March 8th 2011: The Women’s League of Pacifica Institute observed International Women’s Day by co-hosting a luncheon with Stanford Geriatric Education Center. The guest list included many diverse heritages across the world; American, Taiwanese, Japanese, Mexican, Eritrean, Turkish to name a few. The San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin and Indian Community Center were among the guests too.
The program started with a moment of silence that honored all the elderly women of the world. After the lunch prepared by the Women’s League volunteers, the guests had a chance to watch a short movie, “The Gifts”, which was presented by Marita Grudzen, the Deputy Director of Stanford Geriatric Education Center. It alluded to the idea of leaving a world for younger generations that is filled with peace, understanding and tolerance. The video included some words of wisdom stemming from universal values that took centuries to ripen. After the movie, the guests had a round-table discussion that centered around two questions: “What words of wisdom would you like to tell to the younger generations?”, and “What gifts would you like to pass on to your kids/family?”. The results of the discussion of each table was then shared with the whole audience by the table moderators. The event continued with an open podium with guests expressing their feelings. At the end, everyone in the room realized that they had so much in common no matter what heritage they belonged to and the differences were merely joyful nuances.