As an Arab female photographer, I have always found ample inspiration for my projects in personal experiences. The passion I developed for knowledge, which allowed me to break barriers towards a better life was the motivation for my project I Read I Write. Pushed by my own experience, as I was not allowed initially to pursue my higher education, I decided to explore and document stories of other women who changed their lives through education, while exposing and questioning the barriers they face. I covered a range of topics that concern women's education, keeping in mind the differences among Arab countries due to economic and social factors. These issues include female illiteracy, which is quite high in the region; educational reforms; programs for dropout students; and political activism among university students. As I started this work, it was not always easy to convince the women to participate. Only after explaining to them how their stories might influence other women's lives, how they would become role models for their own community, did some agree. Seeking a collaborative and reflexive approach, I asked them to write their own words and ideas on prints of their own images. Those images were then shared in some of the classrooms, and worked to inspire and motivate other women going through similar educations and situations. Aisha, a teacher from Yemen, wrote, "I sought education in order to be independent and to not count on men with everything."
作为一个阿拉伯女摄影师, 在个人经历中，我总是找到 充分的灵感，做我的项目。我培养追求知识的激情， 这种激情让我打破障碍， 迈向更美好的生活， 也是我读和写，做项目的动机。被自身起初 我不被允许追求高等教育的经历所激励， 我决定去探索和记录其他妇女 通过接受教育， 改变生活的故事， 同时揭露和探究她们面对的障碍。我覆盖了一系列 关注女性教育的主题 并考虑到阿拉伯国家之间 由于经济和社会因素造成的差异。这些问题包括女性文盲， 这个数量在该地区相当高；教育的改革；对辍学学生培训项目；和在大学生中政治活动。当我开始这项工作说服妇女参与总是不容易。只有向她们解释 她们的故事可能影响其他妇女的生活，他们可能成为社区楷模之后，一些人才认同。寻求一个合作和反思的方法， 我要求她们把自己的话和想法 写在印有自己的图象上面。这些图像在一些教室被分享，对激发和激励其他 接受相似的教育和情形的妇女起了作用。Aisha，来自也门 的一名教师，写到 “我为了成为独立的人去追求教育 并且不把一切都依靠男人“。
One of my first subjects was Umm El-Saad from Egypt. When we first met, she was barely able to write her name. She was attending a nine-month literacy program run by a local NGO in the Cairo suburbs. Months later, she was joking that her husband had threatened to pull her out of the classes, as he found out that his now literate wife was going through his phone text messages. (Laughter)Naughty Umm El-Saad. Of course, that's not why Umm El-Saad joined the program. I saw how she was longing to gain control over her simple daily routines, small details that we take for granted, from counting money at the market to helping her kids in homework. Despite her poverty and her community's mindset,which belittles women's education, Umm El-Saad, along with her Egyptian classmates, was eager to learn how to read and write.
最先，我的对象之一是 来自埃及的Umm El-Saad 当我们第一次见面，她 仅仅能写出她的名字。她参加了九个月 读写能力课程。该课程由当地非政府组织在开罗郊区举办。几个月后，她开玩笑说，她丈夫 曾威胁要把她 从学习班中辍学， 因为他发现， 现在他识字的妻子 翻遍他的手机短信 （笑声） 淘气的Umm El-Saad。当然，这不是UmmEl-Saad参加这个课程的原因 我看到，她是如何渴望掌控简单日常事务以及我们认为的理所当然的一些小细节， 从在市场上数钱，到帮助她的孩子做作业。尽管她贫穷，并且 她社区的观念模式 是贬低妇女的教育， Umm El-Saad, 和 她的埃及同学 是渴望学习阅读和书写的。
In Tunisia, I met Asma, one of the four activist women I interviewed. The secular bioengineering student is quite active on social media. Regarding her country, which treasured what has been called the Arab Spring, she said, "I've always dreamt of discovering a new bacteria. Now, after the revolution, we have a new one every single day." Asma was referring to the rise of religious fundamentalism in the region, which is another obstacle to women in particular.
在突尼斯，我遇到Asma， 我采访的四位积极女性之一， 这位世俗的生物工程学生在社交媒体上相当活跃。关于她的国家，她对 阿拉伯之春的抗议活动高度评价， 她说，“我一直梦想 发现一个新的细菌。革命后，现在我们 每一天有一个新细菌“ Asma提及，宗教原教旨 主义在该地区复活， 这尤其对妇女是另一个障碍。
Out of all the women I met, Fayza from Yemen affected me the most. Fayza was forced to drop out of school at the age of eight when she was married. That marriage lasted for a year. At 14, she became the third wife of a 60-year-old man,and by the time she was 18, she was a divorced mother of three. Despite her poverty, despite her social status as a divorcée in an ultra-conservative society, and despite the opposition of her parents to her going back to school, Fayza knew that her only way to control her life was through education. She is now 26. She received a grant from a local NGO to fund her business studies at the university. Her goal is to find a job, rent a place to live in, and bring her kids back with her.
在我遇到的所有女性中， 来自也门的Fayza影响我最多 Fayza在8岁结婚被迫辍学， 这段婚姻持续了一年。在14岁时，她成为了 一个60岁男人第三任妻子， 到她18岁时，她是有 三个孩子的离婚母亲。不顾她的贫穷， 不顾她的社会地位，作为 在极端保守社会的离婚母亲 不顾她的父母 反对她回学校， Fayza知道，她唯一可以 掌控人生的途径是通过教育。现在她26岁。她收到当地非政府组织 提供的补助金 资助她在大学学习商业。她的目标是要找一份工作， 找地方租房子住， 并把她的孩子带回来 和她一起住。
The Arab states are going through tremendous change, and the struggles women face are overwhelming. Just like the women I photographed, I had to overcome many barriers to becoming the photographer I am today, many people along the way telling me what I can and cannot do. Umm El-Saad, Asma and Fayza, and many women across the Arab world, show that it is possible to overcome barriers to education, which they know is the best means to a better future. And here I would like to end with a quote by Yasmine, one of the four activist women I interviewed in Tunisia. Yasmine wrote, "Question your convictions. Be who you to want to be, not who they want you to be. Don't accept their enslavement, for your mother birthed you free."
阿拉伯国家正在经历 翻天覆地的变化， 而女性面临的斗争 是势不可挡的。 就像我拍摄的女性， 我必须克服许多障碍 成为今天的我，一名摄影师， 一路走来很多人告诉我， 能做什么，不能做什么。 在整个阿拉伯世界，Umm El-Saad, Asma, Fayza和许多妇女， 表明克服障碍， 接受教育是可能的， 他们知道这是拥有美好未来的方法。在这里，我想引用 Yasmine的话来结束 她是我在突尼斯采访的四个积极女性之一， Yasmine写道 “问一问你的信仰。成为你想成为的人， 而不是成为他们要你成为人。不要接受他们的奴役， 因为你母亲让你来世上，给了你自由。
Thank you.
谢谢
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