The defining moment in my life that shifted the way I was thinking...and brought me to ubuntu.
Great question. Tough to answer.
In the sense of living and breathing and working and playing.
In honour of International Woman's Day and one of my
personal favourite movements Half the Sky:
This isn't a feminist statement, but rather a celebration of all the wonderful, wise women out there and the struggle we've gone through in the past one hundred years to be equals. Let us spread that equality out to all groups and all nations. Let's stand together and shine!
To my mother, sister, grandmother, cousins, co-workers, aunts and girlfriends who are like family - I sincerely love you and encourage you to shine your unique lights, today more than ever.
And there will never be a day like this that goes by that I don't think of Laxmi, Seema, Sonu, Neha, Rajni and Muskan, and all of the other women I met in India. They ignited something inside of me. As I think about them trying to become educated against all odds, while still cooking, cleaning and taking care of their families, I realized the true power and strength of a woman.To all the women I met there - I miss you much on this special day.
I'll leave you with Sonu's story. I wrote about this back when I was in India, but it was such a small thing that played such a huge part in my trip and I must re-share. Thanks and Happy Day to you!
At the beginning of one lesson we had with the girls, Sonu (pictured left) was crying. Neha (our translator) explained to us that she did not pass her 10th class examinations, which insulted her uncle and grandfather. They were shouting at her that she was a failure and that she was not allowed in their homes any longer. She was devastated and terribly upset.
We began to ask some questions to try to understand the situation, such as what did her parents think? Did she live with her Uncle/Grandfather? It turned out that she didn't live with them and that her parents still wanted her to study and to try to pass the examination again in the future. We took a step back and talked about how sometimes in life, you must stop, or even take a step backwards, in order to move forward again. That failures will happen, but they will not be failures at all in the end because of what we learn from them and how they test our character. It was beautiful as the other girls were all rapidly talking in Hindi, standing behind her and telling her to stand for what she believed in and to continue studying.
We went on with our lesson and asked Sonu to write some sentences on the board. She excels at English (struggles greatly with math). You could tell from the smile on her face that the confidence from doing so well in English in front of her peers helped. After the lesson, a parting volunteer gave a going away gift to the girls. Every girl received a beautiful, sparkly sari. You should have seen the room erupt! We told them to put them on and they were giggling and laughing and helping each other tie them on. It's not until a certain age that a girl learns how to tie a sari, so they did very well, but it was hilarious to watch. There were pictures and memories that I'm sure they will have - as will we - forever. And at the end of all the chaos and laughter, Sonu turned to us and said, "I will continue my studies." It was so simple, so small, but my heart exploded. It's what we were all there for.
And there will never be a day like this that goes by that I don't think of Laxmi, Seema, Sonu, Neha, Rajni and Muskan, and all of the other women I met in India. They ignited something inside of me. As I think about them trying to become educated against all odds, while still cooking, cleaning and taking care of their families, I realized the true power and strength of a woman.To all the women I met there - I miss you much on this special day.
I'll leave you with Sonu's story. I wrote about this back when I was in India, but it was such a small thing that played such a huge part in my trip and I must re-share. Thanks and Happy Day to you!
We began to ask some questions to try to understand the situation, such as what did her parents think? Did she live with her Uncle/Grandfather? It turned out that she didn't live with them and that her parents still wanted her to study and to try to pass the examination again in the future. We took a step back and talked about how sometimes in life, you must stop, or even take a step backwards, in order to move forward again. That failures will happen, but they will not be failures at all in the end because of what we learn from them and how they test our character. It was beautiful as the other girls were all rapidly talking in Hindi, standing behind her and telling her to stand for what she believed in and to continue studying.
We went on with our lesson and asked Sonu to write some sentences on the board. She excels at English (struggles greatly with math). You could tell from the smile on her face that the confidence from doing so well in English in front of her peers helped. After the lesson, a parting volunteer gave a going away gift to the girls. Every girl received a beautiful, sparkly sari. You should have seen the room erupt! We told them to put them on and they were giggling and laughing and helping each other tie them on. It's not until a certain age that a girl learns how to tie a sari, so they did very well, but it was hilarious to watch. There were pictures and memories that I'm sure they will have - as will we - forever. And at the end of all the chaos and laughter, Sonu turned to us and said, "I will continue my studies." It was so simple, so small, but my heart exploded. It's what we were all there for.
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| The bright future of India |
This post has brought back so much memories for me. I'm so pleased that you convinced me to swap programs so that I could work with these women and girls once you finished. I too think about them all the time and wish I could go back and spend more time with them. It's such an important memory for me.
ReplyDeleteI too feel that our paths crossed to have you brought on for these women afterwards. I know we will collaborate on something in the future, I can just feel it.
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