Third Annual YSA Retreat
June 4-6,2004
Young Sindhi Adults (YSA) Set New Attendance Record !!
Washington, D.C. – “ I have never experienced an event like this that has transformed and touched me physically and spiritually. Many of us were in tears. “ says 22 year-old Raj from Australia.
Those sentiments were echoed by many who travelled from every corner of the globe to take part in the Third Annual YSA Retreat. This year’s event drew over 200 people from approximately 13 countries. Participants came from London, New York, Los Angeles, Sindh, Japan, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Saskatchewan, Hong Kong, Surinam, Spain, Philippines, Miami, Atlanta, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Texas, and many more. In addition to Sindhis, the event has also attracted Punjabis and Gujaratis from Europe and Americans and Kashmiris. This year’s theme was ‘World Citizen’ and appropriately so. The YSA Retreat festivities ran the course of an entire weekend.
Membership to the YSA (www.YoungSindhiAdults.org) is free. A global youth organization founded and the brainchild of Anil and Amar Vaswani from Atlanta, Georgia in the U.S., YSA focuses on Sindhi Culture, heritage, and issues that face today’s Sindhi Youngsters. Some of the morning and daytime sessions from the most recent YSA Retreat included an entrepreneurial workshop, the survival of the Sindhi Language, the evolution of religious thought in Sindh, Yoga 101 for beginners, readings related to India’s Partition in 1947, Sindhis in politics, and several others.
These seminars drew experts from all fields who were featured guest speakers such as Dr. Gul Agha, a prominent historian of Sindh and a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Jennifer Cole, an associate professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Mrs. Shilpa Hart-Alimchandani who specializes in cross-cultural communication courses at American University.
Learning about historical contributions Sindhis have made to humanity since the start of time was a source of pride. Some truths include the characteristics of non-violence and tolerance in Ancient Sindh, Greco Roman Wrestling's roots having been traced to Sindh, and the writing of The Vedas on the banks of the Indus River (which is located in Sindh). These are a mere sampling.
However, learning that action and justice are desperate calls in Sindh today was painful. The Indus River, the lifeblood of Sindh, has had its flow impeded by the building of massive dams by the Pakistani Government leaving little or no water supply, killing agriculture and numerous animal species. The people of Sindh don't have access to water so they can't grow their crops. It's an easy way to commit genocide. Modern day slavery of Hindu and Christian Sindhis as bonded laborers, the destruction of Hindu and Christian places of worship by Islamic fundamentalists, the systematic elimination of the Sindhi Language by the Pakistani Government, and the intolerable abuse of Sindhi women whose rights have been taken away are all tragic realities in Sindh in 2004. With the world distracted by events in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pakistani government has had free rein to commit numerous human rights violations. There is a sharp increase in sectarian violence in the second half of the year, particularly in the provinces of Sindh. Pakistan has imposed strict sanctions against women denying them the right to choose marriage partners. A majority of Sindhi girls do not receive even basic schooling and remain illiterate. It also condones 'honor killings'. In Pakistan, a woman who is raped must produce at least four Muslim eye-witnesses to prove her case. If she is impregnated by a rapist but cannot prove it, she is charged with adultery punishable by death.
Media at the YSA Retreat included a remarkable list of who's who in broadcasting, CNN, Zee T.V., TV Asia, and Voice of America that transmits all the way to Sindh. The evening events focused on networking and socializing. Many of the attendees realized how the world has indeed become a village as many discovered mutual friends and acquaintances. Others re-connected with long lost relatives.
Friday night then began with a bang as the crowd moved from mingling to dancing the night away. The following night’s main attraction was the YSA Formal and Banquet where YSAers were decked out in their finest Indian and western threads. A play titled “Muhnji Vadi Thuli Sindhi Shaadi” (My Big Fat Sindhi Wedding) was the highlight of the night leaving everyone laughing and culminating in a standing ovation for the talented Sindhi cast members.
The weekend was a perfect blend of light-hearted and deep sessions with a couple of hearty brunches in between that gave all a respite to share a meal and bond. On Thursday evening participants walked in as strangers and shook hands but on Monday they left as families embracing; tears on their faces.
YSA (www.YoungSindhiAdults.org) operates on a not for profit basis.