Indian girl

Day of the Girl 2015

Empowerment of and investment in girls are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights” -United Nations Resolution 66/170

Today, October 11, is the Day of the Girl, a day that just two years ago was declared by the United Nations as the International Day of the Girl Child to raise awareness about all issues concerning gender inequality around the world.  It’s a day when activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere. Fast forward two years and the Day of the Girl has become a global movement of hope, inspiration and advocacy to better the lives of half our planet who is being left behind.

Indian girlSo why girls? 

As girls, we experience inequality in every aspect of our lives. There are a billion reasons why we need the Day of the Girl, but let’s start with just a dozen (all are linked to their source. Just double click on statistic and you can read it in full):

*Source:  Day of the Girl 

Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls
Aymara Women La Paz Bolivia

The Aymara Women of La Paz

Bolivia prides itself as having one of the largest indigenous cultures in South America with an estimated 60% of her population claiming indigenous descent. Although many native groups make up Bolivia’s indigenous population, the most prevalent group living in La Paz and the Bolivian highlands are the Aymaras.

The Aymaras are known for their rich, highland culture, colorful handicrafts and traditional dress. The Aymara women known locally as “cholitas” generally are always seen dressed in traditional clothing, wearing their tiny little bowler hats, several layers of large colorful polleras (skirts), tiny shoes patterned after Spanish bullfighters and beautifully embroidered shawls. They also generally wear a colorful hand-woven blanket on their backs to either carry a baby or other items.

Walking around the streets of La Paz I was amazed to see so many of cholitas dressed so colorfully, each one bringing her own unique charm. Most Aymaras are short and stout, and purposely wear many layers of skirts to make their hips look quite large. According to their culture, large hips are a sign of beauty and fertility. The woman also always wear their hair long and plaited with black-colored yarn adornments at the end. I’m not sure what it symbolizes but I did not see a single Aymara woman without her hair worn this way.

Aymara Women La Paz Bolivia

 

As I walked around La Paz, it was evident that Aymara women make up the majority of street vendors selling anything ranging from vibrant, traditional clothing to scarves, shawls, vibrant colored blankets and produce. They worked hard yet never seemed to be unhappy about their status in life. I was always greeted with a smile and the woman stuck together.

Here are a series of some of my favorite captures of the Aymara women of La Paz. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

CULTURE TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

Being Half the Sky

“Women hold up half the sky” – Chinese proverb 

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Exactly a year ago today I was in Xela, Guatemala on a week long volunteer and spanish immersion trip when I heard the noise off in the distance. It sounded like a parade. I asked my teacher Lilian if she knew what on earth was going on and she replied with a smile, “It’s International Women’s Day!” and asked if I’d like to go see the festivities. I had never heard of International Women’s Day before yet it sounded spectacular. I packed up my school work and Lilian and me were off in a flash to the main square.

There I watched in awe and joy how a community could come together as one and celebrate the rights and beauty of women. It was so incredibly touching that I rushed home and instantly wrote a post on the experience titled “El dia de la mujer in Xela, Guatemala“. Even a year later, the memory of that day will forever be engrained in my heart. It was beautiful so heartbreaking yet also so full of hope.

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Violence against women is an enormous problem in Guatemala and sometimes women are victims of abuse and even murder. Lillian told me that this was the first time she remembered having so many men participate in International Women’s Day and was hopeful that it would lead to change.

Global Issues Guatemala SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL BY REGION Women and Girls

The color of Advocacy in Guatemala

A Word in Your Ear, a fantastic travel blog that I adore, started a fun travel and photography challenge called “A Word of the Day”. Basically she lets her dictionary open to a word and voila. That is the challenge. Her recent challenge is “colorful” similar to a recent photo challenge I did.

I adore colors, especially on a gray, dreary day like today. They brighten my mood and make me smile.

These photos were taken back in April in Xela, Guatemala on the International Women’s Day. The entire town was involved in a grand celebration and a huge, colorful parade honoring women and advocating for women’s rights. In a country in which domestic violence against women is a significant, unspoken problem, it was wonderful to witness so many people coming together to share their voice and fight for women’s rights.

Here are some of my favorite colorful pictures from the event.

Global Issues Guatemala SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL BY REGION TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY Women and Girls

El dia de la mujer in Xela, Guatemala

Today was an amazing day. One of those unexpected, joyful events happened here in Guatemala. An event that will have a lasting impact on my experience living here in Xela for a week to learn Spanish and understand Guatemala’s rich culture.

Being away from home, I completely forgot that March 8th is a special day for women around the world. It is International Women’s Day. Thus, I was fortunate to be here on “El dia de la muter” and witness the grand celebration that is happening all across Guatemala and the world today. The celebration and promotion of women’s rights and an end to violence against women.

Since I’ve been in Xela, I’ve learned a lot about a woman’s life in Guatemala. My fantastic Spanish teacher, Lili told me some surprising details of what it is like for most women to live in Guatemala. There are several issues regarding women’s rights that need to be resolved yet are very complicated since many problems are engrained in their Latin culture. Guatemala, like most latin countries, has a strong culture of Machismo and is very conservative. Thus women are not always treated as equals. Most women in Guatemala, regardless of status and/or profession do not understand their rights or if they do understand them are afraid to do anything. Violence against women is very common and tragic. Many women suffer beatings and some are even killed if they do not comply with their husbands wishes. The murder rates are high thus women are afraid of reporting domestic violence to the police.

To further aggravate the problem, many women working at factories are exploited in their jobs earning under minimum wage and working long hours with no benefits or health insurance. They are trapped in a horrible situation and are also often sexually abused by their bosses. Oftentimes, they have to submit or else they will be fired.

Lili also told me that it is quite common for men to have mistresses that they frequent or even prostitutes which greatly puts women at risk for developing diseases or other health problems. Generally, women are expected to produce a large family and sometimes if a woman refuses or tries to use contraception, she is beaten or even killed.

Mayan women have it even harder as almost 90% are illiterate and uneducated. Many Mayan children today still do not attend school further aggravating the problem. Most Mayans are very poor and live a hard life outside of the city in farming communities and villages. Although they still maintain a rich culture that has lasted for centuries, the life of a Mayan woman is quite hard.

Despite the law created in 2007 to protect women against violence, little has changed due to fear and a vicious cycle of being trapped in a culture that hasn’t changed much in regards to women’s rights. If a woman is poor, uneducated and has no job along with five or six children, how could she possibly leave her husband? She must accept the violence.

On a positive note, many groups have formed to help educate women on their rights and support women who suffer mentally and physically from abuse. Women have services available at their church and at local and governmental levels, if they choose to speak out. Furthermore, today was the largest demonstration and celebration of El dia de la mujur en Xela. There were women, girls and even men and boys all together, representing all walks of life. It is not only a Mayan problem. Violence and mistreatment of women is very common and happens to many Guatemalan women.

It is a tragic problem that will take some time to solve since it is so engrained in the culture. Lili believes that boys and girls must be educated at a young age that they are equal and they must treat each other with respect. That is the only way that women will ever have equal rights. Let’s hope all women can have the same rights as men and be treated fairly with kindness and respect!


Here are my photos from the spectacular celebration in Xela, as women from all walks of life came together to celebrate and fight for women’s rights, together as one.

A Mayan woman walking down the street.

Guatemala TRAVEL BY REGION

Dating 101: Rock the Kasbah

Once again, I found myself at the city’s beloved landmark of beauty: the Kasbah des Oudaias. A Kasbah is a fortified area that once housed the ruling family, its guards and everything needed for living under attack. Nowadays, Kasbahs are still a beautiful place to live, with its traditional whitewashed and brilliant blue blue painted buildings and stunning, winding alleyways with gorgeous, lush gardens and views of either the landscape or in Oudaias case, the magnificent blue sea.

With Khadija as our tour guide, we spent the afternoon exploring the lovely Kasbah and all its splendors, including the hidden Moroccan dating game. As mentioned in my earlier post (Islam 101), dating is forbidden in the Islamic world. Premarital sex and even kissing the opposite sex is a no-no. However, with the advent of modernity and the constant throng of romance seen on the Internet, TV and Western movies, a new kind of dating in Morocco has been created: Secret Dating.

When walking through the lush gardens of the Kasbah, I was shocked and stunned to see young lovers, somewhat hidden from view, in the process of making out. Per Khadija, this is the new secret dating game that can be found throughout urban Morocco.

Here are some examples:

The lush gardens offer the perfect place for hidden romance:

The gorgeous flowering trees offer perfect protection from the sun:

Per Khadija, this is what is going on. For Muslims, dating is strictly forbidden. If you are interested in getting to know someone from the opposite sex, then technically you need to meet them in a public place with a third person present, usually a member from the family such as a brother. Thus if you are in love with someone or even just like them a lot, generally in Morocco you skip the whole dating game and go directly to marriage (of course after asking the young woman’s father for her hand).

However, for some Moroccans, this is beginning to change, especially among the young generation (like the ones seen smooching in the photo above). Dating is done completely in secret, meaning the parents have no idea, yet it always takes place in a public place such as the Kasbah or another favorite, the beach.

Here is a photo of the beach dating scene. Note the hijabs and jellabas, not your typical beach wear in a western country:

Another interesting fact Khadija told me about dating: It is only done IF there is a future of marriage ahead. You do not date just to date. Instead, you start at the end game of a relationship. You start when a man tells you that he wants to marry you. Once it is determined that you will get married, then you can start going on your secret dates. During the secret dating process, you always go to public places and never go to a private location because to do so may dishonor the woman. Normally the secret dating game goes on for about six months until an engagement. Finally, it is never acceptable in Morocco for a woman to ask a man out. It simply does not happen.

Khadija herself has been involved with a man, who she has been secretly dating for two years now and will eventually get married. Her parents do not really know about him however her friends do. She is an educated, career-driven woman yet she remains traditional at the same time and respects her religion.

Khadija told us a very interesting fact. Apparently over the last four years that CCS has been open in Morocco and had volunteers, six volunteers have met and married Moroccan men! One even met her future husband in only two weeks and neither one could speak the same language. Amazingly enough, they are still married today (and hopefully they can at least communicate now). Thus, bottom line: Love can happen anywhere, even in Morocco!

(Note: Non-Muslims can intermarry. However, a non-Muslim must convert to Islam in order to marry a Muslim).

Here are some more lovely photos of the Kasbah as well as the beach in Rabat. Two romantic places for a public secret date!

Coming up next….more posts on Morocco!

CULTURE SOCIAL GOOD

Women in Morocco

One thing I was extremely curious about was the role of women in Islamic Morocco. Before going on my trip, I did my homework and read an excellent book by a well-known author and sociologist, Fatima Mernissi called “Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood”. The book is a memoir depicting in beautiful, poetic detail Fatima’s early childhood and life in a Moroccan harem during the 1940s up until the independence from France in 1956.

In those days, most Moroccan households were traditional harems or enclosed households in which extended families lived together under one roof and practiced the tradition of women’s seclusion meaning women stayed and lived in the harem and rarely left. Mernissi describes harem life in exquisite detail from her point of view as a prepubescent girl. Harem life to her and especially to her mother and the older generation is like living in a prison. A women can not leave the harem without a male’s permission and it is completely enclosed by a large wall so no one can see in or out. The harem is kept by a gate keeper who protects the women and makes sure no one gets in or out without permission. There is a strict code of behavioral conduct and practices that must be followed inside the harem. For instance, all family meals must be taken together and women must dress and behave a certain way. The men had the power, especially the older ones and there was a strong hierarchy among the women themselves based on age, importance and status. Married women were treated better than divorced women who were looked down upon. Women spent their days inside the harem splitting up the household chores and also doing various activities such as traditional embroidery and crafts. They were let out only to go to Koranic school (where they studied only the Qur’an and not other subjects) and go to the hammam once a week (a traditional Moroccan bathhouse). Some harems involved multiple wives for the men such as the harem of Fatima Mernissi’s grandmother, however, the traditional of many wives began to subside during the 1940s. The 1950s brought huge change to Morocco with its emancipation from France in 1956 and harems slowly but steadily began to die out. Today harems are a thing of the past yet they continue to have a lot of allure and mysticism for the tourists who could only imagine in their heads what such a place would have been like.

During my stay in Morocco, we were fortunate to have an hour long discussion on women’s rights and the role of women in Morocco by the CCS Home Base Manager, Khadja, a native Moroccan from Agadir (a small town south of Rabat which is famous for Argan Oil). Khadja is a thirtysomething women who encompasses both traditional and modern Morocco. She was a past Peace Corps volunteer and is fortunate to be the only women in her family to have continued her education past middle school. She is a highly educated women which is striking in a country that has only a 56% literacy rate overall and and illiteracy rate among women of 64% (much higher rate in the countryside). Thus to be from a small village and to finish her degree at a university represents an amazing accomplishment for Khadja. Obviously she is very bright as well as very lucky that her traditional parents allowed her to move away from the village and continue her education.

A photo of me and Khadja, an educated, modern Moroccan woman wearing her traditional hijab and floppy sun hat, just like me!

Morocco is one of the most complex places in the world. It represents an intricate, complicated melange of both the Western and Arab worlds that is often hard for a foreigner to understand. Being only eight miles off the coast of Spain and having centuries of invasions from the Romans, the Spanish, and the French, Morocco provides an amazing mixture of cultures from Mediterranean countries and the Arab world. Combine this past with the present day changes in the world due to technology (i.e. the Internet) and access to the good old satellite TV, and Morocco is faced with immense pressure to move forward into more western, modern culture.

Of course the traditions remain. Islam is THE most important influence in a Moroccans life and dictates more or less how a Muslim Moroccan should live and behave (for example, premarital sex is forbidden, drinking if forbidden, a man can still legally have up to four wives, etc). Yet, things are changing in Morocco, especially among the youth. and especially for the young, modern Moroccan woman.

When you walk along the street nowadays, you can find the entire gamut of attire starting from the full-fledge burka (which is very rare), to the more traditional jelaba and caftan (long robes), to the more western clothing (jeans, sweater, blouses) either with or without the hijab (veil or head scarf). Some Moroccan women, especially in Casablanca, would even wearing high-spiked heels and skinny jeans with a color-coordinated hijab. The contrasts in apparel were striking and very confusing, especially for a western woman like me. It is a known fact that the Qur’an states it is obligatory for a woman to wear a hijab. However, nowadays it is becoming more of a personal choice rather than a religious obligation. I would say that overall, most (perhaps 75%) of the women wear the hijab however it is truly beginning to change and it is not necessarily worn for religious reasons anymore. Sometimes it is worn as a fashion statement.

As you leave Rabat (the country capital) and cosmopolitan Casablanca and enter the countryside and the small villages, every woman wears the hijab and almost all wear traditional dress. As with any place, change in rural areas takes long thus the countryside is much more traditional.

Here is a brief history of Women in Morocco:

Before the arrival of Islam, women lived by Aljahilia or “The Period of Ignorance”. Women had no role in society except for men’s desires or as a slave. The arrival of Islam in 622 AC, marked a drastic change for women’s lives. Women received three basic rights dictated by the Islam religion: (1) The Right to live (2) The Right to be honored and respected as a mother, and (3) The right to own a business and work. These rights enormously effected women’s lives and their treatment in society by men. Women were gradually enabled to rise their status remarkably yet of course they still weren’t and still aren’t equal.

The independence of Morocco from France in 1956 also represented a significant change for women and women’s rights. One of the biggest changes was the ability of women to go to school and receive an education. Before 1956, women were only allowed to attend Koranic schools which taught them mostly about religion and did not learn sciences, math, arts, history, politics, etc. However, still today there is lot that needs to be done in regards to women’s education as only 64% of women are literate and in the countryside nearly 90% of women are illiterate, with the biggest issue being that most girls stop their education by eleven or twelve years old.

Changes are happening in Morocco, especially since the change of power to the current king, Mohammed VI, who succeeded his father Hassan II upon his death in 1999. Hassan II was known as to rule with an iron fist and all dissent on his power was repressed. Thus deep resentment of the monarchy grew up until his death and the takeover of his son, Mohammed VI, who quickly vowed to right the wrongs of the era known as the Years of Lead. In 2004, Mohammed VI instituted the much anticipated Mudawana, a legal code that dramatically changed women’s rights by protecting and guaranteeing women crucial rights to divorce, custody, property and inheritance rights, and child support. Before this law, there was no limited marriage age (meaning women could be passed over to marry before puberty), and women needed their father’s permission to marry. Also, women had no choice whatsoever when in comes to divorce. Only a man could initiate the divorce. Since this law, the following changes have happened which dramatically improves a woman’s life in Morocco:

1. The legal age for marriage starts at 18 years old.
2. Women can sign their own marriage contract without their father’s approval.
3. Men can still marry up to four wives, however, the law states that each wife must be provided with her own residence. Also, if a man wants to take on a second wife, then he must obtain the approval from his first wife.
4. Divorce is now a choice for both a man and a woman. Now women can initiate a divorce yet she still needs her husband to sign the divorce paperwork unless it is a case of domestic abuse.
5. A husband now has to pay child support and if there is a divorce, the inheritance must be split in half.

Obviously these changes has greatly enhanced a women’s life in Morocco, yet there is still quite a bit of work to be done. A woman still cannot freely go into a cafe without getting uncomfortable, negative glares by men. The cafe is a man’s world in Morocco. A woman who has a child out of wedlock, is sent to the city to have the baby where the baby is abandoned to an orphanage because premarital sex is considered a sin in Islam. Women cannot wear a swimsuit on the beach. Instead, she must wear either a jelaba into the water or the more modern ones wear a shirt and pants.

However, there is hope that change is coming. Women are more likely than men to use the Internet and Moroccan women have become the most avid Internet users in the Arab world. Also, in 2007 there were 34 women elected to the Parliament, representing 10.4% of all seats, which is just slightly behind the 12.5% of women in the US government.

As expected, the new family law (the Mudawana) has also brought about many social changes in Morocco as well. The rate of divorce has increased with leaps and bounds, and the average age of marriage has gone from early twenties to 28 or 29 years old. Only time can tell whether these changes are good or bad but overall it can only be better for women to have more choice.

Probably the biggest challenges to women and to men overall in Morocco is the high levels of unemployment (13% and growing), the high level of illiteracy, and the large population of people that are living below the poverty level (19% per the World Bank). In a country where the average salary is only a meager US$1677 per year, there are going to be some challenges going forward if things do not get better. Even the highly educated Moroccans are not able to find a job so there is a general sense of restlessness in the air.

However, Morocco is unlike its fellow Arab countries and the people have great respect and admiration for their King. Most demonstrations and protests have been extremely peaceful and well-organized, and are a daily occurrence in Morocco. Whether the masses gets fed up and demands change, only time can tell. At least the King seems to be on top of things and is doing what he can to please the crowd. It will be interesting to see what the next decade brings to Morocco. Who knows, maybe the hijab will be a distant memory of the past in 2020 or then again, in Morocco, where tradition, culture and religion are the center point of life, maybe the hijab will remain a crucial part of a woman’s wardrobe.

Morocco TRAVEL BY REGION