccine-preventable deaths? Regardless of its striking stability, the political system has failed to deliver inclusive growth or to contain recurring conflicts.

It is official that the writ of the government does not run in parts of nearly 200 out of its 604 districts. Of these, 185 districts in 16 states are partly run by the Naxalite factions and the rest by extremists of various persuasions in the North East and J & K. As for the soaring trillion-dollar economy, nine out of ten people work in the unorganized sector and a third live on Rs 20 a day, according to a fresh study by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector.

It is baffling that the people whose aspirations aren’t met bring more stability to democracy than the system’s more affluent beneficiaries who seldom bother to vote. It is no coincidence that 1990 onwards, the composition of voters in most elections tends to include more dalits, tribals and women, according to the Election Commission figures. That people have hope is reflected in the fact that the electorate voted for change in about 80 per cent of all elections in the past decade. The World Value Survey of 192 independent countries finds that Indians are among the world’s ‘most proud’ people in the idea of their nationhood, behind only Americans and Australians. Another South Asia wide survey, confirms that a vast majority of Indians strongly identify themselves with their country and prefer democracy to any other form of government.

But peoples' faith in their democracy coexists with an utter contempt for politicians. Many academic and media surveys have shown that the electorate believes in democratic institutions but its own representatives or corrupt bureaucrats belie these hopes.

There is also a decline in the electorate’s faith in its institutions, politicians and political parties. At many places, people took on the parties and politicians they had overwhelmingly voted to power. One doesn't need to be a sociologist to figure out that the forcible acquisition of farmland is emerging as a countrywide agrarian crisis, subsuming years of pent up frustration. For the rising economy, it is by far the most widespread farmer versus industry confrontation.

At 60, India is grappling with its widening ‘democratic deficit’ roughly defined as the gap between stated policies and the delivery of results. It is not just a case of flagging institutions and exploding demands that could be blamed on excessive population or limited resources. The real concern is about our ability to connect the dots between the crisis of governability and an uninclusive growth.

Hansenian Memories: CLASSROOM

Press Reports: UNION TRIBUNE

International students come together at SDSU

By Sherry Saavedra
STAFF WRITERS
July 21, 2007

SAN DIEGO – Nadir Ozyukselen, a Tujavascript:void(0)rkish Cypriot, and Aristos Papaonisiforou, a Greek Cypriot, belong to opposing communities in the conflict over the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. And neither has ever known a person from the other side.

International students gathered at the Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego for a workshop during their three-week stay at San Diego State University.

But they've met in America as part of the first program at San Diego State University designed to teach 21 young people from a dozen countries about leadership and resolving conflicts.

The international university students come from nations such as Bosnia, Moldova, Morocco, Kazakhstan, India, Romania, China and Nepal.

During the three-week program, which ends tomorrow, the visitors toured the border, visited the Maritime Museum, celebrated the Fourth of July in Coronado and participated in seminars on anger and revenge, diplomacy and nonviolent social change.

Sophary Noy, a 24-year-old student at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Cambodia, said the program gave her hope for the future and skills to deal with political problems at home. This will be useful, she said, in her role as staff writer for a magazine published by the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has been gathering evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities.

The program has been funded through a five-year, $1.7 million donation from the San Diego-based Fred J. Hansen Foundation. The program, which has one student from the University of San Diego and nine from SDSU, covers travel, room and board, and activity costs.

Students say most of the learning came from keeping company with peers from across the globe.

“I've built connections with people around the world,” Noy said. Dilip Ghimire, 21, of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said this was a rare opportunity to observe how the United States approaches conflict.

“We have different problems (in Kazakhstan),” said the student at Eurasian National University. “Some say we have a democracy, but I don't think we do. I think we're on our way, but it's not one yet.”

Ghimire, who plans to start a business in international construction or trade, said he's learned that these vastly different countries have common problems such as gang and border issues. Kazakhstan, which declared independence in 1991, is home to numerous ethnic groups, he said.

“We all want to establish peace,” he said. “I've learned that to do that, we should learn to be tolerant.”

Ron Bee, managing director of SDSU's Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation, said the foreign participants are university students or recent graduates who have demonstrated leadership ability in their homelands. Noy, for example, coordinated 200 volunteers to help Cambodian villages rebuild many years after the Khmer Rouge was overthrown.

The students are all on their first trip to the United States and have been affected by poverty or conflict at home.Goran Dedovic, for example, fled Bosnia in 1993 to escape starvation and the danger of bombs and snipers. Dedovic, 26, immigrated to Sweden and is studying media and communications at Sõdertõrn University College.

During a class this week on negotiations, SDSU lecturer Lisa Maxwell, a senior trainer for the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego, used aikido to make a point. She asked the students to pair up face-to-face and put their palms against one another and push.

“OK, who had control?” Maxwell asked. Nearly half raised their hands.

“Sometimes when we're negotiating we're trying to push our way to get what we want,” she said.

Through another martial arts move, Maxwell demonstrated how to step aside but, at the same time, not give in, enabling them to see the other person's perspective.

As SDSU's program winds down, many participants have formed friendships they plan to nurture when they leave. Ozyukselen has discovered that despite their differences, she and Papaonisiforou crave the same things for Cyprus, which has been split into a Greek Cypriot-controlled south and Turkish-occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974.

“We've had lots of wars and fights about the territory, but (Papaonisiforou) said he wants peace,” said Ozyukselen, a 19-year-old student at Eastern Mediterranean University. “That's a surprise for me because that's what I want.

Ozyukselen said she's started to better understand the perspective of Greek Cypriots, who occupy about two-thirds of the island. The two both want a unified state, and Ozyukselen believes the summer program offered tools to get there.

Hansen Memories: SAN DIEGO ZOO

Hansenian Report: ADAM CASLER (USA)

(This report was prepared by Adam Casler (SDSU student, USA) during his participation in the Hansen Summer Institute'2007)



The absence of wisdom spawns all contemporary social conflicts. What drives a fourteen year old child to shoot another and flee while the victim drowns in a pool of his own blood is a lack of appreciation. What drives people to set fire to the house of their neighbor simply because they are Muslim is a lack of understanding. Appreciation and understanding are elements which fuse to form the compound Wisdom. But wisdom in its self is not enough. Wisdom promotes the passive cessation of conflict on the individual level, but fails to actively promote against conflict on the universal level. For this, empathy and compassion are required to compel one from indifference to passionate action. Though these may be actively fostered by society, they can only originate from the individual. Therefore, all social conflict is essentially caused by the compounding of poor individual decisions to prevent and eliminate conflict on the aggregate group level.

More important than what causes conflict is what resolves it. How exactly does one resolve an issue that is dictated by the individual? Human will has always resisted the involuntarily fettering by the shackles of group control. It is precisely this factor which is responsible for our inability to sustain peace. As argued by Sigmund Freud, coexistence in civilization requires the repression of both Eros (the life force) and Thanatos (the death force), but such a combination inevitably leads to the discontent of its populace. The daunting task of surmounting such a dilemma is why most contemporary conflict resolution methods are merely aimed at controlling the mobilizing forces such as groups, which are comparatively easy to control. But just as pulling only the base of a weed leaves the roots to grow anew, destroying only the base upon which the individual operates leaves that individual free to start anew with an infinite spectrum of variables. Whether or not we can sustain peace will be centered on this dilemma; conflict begins with the individual, and it is there where it must end.

Nevertheless, there are steps that society may take to at least help alleviate some of the individual tendencies towards violence. Leading ethologist Konrad Lorenz suggests that such tendencies are genetic. His theory, known as the Lorenzian Approach, suggests that creatures possessing lethal natural weapons (wolves, hawks, sharks) tend to posses inhibitions against the use of such weapons on their own species, whereas, rabbits, doves, and human beings, not naturally equipped with such weapons, lack such inhibitions. Regardless of whether or not one believes this hypothesis, Lorenz’s proposed solution is worth consideration. Lorenz believes that societies can reduce the role such conflicts play by re-channeling this aggressive energy with alternative forms of competition, such as: athletics, the exploration of space, and medical research.

Specifically within the context of the United States, there is both a strong inward and outward drive for violence. The U.S. is considered among the most violent of all first world countries. Violence is glorified within the context of Hollywood movies, video games, and television. When combining this constant psychological desensitization within a nation whose number of guns outnumbers its own population, disastrous results are received. Youth violence is epidemic in America; sometimes taking place in gangs, other times in solitary action. Easy access to lethal weapons (specifically guns), and a social system with an inadequate support system for those who unfortunately lack one within their homes are the main reasons why America has so many violent youth crimes. The only possible remedy is to provide these children with real alternatives to violence. Whether it is the desperate cry for attention of a school shooter, or the feeling of desperate hopelessness of a youth gang member, both have been alienated from society and need real tangible alternatives to be successfully reintegrated as a functioning member. The only real way to do this is through grassroot social outreach programs. They must remain small enough to be personalized to these complex individuals with complex problems, but numerous enough to reach across the nation. Government funding could be used to sustain these organizations; however, caution must be taken from transforming positions with these organizations into professions. They can only be truly effective if they serve as a substitute (or possibly just a supplement) to these youth’s families, not as their psychiatrists.

Outwardly, the United States has a long tangled history of foreign interference, coup d’etats, revolutions, and wars (proxy, small, large, and world-wide). Although the larger conflicts are well known, few realize that in the United States’ 231-year old history it has intervened militarily on more than 130 occasions. Frighteningly, despite this high number, the vast majority of the brief history (1776-1940) of the United States has been dedicated to the practice of isolationism. This new relatively new era of American foreign policy (1940-2007) is dedicated towards the promotion of democracy abroad, even when it requires the use of force. Although the legitimacy of America’s role as the moral police-man of the world is often criticized, there is no arguing that the glorification of such violence has led to a propensity of resolving conflicts by force within its societies. The ability to conduct such large scale operations in recent decades with a completely voluntary military force is a testament to the success of the romantic grandiose image of war propagated by the federal government. Little to no attention is paid to other means of conflict resolution and this deficit has translated over into its society. It is for this reason we do not have slogans such as “Support Our Ambassadors”, or give Diplomats discounts to cultural institutions or sporting events, and is why there is no “Peace Bill” where the government pays the bill for college education of those dedicated towards peace as they do for those in the military. This inequality may go a long way towards explaining America’s tendency of resolving conflicts by force. A redistribution of support for alternative methods of conflict resolution may succeed in reducing the volume of both inward and outward violent conflict in America.

Putting such social conflicts in an international perspective, one would find the same root cause. Conflict arises when an individual or a groups needs are not being met and alternative means of addressing these shortcomings are less appealing or nonexistent. That principle is universal; however, the particularities of each conflict are diverse and representative of their respective regions. In America, capitalism breeds a spirit of Social Darwinism where those unfortunate few who fall through the cracks of the system are held responsible for their own fate, and explains why those who are unable to take care of their self (the youth) are substantially more susceptible towards violence than in most other countries. Comparatively, conflicts in Morocco are centered around the question of borders, in Cyprus the issue of the right to territory, in India the issue of how to achieve peace with a neighboring nuclear-powered familial adversary, and in China the issue of how to guide the worlds most populous nation from a system of Communism to a Capitalist Democracy. The point is that although these conflicts are all diverse, the presence of conflict is a common variable world-wide. This dynamic aspect of conflict is why learning the principle techniques of conflict resolution are so beneficial. These techniques may then be combined with the particular aspects of each unique situation to better solve the conflict at hand.

Particularly in the context of my involvement in the Hansen Summer Institute, I have learned several important processes in how to minimize or resolve conflict. I learned ways to diffuse tense situations through acknowledgement and paraphrasing, the importance of building a relationship of trust with whom you are dealing with, and the importance of negotiating in terms of someone’s interests rather than their position. When all this fails, I have learned there are alternative routes of resolving conflicts such as the diplomatic backchannels of Track II Diplomacy. Whether employed between persons or nations, these skills are valuable tools which I shall seek to retain throughout my professional career.

Hansenian Report: RAMASUBRAMANIAN (INDIA)

This report was submitted by Ramasubramanian Rakkappan (JNU, INDIA) as a part of his Summer Institute Program at San Diego

Secular India!!



The way a society is organized can create both the root causes of conflict and the conditions in which it's likely to occur. Indeed, conflicts of all kinds most frequently arise when people feel threatened - regardless of whether the threat is real. It is harder to soothe and reassure people when they are frightened or angry. My understanding of conflict situation stems from the fact that almost all the South Asian countries are facing with.

The case of Bangladesh suggests to me that conflicts arise when people are competing for the same resources (such as territory, natural resources, jobs and income, housing) when they aren't fairly distributed or when there aren't enough to go round.

The case of Pakistan and Nepal suggests to me that conflicts arise when the people are unhappy with how they are governed. The most common conflicts occur when a particular group wants to be independent from a central government, or when their viewpoint isn't represented in the government, or when the government oppresses them and doesn't respect or meet their basic needs.

The case of Sri Lanka suggests to me that ethnic differences can cause conflict, or be made to cause it. Again, people's ethnicity gives them a sense of identity and belonging, and it is threats to this sense, which can cause violent responses, just as individuals may lash out with angry words or gestures when they feel threatened.

The case of India suggests to me that conflicts arise when people's beliefs clash. Religious and political views are particularly sensitive, because people often depend on these for a sense of identity and belonging. Sometimes a religious/political group being attacked causes the conflict; sometimes it is because the group is eager to spread a particular belief and even enforce it on others. Some leaders may aggravate religious and political differences as part of their tactics for keeping or gaining power.

Since the tragedy of India's partition, maintaining peace and harmony amongst India's diverse communities has often been a very tall order. Hardest of all has been the task of managing hostilities between Hindu and Muslim communities, and preventing the outbreaks of religious vendetta that shatter the lives of the unfortunate victims. The articulation of the two-nation theory and the creation of the state of Pakistan implied that so great was the animus between the two communities that it was virtually impossible for them to live together in peace in the same nation.

In contrast, for those concerned with the task of achieving peace in the Indian subcontinent, Hindu-Muslim unity has always been one of the essential pillars of progressive movement. The proxy-war in Kashmir, where agents of terror have infiltrated into the Jammu and Kashmir region and caused havoc for the local Indian people. Since 1990, there have been several massacres of villagers - particularly women and children. But rather than see these attacks as what they are - an assault on India's secular unity - people have begun to see these threats through the prism of religious sectarianism to destroy the peaceful lives of Hindus.

In large part, such a feeling of generalized hatred emerges from the inability to understand complex political realities. The Muslim-hating Hindu does not wish to see the subcontinent's difficulties outside the prism of Hindu-Muslim conflicts because the alternative is much more difficult to deal with. But the net effect of this within India is that the religious divide grows instead of shrinking. Rather than India uniting against it's myriad external threats, the Godhra massacre (in February 2002) caused a part of India to implode. Seething with hatred, a section of Gujarat's Hindus went on a retributive rampage - destroying homes, businesses and precious lives. Only further investigation will tell if there was any external involvement in the Godhra crime, but the reaction of Gujarat's militant Hindus has led to tremendous insecurity amongst India's Muslims and greatly weakened India's ability to act with resoluteness in the face of external threats. To that extent, it highlights serious weaknesses in the world-view of such Hindu-identified layers of Indian society. Communal clashes rarely happen out of the blue; invariably they result from catalytic incidents.

The preservation of peace and harmony requires prevention at all levels - in ensuring that inflammable incidents do not occur, and the reaction to them is immediately controlled. This may mean developing relationships and alliances with Hindus who are not entirely in sympathy or agreement with them on all issues, but nevertheless wish to live and let live.

Since the state apparatus is drawn from living and breathing individuals who may harbor all manner of prejudices and false notions, much more work in raising consciousness will also be necessary. For any set of social principles to be consistently implemented through the writ of a state, they must also win the trust and adherence of broad sections of the public. It is here that the role of the "secular" intelligentsia such us “Hansen Fellows” - whether it be in the universities or in the media becomes vital, and needs to be examined more closely.

I have seen from my own experience that many people find their identity and security in their cultural/religious group and its particular point of view - so clashes between different cultural/religious groups always lead to disputes that can easily turn violent. I have pondered upon, what if people learn to understand that differing cultures/religion are not inevitably a threat to each other? If only that happens then they will learn how to manage their differences co-operatively and peacefully.

One aspect of Religion/culture is particularly important: it can create language and behavior that excludes people, creating 'us/them', 'insider/outsider' situations and using language of discrimination, intolerance and hate. If people create a society that doesn't see 'difference' and 'diversity' as problems but as valuable for social growth, many causes of conflict disappear.

Certainly most people want to live in societies in which there is healthy conflict leading to change and progress - we are an evolving species - but in which this is achieved without fighting and killing. Most people would like it to be possible for individuals, groups and cultures to live together without violent conflict, though not resisting progress and constructive changes. Most of us would prefer our systems of law and order to be reasonable and open to reform and change, and certainly not imposed on us by force. Most of us would like a world in which human rights are respected, cultural differences are seen as enriching any society, and co-operative efforts are made to deal with problems of poverty, deprivation, injustice, and abuse of power.

Peace itself is a process in which nonviolent solutions to healthy conflict are repeatedly explored and developed in a co-operative and collaborative way.

Need for a Coalition:

I believe that there aren't yet enough skilled interveners, mediators, negotiators, peace-builders at work to help groups at conflict to solve their problems. I also learnt that those who are already at work are not yet a fully co-ordinated organisation. There are many different peace-building groups, many different approaches, and many different timescales. A coherent overall network with good communications is needed so that everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

This is where the idea of Hansen Coalition comes in. A coalition is an alliance of people or groups working together for a shared purpose. Political coalitions quickly encounter problems, because every member wants to lead. But social coalitions aren't interested in power: they work for the common good of everyone.

Where there is a strong network of strong relationships, conflict is less likely to recur. It means a coalition of interveners too: members of this young and exciting profession have a lot to communicate and a lot to learn from each other, all round the world. As they do, a 'culture of peace' can begin to grow and spread, crossing all boundaries and enriching all lives.

Undoubtedly, I am planning to utilize the coalition to find solutions to our perennial problems such as religious conflicts. I want my country to remain as a nation where respect for pluralism, for differences, for social variety is respected. No community should feel unsafe or unwanted. India does not belong to any single group of Indians, least of all to any group of religious extremists. It belongs to a mosaic of linguistically and culturally varied communities. As a Hansen Fellow I will leave no stone unturned in turning the fragile unity of India into something deeper and more enduring. There is an urgent need to create an environment where Indians can fight for a common good - for an inclusive vision that transcends religious frictions and divisions - that holds great promise for the vast majority.

Hansen Memories: Closing Day Ceremony

How do we say goodbye to what we had?

And We'll take with us the memories

To be our sunshine after the rain

Its so hard to say goodbye to yesterday ......

Hansen Fellows'2007

Hansen Foundation Trustee Mr&Mrs Dimitroff addressing the closing day ceremony

Prof. Ron Bee addressing the gathering

Prof. Dipak Gupta addresses the gathering

Bonnie....

Prof. Ryan King placing Indian Flag during the Flag Ceremony

Dr. Gail Dimitroff

Farewell Speech by Hansen Fellows (Boys Suite 1)

Farewell Speech by Hansen Fellows (Boys Suite 2)

Farewell Speech by Hansen Fellows (Girls Suite 2)

Farewell Speech by Hansen Fellows (Girls Suite 1)

Dinner Time

My Perception about American Friends...(ESTHER, China)

Esther (From China):

I had a wonderful time in Hansen Summer Institute this summer and I got a lot of sweet and happy memories there. However, it does not mean that there is nothing to regret. One of the most regretful things for me is that I did not have enough interactions with the American students. But still there is something to say about the limited interactions between us.


The most impressive thing I had about the interactions between me and American students is Katie and Roby teaching Long and I how to play Boogie boards. They led us into the sea to find a perfect wave. They walked very far into the sea that I thought I might be knocked down and got drown just because of a very small wave. I was scared a little bit, but Roby and Katie were very kind and they held our arms tightly to prevent us from the tides. Every time there was a good wave for Boogie boards, they shouted to us: Jump! Jump! And kick! (Sounds like if we did not jump onto the board we were going to die...) And then Roby pushed my boards hard. With his help and the perfect tide, I had my first experience with the Boogie boards and it was so much fun. We had a great time but when I am thinking about the day now, I realize that they were too busy to have a good time as we did, because they spent most of the time in teaching us how to play.

Talking about teaching, I should say thanks to Maria-Clare. I should say that she was my first professional swimming teacher. She taught me how to get rid of the fear of water and how to float on the water. I still remember her commands of floating: monkey-soldier-flag-…. I was really sorry that she had such a stupid swimming student as me. I have no talent at all for swimming but she was very patient. Although in the end, I did not learned how to swim but we had a great time chatting about how to get along with our boyfriends and trying to loose weight in the water at the same time.

From my experience in HSI, I think it is fair to say that most of the American students are warm-hearted and willing to help others. Despite the thing mentioned above, I should also talk about Rachael and Michelle. I used Michelle’s cell phone like 20 times and some times she needs to pick up the phone call from my friend and pass the words to me. I bothered her a lot and she was really kind and did not show any feeling of annoying or impatient to me. I feel very thankful for her. For Rachael, most of the girls in our dorm want to give her a big kiss for all she did for the Prom-Party. She made our hair and did make-up for all of us. When we were all beautiful and ready for the party, she was still in a middle of a mess.

When I remember all these happy memories, I think it is kind of wrong to say that American believe in individualism because in my mind, individualism in some extent means selfish and not care about others. On the other hand, I feel that American students are very independent and most of them have a unique and sheer personality. In this way I agree that Americans believe in individualism.

Every American student in the HSI is so different and quite isolated from each other. (Especially compare with Chinese girls. Sometimes, I worried that we three were too close to each other that might let the Americans thought we were lesbians.) Greg is happily “noisy” and very frank, Adam knows a lot of things and quiet, Shiva is full of enthusiasm, Rachael is a very kind girl but performs cool, Michelle is very easy-going and nice, MC is polite and mature and Katie is sweet, Julia is cute and clever, Peter is shy in my eyes but very humorous sometimes, Landon is gentle.

But no matter what kind of personality they have, generally speaking, they are very clear of what they like and they do not like. And most of them are full of energy. They are devoted to what they like. They can spend a lot of time and energy to what they want to do, such as the arrangement of the Prom-Party, Greg’s Cycling Club, M-C’s swimming lessons and so on. But to the things they do not like, they will also express their feeling of dislike. This is very different from Chinese. I believe that most of the Chinese are trying to hide and control our feelings but Americans do not. (For instance, sometimes I felt not it is not so proper of what Americans did or said but I just kept quiet or smile. In my mind, it is not so polite to say “you are wrong” or “you are not right” directly.) It is very hard to say which one is good or bad because that is tradition and national personality, that is how we and how Americans deal with things. But generally speaking, I really appreciate the courage and enthusiasm of the American students they have to things they like and the free mindset they have. That is the most important thing I learned from them.

Although I believe in most of American students’ mind I might be a quite girl, (no, I am not) and we did not have much interaction, it is because we were not trying to know or just because of some unexpected things that prevent us from knowing each other and I hope this blog will be a platform for us to ask and answer questions to get to know each other more.

Hansen Memories: Moments may fade away...

Inaugural Meet - Prof. Dipak Gupta

Inaugural Meet - Prof. Ron Bee

Hansen Fellows..

Hansen Fellows..

The Dean

Rope Score activities - Challenge U

Rope Scores

Towards classroom...

Lunch Time

Dinner Time...

Bus Journey

Field Visit

At City Hall

Light House

Dao...

With the San Diego Mayor

Ron Bee..