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.
作為一名阿拉伯女性攝影師, 我總是能從我的個人經歷中 為案子找到大量靈感。 我對知識的熱情 使得我能夠跨越障礙 走向更美好的生活的 這也是我做「我閱讀,我書寫」 這一專案的動力。
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."
在我自身經歷的推動下, 最初我被禁止接受高等教育, 於是我決定探究並記錄其他女性 通過教育改變人生的故事, 同時揭露並探尋她們所面對的障礙。 我涉及了一系列關於女性教育的話題, 熟記著阿拉伯個國家間 由於經濟和社會因素而造成的差異。 這些議題包括 該地區高比率的女性文盲、 教育改革、關於輟學學生的專案, 以及大學生中的政治激進主義。 我剛開始這項工作時 說服女性加入並不容易。 只有當我向她們解釋 她們的故事可能對其他女性的生活 產生何種影響, 她們將如何成為她們社區的行為榜樣後, 才得到一些認同。 尋求一個合作和反思的角度, 我請她把自己的話和想法 寫在印有自己圖像的畫板上面。 我將這些圖像拿到一些教室分享, 激發和激勵了其他 經歷相似教育和情形的婦女。 Aisha,一位葉門的老師,寫到, 「我尋求教育以求自立 不讓人生全部依賴於男人。」
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.
我的首批訪談對象之一 是來自埃及的 Umm El-Saad。 我們第一次見面的時候, 她幾乎無法寫下她自己的名字, 她當時正在參與 為期九個月的文化培訓課程, 這課程由一個位於開羅郊區的 本地非政府組織提供。 數月後,她調侃道,她的丈夫 曾威脅要將她趕出教室, 因為他發現,一個識字的妻子 會逐條查看他的手機短信。 (笑聲) 頑皮的 Umm El-Saad。 當然,這不是她加入這個學習課程的原因, 我了解到她渴望掌控 自己簡單的日常生活, 那些我們認為理所應當的小細節, 從在市場購物數錢 到幫助她的孩子完成家庭作業。 儘管她處於貧窮的條件、儘管她受困於 其所在社區貶低輕視 女性教育的思維模式, Umm El-Saad 與她的埃及同學們, 渴望學習如何讀書和寫字。
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.
在突尼西亞,我遇見 Asma, 她是我所訪問的四位政治活動家之一。 這位普通的生物工程系學生 在社群媒體上非常活躍。 她的國家對阿拉伯之春有很高評價, 她說:「我一直期望能夠發現一個新的菌種。 現在,經歷革命之後, 我們每天都發現一個。」 Asma 的隱喻指的是當地 盛行的宗教原教旨主義, 對女性來說,這是一個障礙。
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.
在所有我遇見的女性裡, 來自葉門的 Fayza 對我的影響最大。 Fayza 在 8 歲時結婚, 立即被強迫退學。 那段婚姻只維持了一年。 在 14 歲的時候,她成為 一位 60 歲老男人的第三任妻子, 18 歲的時候,她成了 獨自撫養三個孩子的離異母親。 雖然貧窮, 雖然她處於一個極端保守的社會 她有著離婚人士的社會地位, 她不顧父母親反對她重回學校 接受教育, Fayza 知道,她能夠掌握自己人生的 唯一途徑就是接受教育。 這時她 26 歲。 她從當地的非政府組織拿到贊助 用以支持她在大學念商科的費用。 她的目標是找一份工作, 租一個公寓, 把她的孩子帶回到自己身邊撫養。
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."
阿拉伯社會正在經歷劇烈的變化, 女人面對的壓倒性的掙扎。 就像我照片記錄的這些女性, 我跨越了很多障礙 成為現在的我,一名攝影師, 一路走來,太多人告訴我 什麼該做,什麼不該做。 Umm El-Saad、Asma 和 Fayza, 還有很多阿拉伯世界的女性, 展示了跨越障礙接受教育的可能性, 因為她們知道, 教育最有可能給她們帶來美好的未來。 我想用一句 Yasmine 的話來 結束這場演說, Yasmine 是我在突尼西亞採訪的 四位社運份子之一。 Yasmine 寫道, 「詢問你的信念。 要成為自己, 而不是成為別人心目中的自己。 不要接受他們的奴役, 因為你母親賦予了你生命和自由。」
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(鼓掌)