On the occasion of
International Women’s Day, we celebrate the achievements of women and girls
around the world, and are reminded of the challenges that lie ahead on issues
ranging from domestic and gender-based violence, to girls’ education, to voting
rights for all, to social justice, to safe self-expression. Today, we highlight
a selection of projects created in collaboration with our partners around the
world devoted to women’s rights.
As a part of the
2010-2012 Theatre for Social Development project in Afghanistan, we
worked with four Afghan theatre companies, and created four new all-women’s
theatre troupes as part of the project. For the first time, the troupes were
able to reach women directly, performing in homes, girl’s schools, and women’s
shuras. The photos above and right below were taken as part of a 2011 workshop conducted by
Bond Street Theatre and Simorgh Theatre of Herat.
Malia, one of the workshop participants, shared: ”When I came
to the workshop, I was really shy to even move, but now I really feel free
to speak aloud and talk to audiences”.
Manizha, another participant, reflects on the importance of
women’s unity: “What I learned by performing in so many different places is
that most of the women have no good relationship with others and with society.
They are fighting with each other! If we stand up together, we
can solve this problem. This is the most important and useful thing for
myself”.
From 2014-2016, BST’s Youth-Led Community Engagement Project brought
together 375 youth from 25 Afghan provinces for arts-based leadership and
communication training. One of them, the Women’s Group of the Volunteer Youth
of Kunar, chose to implement a project focused on ending violence against
women. The participants conducted sessions and workshops with women, and
met one-on-one with families to discuss the vital importance of
education.
In Guatemala, we
initiated The Acting for Peace project, which implemented theatre programs for
at-risk women and youth living in rural areas, and workshops with young women
aged 10 to 17 in collaboration with Oasis Orphanage.
As a task for one of the
workshops, girls had to come up with short pieces to perform. In this picture, captured in 2012, the girls present
the following story of unity: “There is one tree in the forest that stands
alone. It is proud of itself, thinking it the strongest and best tree around.
One day, a woodcutter comes along and cuts it down easily. Then the
woodcutter goes to a grove nearby, where all the trees have grown together.
He tries and he tries to cut the trees down, but he can't - the trees are
united”.
In these pictures
captured in 2007 in India, BST staff and Indian women collaborate on workshops,
later to be turned to a play to be presented to a wider audience. As part of
our time in India, BST was fortunate enough to work with the famed Patachitra
painter-storytellers of West Bengal, a primarily female group dedicated to
storytelling across mediums. Recalling a BST stilt-walking workshop, Nurjahan
recalls: “At first I was “Ohhhh, I don’t want to go on stilts,” but now I
know once I go for it, after that, I don’t have any apprehension at all”.
Working in Haiti in
2012, BST collaborated with women’s group FAVILEK (Women Victims Get Up, Stand
Up), survivors of politically motivated violence. The original show created by
the women, Fanm Yo Di Ase!, was a powerful testament to the resilience
of women, and a call to action. In the words of Marie of Haiti, “They
fight violence. It takes courage and valor. Replace violence with love!”
As we work towards creating a more equitable world for all women, Bond Street is grateful for the women and allies that we have met and worked with around the world, crossing lines of citizenship, age, disability, and sexuality, but sharing a common core of courage and creativity.
