Women Empowered
August 14, 2009
Photographer Phil Borges kindly allowed us to publish his photographs of these brave women, and provided us with brief stories of each one, from his book, “Empowered Women”. These are women who are making monumental cultural and traditional changes in small villages around the world. Many suffer brutality for their efforts, their courage and visionary leadership is phenomenal.
In Phil’s words, “In 2004 I partnered with the organization CARE to bring attention to the necessity of empowering women in the global campaign to alleviate poverty. I traveled to Africa, Asia and South America to gather the stories of extraordinary women in remote parts of the world who have empowered themselves and their communities. Here are a few of these women, remote and mostly unknown, on the vanguard of a global shift toward gender equality.”
Abay, 28
AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
Abay was born into a culture in which girls are circumcised before age 12.When it came time for her
circumcision ceremony, Abay said, “No.” Her mother insisted, aruging that an uncircumcised woman would be ostracized and could never marry.When her mother’s demands became unbearable, she ran away to live with a sympathetic godfather.
Eight years later, Abay returned to her village and began work as a station agent for CARE, supervising the opening of a primary school and a health clinic and the construction of a well. After five years, she finally convinced one of the women to let her film a circumcision ceremony. She showed the film to the male leaders. They had never seen a female circumcision and were horrified.Two weeks later, the male leaders called a special meeting and voted fifteen to two to end female circumcision in their village.
Asgeli, 52
AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
As a leader of the circumcision ceremony, Asgeli had performed hundreds of female circumcisions. Now, like others in the village, she is supportive of the change in custom that Abay had advocated. She said, “We did the circumcisions because that is what had always been done.We were in the dark house and did not know.”
Senim, 20
AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
Traditionally in the Afar culture it would be unthinkable for a young man to marry an uncircumcised girl.When I asked Senim if he would consider marrying an uncircumcised woman he said, “It would be strange, but now I think I could.”
Howa, 9
AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
Howa’s mother was one of the first women in Awash Fontale to be convinced that female circumcision was a “bad practice.” Thanks to Abay’s efforts, Howa will be the first girl in her entire family history not to be circumcised.
Gloria, 24
SUIPIRA, ECUADOR
At the age of 20, Gloria galvanized the members of her village to fix the
myriad problems with their water system. For years they had suffered from
water contamination, an inconsistent supply, and fights over access to the
one village spring. Gloria generated a workable budget ($37,000),
persuaded her neighbors to provide the labor, and convinced CARE to donate
the materials to modernized water system. She organized over 70 “Mingas”
(community work parties) to complete the project and today the community
enjoys a clean, dependable water supply. When I met Gloria, she had
recently been elected head “Water System Operator” and was widely respected
as one the of the first female community leaders.
Fahima, 39
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Fahima, a teacher since 1985, was one of thousands of professional women who lost their jobs when the Taliban came to power in 1996. In defiance of the Taliban andat great risk to herself, Fahima opened a clandestine school for young girls. At one point, 130 girls were coming to her home each week to study math, science, and the local language, Pushto. When the girls were asked why they were going to Fahima’s house, they said she was their aunt. Although harassed by the religious police and threatened with beatings and worse, Fahima continued operating her school for girls until the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Nafisa, 7
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Nafisa was thrilled when she learned she was chosen to attend Salman-e-Fars, a new school recently opened for young girls in Kabul. Girls now make up thirty-four percent of the student population in Afghanistan—a dramatic increase since the Taliban rule, when it was essentially zero.
Shakira, 21
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
When Shakira was 8 years old, the Taliban came to power and her education came to an end. Without access to clandestine classes like Fahima’s, she received no schooling. She recently enrolled in a literacy program for young women, to make up for the education that she was denied. Forced to wear the burqa in public during the Taliban reign, she now chooses to wear it when she does not have time to fix her hair.
Humaria, 11
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Humaria sells eggs as a street vendor to help her family survive. As with many families in Afghanistan, years of war have left them very poor. Only half of all Afghan children ages 7 to 13 attend school.When the luxury of education is an option, boys are typically chosen over girls.
Yelda, 12
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Yelda was helping her family make carpets at home until the Taliban fell. Now she would like to become a teacher and specialize in English. She has enrolled in the Out-of-School Girls Project, a program supported by CARE and designed to help girls ages 9 to 14 rejoin the mainstream education system.
Teke Foliwa, 42
HAVE, GHANA
Teke Foliwa was recently crowned ‘Queen Mother’ of Have. Her first act was
to form 16 women’s groups for micro credit, agriculture production and
education reform. However, initially there was concern within the community
that she was gaining power too quickly. She says, “Women are expected to be
submissive to the men.traditionally, a queen is just a figurehead; she
dresses up for festivals and serves as a role model to teach women to be
beautiful, quiet, and demure. After my training with CARE, I realized that
I could serve as a different kind of inspiration for the women here.”
Eventually, the men became impressed with the progress being made by the
women and asked for their own groups. “This has moved us forward towards
becoming a true community,” she says. “It’s not just the men and the women,
but all of us moving forward together in a much more uniform way.”
Nana Gyetyah, 56
DAKOTO JUNCTION, GHANA
Nana, known as Mama Koko, became the first female chief of her village. As such, she fought for the rights of the villagers, whose cocoa trees were being destroyed by the timber industry.When loggers destroyed and refused to repair a bridge, she mobilized her fellow villagers to create a roadblock. Her superior, the “stool chief,”complained when she exposed the corrupt relationship he had with the timber industry. He had her arrested, and she spent a month in jail. After CARE helped secure her release, she returned to seek restitution for her community’s ruined farmland. Mama Koko has successfully decreased the amount of logging in her territory, and her strength and position as chief make her a strong role model for the young women in her village.
Akhi, 32
TANGAIL, BANGLADESH
At age 13, before she had even begun menstruating, Akhi was sold into a brothel by her aunt. After working for several years, she became highly depressed and attempted suicide. Her failed attempt brought about an epiphany: Her life could be used to improve the lot of her fellow sex workers. Akhi accomplished the near-impossible task of gaining support from religious, political, and social groups to create an organization to advocate for sex workers’ rights. Despite being arrested three times, she prevailed and, in 1998, formed the “Nani Mukti Sangha” organization. Since the group commenced, condom use in the brothel has increased from near zero to eighty-six percent, and the number of 12- to 13-year-olds recruited into the brothels has decreased.Today, she continues to fight tenaciously for sex workers’ rights, and is said to have such a forceful personality that even the police are afraid of her.
Phil Borges
A longtime friend of the poverty-fighting organization CARE, Phil Borges presents his coffee-table book, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World. An art book of riveting portraits, moving personal stories and written contributions by Madeleine Albright and Isabel Allende, Women Empowered sheds light on the struggles of women in developing countries to break through barriers to improve their own well-being and the lives of their families and communities.
An orthodontist for 18 years, Phil Borges sold his practice and took a leap of faith that, over the past two decades, has led him through jungles, deserts, valleys and mountain ranges across some 50 countries, documenting indigenous cultures to create a heightened understanding of the issues faced
by people in poor countries. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, his award-winning books have been published in four languages, and he has received numerous humanitarian and photography awards. Stories from his travels — like the time the Dalai Lama tickled him — will capture your attention. But, his book, Women Empowered, will capture your heart.
Purchase “Women Empowered” – $19.77
All photos and text ©Copyright Phil Borges, All Rights Reserved
