As an Arab female photographer, I have always found ample inspiration for my projects in personal experiences. The passion I developed for knowledge, which allowed me to break barriers towards a better life was the motivation for my project I Read I Write.
Kot ženska arabska fotografinja sem navdih za projekte vedno iskala v svojih izkušnjah. Strast za znanjem mi je dovolila, da podiram meje do boljšega življenja, je bila motivacija za moj projekt Jaz berem, jaz pišem.
Pushed by my own experience, as I was not allowed initially to pursue my higher education, I decided to explore and document stories of other women who changed their lives through education, while exposing and questioning the barriers they face. I covered a range of topics that concern women's education, keeping in mind the differences among Arab countries due to economic and social factors. These issues include female illiteracy, which is quite high in the region; educational reforms; programs for dropout students; and political activism among university students. As I started this work, it was not always easy to convince the women to participate. Only after explaining to them how their stories might influence other women's lives, how they would become role models for their own community, did some agree. Seeking a collaborative and reflexive approach, I asked them to write their own words and ideas on prints of their own images. Those images were then shared in some of the classrooms, and worked to inspire and motivate other women going through similar educations and situations. Aisha, a teacher from Yemen, wrote, "I sought education in order to be independent and to not count on men with everything."
Gnale so me moje izkušnje, saj na začetku nisem smela študirati, sem se odločila, da bom raziskala in dokumentirala zgodbe drugih žensk, ki so spremenile svoja življenja skozi izobrazbo, in izpostavila ter se spraševala o ovirah, ki so jih morale premagati. Pokrila sem več tem, ki zadevajo izobrazbo žensk, in še vedno imela v mislih razlike v arabskih državah zaradi ekonomskih in družbenih dejavnikov. Ti problemi vključujejo nepismenost žensk, ki je v teh regijah visoka, reforme v izobrazbi, programi za tiste, ki niso končali šole, in politični aktivizem med univerzitetnimi študenti. Ko sem pričela z delom, včasih ni bilo lahko prepričati žensk k sodelovanju. Šele ko sem jim razložila, kako lahko njihove zgodbe vplivajo na življenja drugih žensk, kako lahko postanejo vzor v svoji skupnosti, so se nekatere strinjale. Iskala sem skupen in refleksiven pristop, prosila sem jih, da napišejo svoje besede in ideje na svoje fotografije. Te slike smo potem delili v nekaterih učilnicah in s tem navdihnili in motivirali druge ženske, ki se enako izobražujejo in so postavljene v podobne situacije. Aisha, učiteljica iz Jemna, je napisala: ''Izobrazbo sem iskala, da bi postala neodvisna in da ne bi za vse potrebovala moških.''
One of my first subjects was Umm El-Saad from Egypt. When we first met, she was barely able to write her name. She was attending a nine-month literacy program run by a local NGO in the Cairo suburbs. Months later, she was joking that her husband had threatened to pull her out of the classes, as he found out that his now literate wife was going through his phone text messages. (Laughter) Naughty Umm El-Saad. Of course, that's not why Umm El-Saad joined the program. I saw how she was longing to gain control over her simple daily routines, small details that we take for granted, from counting money at the market to helping her kids in homework. Despite her poverty and her community's mindset, which belittles women's education, Umm El-Saad, along with her Egyptian classmates, was eager to learn how to read and write.
Ena od mojih prvih oseb je bila Umm El-Saad iz Egipta. Ko sva se prvič srečali, je komaj znala napisati svoje ime. Hodila je na devetmesečni program pismenosti, ki ga je vodila nevladna organizacija v predmestju Kaira. Mesece pozneje se je šalila, da ji je njen mož grozil, da jo bo izpisal iz programa, saj je ugotovil, da njegova, zdaj pismena žena, bere njegova sms sporočila. (Smeh) Poredna Umm El-Saad. Seveda to ni bil razlog, da se je Umm El-Saad pridružila programu. Videla sem, kako se je trudila dobiti nadzor nad preprosto dnevno rutino, majhnimi samoumevnimi podrobnostmi, od štetja denarja v trgovini do pomaganja otrokom pri domači nalogi. Kljub svoji revščini in miselnosti njenega okolja, ki podcenjuje izobrazbo žensk, je bila Umm El-Saad skupaj z egipčanskimi sošolkami zagnana za učenje branja in pisanja.
In Tunisia, I met Asma, one of the four activist women I interviewed. The secular bioengineering student is quite active on social media. Regarding her country, which treasured what has been called the Arab Spring, she said, "I've always dreamt of discovering a new bacteria. Now, after the revolution, we have a new one every single day." Asma was referring to the rise of religious fundamentalism in the region, which is another obstacle to women in particular.
V Tuniziji sem spoznala Asmo, eno izmed štirih aktivistk, ki sem jih intervjuvala. Študentka sekularnega bioinženiringa je aktivna na družbenih omrežjih. Njena država je vedno cenila nekaj, kar se imenuje arabska pomlad, in povedala je: ''Vedno sem si želela odkriti novo bakterijo. Zdaj, po revoluciji, najdemo novo čisto vsak dan.'' Asma se je sklicevala na vstajo verskega fundamentalizma v regiji, ki je še ena ovira, posebej za ženske.
Out of all the women I met, Fayza from Yemen affected me the most. Fayza was forced to drop out of school at the age of eight when she was married. That marriage lasted for a year. At 14, she became the third wife of a 60-year-old man, and by the time she was 18, she was a divorced mother of three. Despite her poverty, despite her social status as a divorcée in an ultra-conservative society, and despite the opposition of her parents to her going back to school, Fayza knew that her only way to control her life was through education. She is now 26. She received a grant from a local NGO to fund her business studies at the university. Her goal is to find a job, rent a place to live in, and bring her kids back with her.
Od vseh žensk, ki sem jih spoznala, me je Fayza iz Jemna najbolj ganila. Fayzo so prisilili, da se izpiše iz šole pri osmih letih, ko se je poročila. Ta zakon je trajal eno leto. Ko je bila 14, je postala tretja žena 60-letnemu moškemu in ko je dopolnila 18 let, je bila ločena mama trem otrokom. Kljub njeni revščini in kljub družbenemu statusu ločenke v izjemno konzervativni družbi in kljub nasprotovanju njenih staršev, da se vrne nazaj v šolo, je Fayza vedela, da je edina možnost, da kontrolira svoje življenje, izobrazba. Danes je stara 26. Prejela je štipendijo nevladne organizacije, da si plača poslovne študije na univerzi. Njen cilj je najti službo, najeti stanovanje in s seboj vzeti otroke.
The Arab states are going through tremendous change, and the struggles women face are overwhelming. Just like the women I photographed, I had to overcome many barriers to becoming the photographer I am today, many people along the way telling me what I can and cannot do. Umm El-Saad, Asma and Fayza, and many women across the Arab world, show that it is possible to overcome barriers to education, which they know is the best means to a better future. And here I would like to end with a quote by Yasmine, one of the four activist women I interviewed in Tunisia. Yasmine wrote, "Question your convictions. Be who you to want to be, not who they want you to be. Don't accept their enslavement, for your mother birthed you free."
Arabske države preživljajo velike spremembe in težave, s katerimi se ženske srečujejo, so neizmerne. Tako kot ženske, ki sem jih fotografirala, sem tudi jaz morala premagovati ovire, da sem postala takšna fotografinja, na moji poti so mi ljudje govorili, kaj lahko in kaj ne morem početi. Umm El-Saad, Asma in Fayza in številne ženske v arabskem svetu kažejo, da je mogoče premagati ovire na poti do izobrazbe, saj vedo, da izobrazba omogoča boljšo prihodnost. In tukaj bi rada zaključila s citatom Yasmine, ene izmed štirih žensk, ki sem jih intervjuvala v Tuniziji. Yasmine je napisala: ''Dvomite v svoja prepričanja. Bodite to, kar vi želite postati in ne to, kar drugi želijo, da postanete. Ne sprejmite zasužnjenja, saj vas je vaša mati rodila, da ste svobodni."
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplavz)