Phurbu Tsetan

Hometown
Kollegal Karnataka, India
Major
Nursing
Cohort
15
Status
Fellow
DFE Location
Tibet
DFE Abstract
For the summer of 2019, Phurbu Tsetan immersed herself in a 4-week intensive, yet prestigious Caux Scholars Program at Caux in Switzerland as one of the 20 participants representing her country, Tibet. The Caux Scholars Program teaches students to identify and analyze conflicts, to understand the factors that create and sustain conflicts, and to use practical methods to diffuse conflicts through global disciplines in conflict prevention, negotiation, development studies, international relations, legislation and policy, and transitional justice. As a refugee herself, she sought to connect with other leaders around the world to come up with practical solutions through youth empowerment, entrepreneurship and cultural mediation. She also used her health perspectives to explore ways of overcoming psychological and traumatic events for recent immigrants and refugees assimilating into a new environment. By attending the annual Caux Conference, Phurbu met with diplomats, activists, leaders and students alike who share the same political, social and personal background as hers. Through them she found different ways of looking at and distinguishing between conflict resolution, peace building, peacekeeping and peace maintaining.