by Brandy Blue
Sunday, October 11th
was the U.N. designated International Day of the Girl. Volunteers around
Morocco were encouraged to integrate gender development activities into their
regular work at youth centers and women's centers throughout the country.
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| a young woman in Tinejdad shares her art |
1
st year
volunteer Noa Harris has a background in creative education and social work and is an
expert in gender-based violence. She is also a member of the Gender and
Development committee. To celebrate the International Day of the Girl in Tinejdad, Noa developed an activity
with two goals: to spread awareness about the special day, and to give a safe space to empower
girls and young women to embrace their own emotions and be able to express
themselves to others.
There are many
different paths to empowerment. A more commonly-used path is by
giving girls access to education and knowledge of the world. However,
“education is not enough,” says Noa. Another path is empowerment through
knowledge of ourselves. This emotional intelligence includes knowing one's own
emotions and being able to give a voice to them. Noa aimed to create a safe
space where girls and young women in her community could use their voices in
this way. “In Morocco and all over the world we hear men talking more than
women. [On the International Day of the Girl] we offer a space for girls to
talk,” she says.
Noa was not alone in
her endeavors. The moudira of
the dar taqafa Aicha Behu helped by publicizing the event and gathering
a group of 17 girls and young women, ranging in ages from 6 to 18. Noa also
utilized the skills of her counterpart Nezha to translate the event while Noa
facilitated the activity. The event took place on Saturday, October 10th
at Tinejdad's dar taqafa. The afternoon was divided into several parts:
introduction to the International Day of the Girl, a challenge asking girls to
examine what they would like to change about themselves and then symbolically
enacting that change, an opportunity to share what the girls liked about
themselves, and finally a craft activity that invited the girls to celebrate
themselves.
In the first activity,
the girls were invited to think of something about themselves they would
like to change. Then, the girls walked through an imaginary machine that
created that change within them. Participation in the activities was slow at
first, which was a personal challenge for Noa. Because the girls were timid,
Noa used herself as an example, reflecting that she wished her Arabic could be
better. She then walked through the “machine” and came out with new-found
confidence in her language ability. This encouraged the girls to do the same,
and most of the group created their own change in the “machine,” by themselves
or in pairs. Some girls felt more confident doing this activity while holding
Noa’s hand rather than alone. “Sometimes we need a crutch,” she says. “Crutches
aren't negative, as long as we can be aware of our own needs and ask for help.”
Participation picked
up on the second activity, when Noa asked the girls to state something they
like about themselves. Most of the girls were able to share with the group
which created a warm and positive environment.
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| simple supplies and some space are all you need |
After these uplifting
thoughts, the group took time to make flowers out of recycled egg cartons with
paint. A way to empower as a facilitator is to be engaged and equal to the
participants, and Noa took part in all aspects of the event. “When we ran out
of brushes,” she recalls, “I was the first to dip my fingers in the paint.” After
the flowers were lovingly crafted the group sat in a circle in the room, being
sure to remove any physical obstacles like tables and chairs. Then Noa asked
all the participants to state why they deserve a flower.
Happily all the girls
and young women held a flower and said “I deserve a flower because..”. The
answers were diverse:
I deserve a flower because I am a good student.
because I'm a girl.
because I'm a good
basketball player.
because I respect my parents
because I pray.
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| a circle of positivity |
These are just some
examples the girls shared.
According to Noa, the
flower activity was the perfect way to end the event. “We are all flowers,” she
says. “Sometimes buds need time to blossom. We need to know how much sun and
how much water we need. There are different seasons, and we are not always in
bloom. But we all have the potential to blossom.”
Noa considers the
event a success and encourages other volunteers to use these ideas in their own
work. Ideally, she advises, this activity involves a motivated counterpart or
mastery of the local language in order to fully communicate the undertones and
underlying themes of the event and International Girl's Day. This kind of
activity is more personal to the community and can help express those themes
without talking about women's rights as an international struggle. Sometimes,
says Noa, grand themes like #62milliongirls can be lost on a local Moroccan
girl who feels isolated from the big-picture. This kind of activity gives the
individual girls a platform and encourages them to use their own emotional
intelligence to empower their own lives.
“Once you have a clear
goal,” says Noa, “there are different ways to reach it.” She encourages other
to find their own voice to create an event for the next International Girl
Day.
