Turning walls into tables to talk

Two very strong women left a strong impression in my mind with their stories and skills in the final day of the workshop. Luby Ismail, President, Connecting Cultures and Mona Eltahawy, an award winning columnist and an international speaker on Arab and Muslim issues. Each woman shared their perspective of being a Muslim woman in America. During one of the simulation exercise, Luby Ismail brought forward the general opinion and assumptions that people make about Muslim women. She helped the participants by breaking down the stereotype image that we tend to have about Muslim women being oppressed, powerless, submissive and disempowered. I came out with two important lessons from her workshop, which is going to stay with me for a long while and which I hope as a trainer, I will be able to pass on to others : the impact of non-verbal communications in breaking barriers and the power of stories. The non-verbal exercises which included the use of photographs and music proved to break down the barriers that existed among the participants themselves. It also brought into light some very interesting perspectives from different cultures i.e. we had participants sharing cultures pertaining to West Africa, India, US, Turkey, Middle East among others.

Mona Elthahawy, during her keynote address, spoke about the use of internet by young people to challenge the authority in Muslim-majority countries or where they reside as minorities. She shared an interesting story about how young women in Saudi Arabia are using face book and blogs to build a movement against bans such as driving by women and advocating for their rights such as their right to vote. It was enthralling to hear that some women dress as men and drive around in cities of Saudi Arabia. The most interesting of all was the story of ‘Saudi Girl’ who inspired hundreds of young girls and women to start blogging and spewing against the draconian bans and subjugation of women in the name of religion. In a very interesting twist it turned out that the ‘Saudi Girl’ was actually a boy. This showed how young men in the Middle Eastern countries and worldwide are advocating for the rights of women. She also touched upon that are thousands of young forces who are trying to reform Islam using the medium of internet. There is also massive information and discourses available on ‘Quran’. Coming from India and living in a secular environment, it was intriguing for me to listen to the voices of these two powerful and successful Muslim women. The IMI conference indeed gave me the platform to network with great and passionate minds . And I hope to take with some of the learnings that I received during the two day conference back to my country and apply it in my field.