WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSSETS, USA, March 24, 2008: More than half of the applicants who wanted to participate in the one-day workshop on India for teachers on March 3 could not be accommodated.
“It was incredible. We could have had twice as many people if we had the space,” said Peter Gilmartin, associate program director with Primary Source, a nonprofit that organized the workshop in cooperation with the South Asia Initiative at Harvard. “We had to turn away more than half the people who called us up as individuals… One teacher could come only because another teacher couldn’t come.”
A total of 37 educators from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine attended the six-hour workshop, which included presentations on the core values of Hinduism, Islam in India and Mahatma Gandhi.”There is a real demand for programs on India, but there are not enough teachers available yet,” Gilmartin said, explaining the overwhelming interest the workshop received.
Teachers asked about a diverse range of topics with genuine interest. During the workshop, a gap in knowledge about India among the teachers was evident. “I thought Jainism was a combination of Hinduism and Sikhism, is that true?” asked one teacher. “Is reincarnation connected to caste?” said another, and someone else inquired, “I understand there is a very close relationship between Hindus and animals, is that true?”
“This has been the most substantive experience [of learning about] India I’ve had,” a teacher said of the one-day workshop.