Hi my name is Charlie, founding director of ‘Become The Voice’, which aims to equip, empower and enable young people to speak out on human rights issues that are relevant to them. Here in Hebron, in partnership with the Excellence Centre, I will be delivering Become The Voice to a group of twenty young women. The young women will spend 10 weeks developing their social media skills, learning about different women’s rights issues and delivering a campaign on an issue of their choice.
Become The Voice has chosen to come to Hebron for a number of reasons. Firstly Palestine provides a very unique set of problems for women stemming from the instability caused by the occupation; an honour based patriarchal society and the influence of Islamism on some elements of the culture. Hebron in particular is conservative with a greater number of Islamists living here than in other areas of the West Bank, including Hizb Ut-Tahrir, a group that has affiliations in the UK also. Secondly, Hebron is relatively safe to live and work within as an ex-pat. I am free to move around alone as a woman here and do not feel at risk from the conflict or the society itself. Thirdly I have a moderate knowledge of Arabic and saw this as an advantage as the programme I am delivering is not easy!
I hope, as founding director of Become The Voice, that here in Palestine we will truly equip this group to become a vocal force for good. I hope that they will be able to grasp the gravitas of these issues and be motivated and enabled to turn their reflections into effective pieces of communication. Fundamentally I hope their voices reach a wide audience and that through this both themselves and their communities become more aware and invested in pushing for equality for women.
Moreover, I already feel I am forming relationships with activists out here that will last a life-time. I am very impressed with the number of young intellectuals who are pushing against the patriarchy, against Islamism and for women’s rights. I really hope that we will continue to work together as a global team.
A part from the work, whilst collaborating with the Excellence Centre I am also taking lessons in the local Arabic dialect. I hope through this to further develop my Arabic skills and gain a deeper cultural understanding of life here in Hebron.
