Long Beach Press - Telegram

Long Beach Press - Telegram, September 21, 2003

Female activists educate abroad

Judith Salkin, Features Editor

By KRISTOPHER HANSON,
LONG BEACH PRESS - Telegram
09/21/03

Program: Women share experiences of teaching the poor and downtrodden.

LONG BEACH - When 22-year-old Sadiqa Basiri recently opened a school for women inside her native Afghanistan, several curious townspeople approached to ask her what she meant when she used the terms math and geography.

Most of the townsfolk had never even seen a school, let alone been inside one.

"You wouldn't believe that you're in the 21st century," Basiri said Saturday while sitting under a hazy morning sun along the shoreline in Long Beach. "People in parts of Afghanistan are using donkeys and horses to get around, there's not electricity; the roads are bad, and the homes have been bombed. There's no education and no opportunities."

Indira Ghale, 36, of Nepal is one of six women participating in Jagriti International internships, programs to help educate people in developing countries, and was present at a breakfast in Long Beach. Here, Ghale receives a flower and hug from heidy Freedman, 5, who was adopted from Guatemala and now lives in Long beach. Cristina Salvador/Press-Telegram

Basiri, along with five women from India, Nepal and Pakistan, were in Long Beach this weekend to share their experiences working as female educators and activists in nations where educated women mostly are frowned upon.

The women acknowledged that it can be dangerous working for the rights of women, children and the poor in regions of the world where those groups are openly and frequently discriminated against.

"Not everyone likes what we are doing, but it's important that we continue to educate people about their rights as human beings," said Ayesha Mahmood, an outgoing, 22-year-old youth coordinator from Islamabad, Pakistan. "In Pakistan, a husband can hit his wife, and it's considered normal. This is the type of thing we are working to change."

The women were designated by grass-roots charitable organizations in their homelands to come to the United States for a three-month internship, where they will learn skills such as marketing, business, community outreach, grant-writing and lobbying that can be used when they return home.

In the next week, the women, who range in age from 22 to 39 years, will fan out across the United States to begin their internships. They will regroup in Washington, D.C., in December before going home.

Their trips abroad are sponsored by Jagriti International, a nonprofit founded by Dr. Michele Andina of Santa Barbara, and Long Beach resident Lindsay Shields-Green. This is the first time Jagriti International has sponsored a group of women for internship programs.

Pushpa Prakash, 33, of India, left, and Sadiqa Basiri, 22, of Afghanistan are Jagriti International interns educating people overseas. Cristina Salvador

The internship program is labeled "Bridging Worlds, Emerging Leaders," and foundation members said their goal is for this group of women to share their knowledge and experiences in a way that promotes the health, education and well-being of their respective society's downtrodden.

Basiri and Mahmood are joined on their journey by Indira Ghale and Kabita Upadhyay of Nepal and Maryma Scotlin and Pushpa Prakash of India.

Ghale, 36, works with the Feminist Dalit Organization in Nepal, fighting against the harsh cultural system that oppresses members of the "dalit" caste to which she belongs.

Upadhyay, 39, is a member of an organization called Tewa, which works to educate women and fight oppression in Nepal. She currently is planning to open a treatment facility for women with mental illness.

Scotlin, 29, is an Educational Program coordinator with the Center for Women's Development and Research in southern India. Upon her return, she plans to work with children and families living in India's many slums.

Prakash, 33, is an executive member of the Guild of Women Achievers in India. While in the United States, she wants to learn business and marketing skills and share that information with female entrepreneurs back home in an effort to promote economic equality.

To learn more about Jagriti International, visit www.jagriti-international.org