EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Penelope Gandhi

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Penelope Gandhi

One of the most inspiring excursions of the trip so far was our visit to the University of the Mountains to learn about their Penelope Gandhi Mission project. The project integrates the traditional Cretan art of weaving with public health initiatives as they use the money raised to provide health services to rural mountain villages. During the visit we were greeted enthusiastically and everyone we encountered seemed genuinely excited to tell us about their work. This sentiment is something I've observed throughout Crete. Everywhere we go people take great pride in their work and they are constantly looking for ways to preserve their culture, history, and identity as Cretans.

For me the most captivating part of the visit was seeing how this project empowers the women of the community. This project provides a unique opportunity for the older women of the village to have an active role in sharing the Cretan art of weaving on a broad scale. During the visit we were able to get a small taste of all of the work that goes into weaving as we were able to sit down at the loom with the women and also learn how to separate the material that can be used as thread from the plants. The process was very intricate and time consuming. One blanket or dress could take multiple months to complete depending on the complexity of the pattern. I believe that especially as you get older it's extremely important to feel like you're using your time in a meaningful way and that you have a purpose. To see the passion in each of the women we encountered inspired me to search for the same type of empowerment through passion within my own life.

No comments:

Post a Comment

EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.