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Introduction Gender reconciliation is essential to lasting social change Despite the major advances of the women's and men's movements, gender injustice remains a fundamental challenge worldwide. The infamous "battle of the sexes" rages on across the globe on myriad levels, ranging from the banal to the catastrophic. Examples of the latter include the strategic use of rape as a weapon of war in civil conflicts from Bosnia to Rwanda, the persecution of gay and lesbian populations due solely to their sexual orientations, and the skyrocketing rape in South Africa since the end of apartheid. Women and men must work together to heal gender injustice. After decades of separate women's and men's movements—valuable though they have been—the time has come for women and men to band together to jointly confront and transform gender injustice. Both women and men are afflicted by gender injustice, and each needs the other for a true and complete healing. Such unified gender work is almost entirely absent in our society, even in otherwise highly conscious social, political, spiritual, and organizational contexts. Satyana Institute's Gender Reconciliation program was created to take first steps toward filling this void. A spiritual foundation is essential to gender reconciliation. The challenge of sexism and gender disharmony is ultimately a collective spiritual crisis. As Martin Luther King emphasized in his pioneering civil rights work, the issue was not blacks versus whites, but rather justice versus injustice. So too here: the issue is not men versus women, but justice versus injustice. Yet both the women's and men's movements have tended to develop their advocacy in polarized gender terms. Both sides have restricted their analysis to standard psychological and sociological frameworks, while often omitting the deeper spiritual aspects. Yet a more unitive "spiritual" dimension of consciousness is fundamental to transforming gender injustice. Only on this level can the duality of opposites be transcended in a deeper, all-encompassing unity. History of Satyana Institute's Gender Reconciliation Project Responding to the need for women and men to collaborate together in a spiritually grounded approach to transforming gender injustice, the Satyana Institute created its project in Gender Reconciliation. Over the past 12 years, the Institute and its predecessors have organized more than 40 gatherings for women and men to jointly explore the delicate, uncharted terrain of mutual gender healing work. Taken as whole, these exploratory events in gender reconciliation have demonstrated that powerful, largely untapped dimensions of collective healing and transformation are possible when women and men jointly address gender disharmony with sensitive care and integrity in skillfully facilitated mixed groups. Initiatives in Gender Reconciliation for 2005 March 31 - April 2, 2006 Restoring the Beloved Balance: Creating Harmony between Women and Men Will Keepin and Cynthia Brix Assisted by Janet Coster and Alan Strachan Community Congregational Church, Tiburon CA Contact: Jane Calbreath at jc1010@sbcglobal.net or call 415-925-9004 Certification Training in Gender Reconciliation May 26-31, 2005 Sunshine Mountain Inn Allenspark, Colorado Satyana Institute is holding an invitational training event for professionals who have already completed Satyana Institute's year long training program in Gender Reconciliation. Those who complete this program will be certified to offer introductory programs of Satyana's gender reconciliation work in a weekend format. The intensive training program will provide hands-on training with interactive feedback, and will provide facilitators with a detailed Trainers Manual and supporting resources required to facilitate Satyana's gender reconciliation work. The program is being designed and co-facilitated by Will Keepin, Darcy Cunningham, and Linda Cunningham. Alchemical Communion May 8-10, 2005 Whidbey Island Clinton, Washington An invitational gathering to explore new directions in gender healing work, emphasizing the spiritual and alchemical foundations of the work. Facilitated by Will Keepin and Rachel Bagby. Gender Reconciliation in South Africa Satyana Institute is developing a series of programs for Members of Parliament and other senior government officials in South Africa. Current plans call for a five day intensive retreat in November 2006. In South Africa, gender equality is a constitutional value guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, which explicitly includes the right and freedom to sexual choice, sexual orientation and gender justice. The government established a Commission on Gender Equality to promote and protect gender rights. Gender Equality is legally defined as "a substantive and non-discriminatory relationship between women and men in society. Gender equity refers to the equal distribution of opportunities, of access to resources, and of decision-making power between women and men in society." The Commission explicitly recognizes that "for gender power relations to change, men and women must work together." Satyana Institute is working with the Deputy Minister of Health to support the implementation programs to improve gender equality in South African society. Maher Project: Interfaith Refuge for Battered Women in India In April, 2005, the Satyana Institute hosted a nationwide fundraising tour for the founding director of the Maher project, Sister Lucy Kurien. See the press release and schedule of presentations in American cities below. The Maher project is an interfaith shelter and resource center for battered and destitute women and children located near Pune, India. The Satyana Institute supports the Maher project by raising awareness and assisting in fundraising for the project. Since its inception in 1997, Maher has provided refuge and rehabilitation to over 750 battered women and their children. Today there are approximately 80 women and 250 children living at Maher and its fourteen satellite homes in surrounding villages. Maher is the word for Mother's home in the local language of Marathi. Transcending religious and caste barriers in all aspects of its work, the Maher project demonstrates the power of interfaith collaboration to redress oppressive social conditions in Indian society. The goal is not only to provide refuge from domestic violence and abuse, but also to eliminate their causes in Indian communities by providing essential skills and resources that ward off neglect, superstition, and poverty. Maher Project Features:
Maher has a staff of about 70, including 12 social workers, and some 35 housemothers who run the satellite homes. Each satellite home has 2 housemothers, who feed and care for about 20 children. Every housemother was once a battered woman seeking refuge at Maher, and their healing is augmented by the responsibility of giving love and care to the children. Maher is a registered charity in the state of Maharashtra, and is governed by a Board of Trustees from diverse professional and religious backgrounds. Funding. The annual operating budget for the Maher project is just over Rs. 7 million, which is equivalent to $160,000. Financial support came initially from funds raised in Europe and India. The project received a small donation ($5,000) from the Sister Fund in New York in 2004, which is its first donation from a U.S. philanthropic organization. Essential needs at this time are (1) increased resources for hiring much needed additional staff, and (2) developing improved support for traumatized and severely disturbed women. Long term goals include expanding the proven Maher concept to other areas in India. The need for and potential of such replication is enormous. Donations. The Satyana Institute is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt service organization based in Clinton, Washington. Satyana Institute currently serves as fiscal receiver for U.S. grants to Maher. Satyana Institute is donating its staff time and administrative support on behalf of the Maher project, so that all funds donated go directly to the Maher project. Donations can also be made directly to the Maher project itself. For more information, visit the Maher website at www.maherashram.org or contact Will Keepin at www.satyana.org. Press Release March, 2005 Satyana Institute Inspiring Women's Activist from India Tours USA Satyana Institute is sponsoring a fundraising tour of the United States for a leading women's activist from India in April, 2005. Sister Lucy Kurien is the founding director of the Maher project, a unique interfaith refuge for battered women in India. Since its inception in 1997, the Maher project has provided shelter to more than 750 battered women and their children. Located near Pune outside Mumbai (Bombay), the Maher project has also spawned 14 satellite homes for battered women in surrounding villages. Such projects are still rare in India, where social conditions for women are among the most oppressive in the world. Satyana Institute is supporting this project by assisting with fundraising. Lucy Kurien's Maher project is remarkable in several respects. Not only does it provide safe haven for abused women, but it is also a "caste-free zone," and it provides direct support to the "untouchables" in the region. The project is also explicitly interfaith: its 70 staff and some 300 residents come from many religious faiths—Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, etc.—all living and working in harmony together. This sets an inspiring precedent in a society often torn by religious strife. Lucy Kurien will be giving a series of presentations about her work across the United States in April, 2005. She will be joined by Will Keepin who is hosting her visit and fundraising tour. Sister Kurien is touring the USA to raise awareness about her work, and to seek financial support from potential American donors. Most of these gatherings will be small, informal presentations. All are welcome. Presentations on Maher project in US cities April 1 — 20, 2005
Will Keepin discovered the Maher project in the course of his gender reconciliation work in India, and he feels that Lucy Kurien is a contemporary Mother Teresa figure. He has been so inspired by her work that he is donating his time and Satyana's administrative resources to help raise awareness and financial support for the Maher project. The Maher project received a grant last year from the Sister Fund in New York--its first donation from an American philanthropic foundation. As Will describes Lucy: "Lucy Kurien is confronting social injustice head on—in the extremely challenging context of Indian society—and she does it with tremendous grace, humility, and courage. Boundless love and compassion pour through her as she graciously tramples underfoot so many unjust taboos of Indian society, and galvanizes those around her into spirited action. The Maher project she founded is a living beacon of light and hope in one of the most oppressive societies for women in the world. The potential for replication of her work elsewhere in India and other countries is enormous." For more information, contact Will Keepin at will@satyana.org 
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