 On
the release of her book, Saturday the 5th of October 2002, Marion
Verweij held her first talk on her book at the centre of the
Template Stichting in Leiden. She spoke about the special women
she has come to know about, who courageously fight for a better
situation for women. The second talk was held in London in the
same month. Marion, who clearly deeply cares about the issues
which these women meet, decided to write a book about some of
them, to help create a greater awareness about the situation
of women in the world, to help raise finances for them and to
highlight the amazing qualities that these women have built
in their lives and radiate into the world, which are truly Beacons
of Hope. As Marion put it herself during the talk: “This is
not a talk about suffering, but one about Hope”. |
The
way the talk was held was very attractive; it was done by highlighting
different qualities, such as: Decision Making, Unity, Care, Honour,Vision
and Hope. Whilst talking she showed slides and after every section
there was a moment to contemplate about a quality such as Decision
Making, and the women who represent this quality in their lives.
It was very good to be able to have some time to oneself and let
the information sink in. Marion, together with her husband made
a compilation of wonderful and very fitting music to accompany all
different stages of the talk. Approximately 50 people came, both
men and women, who afterwards were clearly impressed and more knowledgeable
- with feeling - about the situation of women in the world. Someone
said, “In this talk you have brought up some issues which we would
usually rather not think about. However, by the clear story and
also some of the statistics, one cannot but see a part of the picture
of what many women need to live with every day. It really has increased
my awareness. Now I can’t ‘Unknow’ it.” Another response, which
I could wholly agree with was that “Because of the vivid and humane
story which is told in this talk, the lives and qualities of the
women spoken about are connected to each other. It is like a web
is woven of significance and strength. You have made a great contribution
by putting this together: you show a picture which otherwise might
be missed, because you only see part of it.”.
Top
 Some
impressions of the talk of Marion which were particularly captivating:
Decision
Making
‘A way to transform life’
In
this part both Waris Dirie and Maya Angelou featured, two amazing
women, who managed from an almost impossible situation to forge
a life for themselves.
Waris
Dirie, who grew up in Somalia, in a Nomadic family, was circumcised
at the age of 5 years old. During her young years she found herself
in a situation face to face with a lion. They looked each other
in the eyes, but he did not harm her. This event moved her deeply
and she felt that God must have had a reason for keeping her alive.
This experience gave her a greater belief in herself. When her father
wanted to marry her to an old man for 5 camels, she decided to run
away to Mogadishu. After this she managed to get to London in England,
to become a famous photo model. Today she is Goodwill Ambassador
for the UN. Her life's journey, seeing where she came from, is full
of important decisions which brought her to this point. As she says:
"I am ambassadress for my sisters in Africa. I shall tell the
world how, when you have been cut, you are ruined as a sexual woman,
how you live inpain
for the rest of your life and that we are put through this to please
men.
Our
daughters don't have to go through the same, I shall not stop until
the mutilation of women stops".
Unity
'Together we are strong'
This
quality was highlighted by amongst others the spirit of the Argentinian
Mothers, who badgered the Argentinean authorities for years to tell
what had happened to their sons and husbands who disappeared during
the years of dictatorship in their country. By their solidarity
with each other, they became a force to be reckoned with, noticed
by the international community. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
highlighted the importance of this quality of unity on International
Womenfs Day 2001: "Women are able to work together and communicate
across barriers and divides and if there could be a greater unity
between all the different actors and different parts of the situation
the world is in today, then there could be a better result."
Top
Care
'The body you are born with is sacrosanct'
This
section gave more insight in the widespread custom of circumcision
of young girls. In 1997 it was estimated by the World Health Organisation
that between 100 and 120 million women have been circumcised and
the United Nations have published reports which indicate that 2
million girls are being mutilated per year, which means that the
day you read this, 6000 girls have been circumcised. The tradition
goes back hundreds of years and is kept alive by both men and women.
One
of the courageous women fighting against this tradition is Agnes
Pareyio from Kenya, who offers refuge and schooling to girls who
refuse to be circumcised and would therefore be cast out into the
street by their families. More and more laws are being passed to
forbid circumcision. By the end of 2001 the Kenyan president banned
circumcision for girls under 17, making the practice punishable
by at least one year in prison. What Agnes and her sisters are doing,
has an effect! As she says herself in one of her letters to Marion:
"I started educating the community slowly, slowly, and at first
the response was so hostile that at times I felt discouraged, but
another spirit kept on urging me to go ahead, as I was paving the
way for the betterment of others."
Honour
'On our Humanity'
Hundreds
of women are killed worldwide because they are supposed to have
tainted family honour. Every year women are also sold into virtual
slavery, sometimes under the guise of marriage, sometimes forced
into prostitution. Women all over the world have taken a stance
about this, such as Sultana, who wrote some books - with great risk
for her own life - about the story of women in her country (Saudi
Arabia).
From
a different angle, there is Filomena Williams, an Italian Canadian
woman, who has taken a position to help women who are a victim of
domestic violence, a widespread problem alll over the world. For
example in the Netherlands 200.000 women are victim of domestic
crime, and in the United States every nine seconds a woman is battered
in her own home! When asked about her motivation, Filomena told
Marion: "My quest was always asking myself: 'Why am I here?
What is my life's purpose?'"
"I
seem to be able to reach people ... I also speak about going inside
ourselves, about not labelling or boxing people. There is a need
for us to find a religion that works for each of us. Across the
globe we are becoming more human and there is a growing need to
connect more to each other. There is a cry to get back to basic
things, to go back to the strength and power that is on the inside.
I grew up with a fear of God and now there is a paradigm shift,
we don't want to see ourselves that way any more."
Top
Vision
'Building a Better Future'
A
great example of this is Meena from Afghanistan, who went out of
her way to make it possible for Afghani girls to receive a good
education. She founded RAWA and set up hospitals, training centres
for women and a principled education system. She encouraged respect
for all humans regardless of language, religion, race, gender or
colour.
Marion
brought the talk to a close by speaking about what we can do in
the face of all this. Of course all these movements and initiatives
need money and thus the proceeds of this talk will be donated to
the cause of the school of Agnes Pareyio in Kenya. But even more
so it is important that we think and radiate something better into
the world. As Marion said at the end of the talk: "Everyone
of us can choose to make the world a better place. Everyone can
become a Beacon of Hope, should they wish."
 If
you would like to respond to this article or wish to order the
book
you can e-mail
or order it via
ISBN 1-874717-05-2
Ook
in het Nederlands beschikbaar als De Fakkel van Hoop
ISBN 1-874717-07-9
Or
visit EPL
for details on this and other books available
The
proceeds of the book will go to projects which help improve the
situation of women in the world.
Return
to article index for issue 1 of Feminenza Magazine
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