Worldwide Wednesdays: In memoriam

Hello, internet!

Yeah, yeah, I know. Who's a lousy blogger? Hannah's a lousy blogger! But this week, for what it's worth, I'm going to do my job.

You can probably guess where I'm going to direct your attention this week. It's on an island in the Caribbean, it's got a profoundly spiritual and resilient population, and it just can't seem to get a break. Haiti is hurting badly right now, and before I proceed to the bulk of this week's blog, I'd like to make what is probably the ten thousandth appeal you've encountered to please help if you can at all. What you're seeing in the news these days is just a shallow representation of the hundreds of thousands of individuals who have lost either their lives or pretty much everything they had. It's something you probably wouldn't even wish on the nastiest person you know, but it just happened to most of a country's population all at once. If you've contributed towards the relief effort already, you're a star. If you haven't but you think you might want to, I urge you to look into it. Money's what they need right now, every cent helps, and there are many ways to give it. Do some quick research to decide who you think will make good use of your donation. If you don't have a credit card to donate online or by phone, you can text the Red Cross to have a donation charged to your phone bill or hunt down one of the cash donation boxes that no doubt have popped up on campus or elsewhere in your community. Trust me, you won't miss that 10 bucks. Canada and Haiti are tight, and we owe it to them to pitch in. Because we can.

Women and the War

First, I need to apologize for flaking out on my last blog post. Things have been hectic for everyone on the Athena roster, but that's no excuse for not writing at all, so I hope you can forgive me for that temporary lapse in discipline.

So you're probably clued into the fact that today is a very significant day. It marks the end of World War I, 91 years ago, and is observed as a reminder of the millions of war casualties both from that war and from those that followed.

I'm no longer being shuffled into stuffy auditoriums to see high school students stage daddy-goes-to-war scenes, but it's impossible to get through November 11th without being reminded, in some way, of past and present sacrifices. The older I get, the more thoroughly I am able to understand and appreciate just what today means, and I do my best to express my gratitude. I've worn my poppy. I've written my grandfather a note to thank him for his service as a pilot in the Second World War. I've offered humble nods at the uniformed veterans on the bus and in the grocery store. I've watched TV coverage of the ceremony at Parliament. And I've decided that while war sucks, it has repeatedly set the stage for countless displays of heroism, bravery and humility. And that's why today matters so much.

Your Home and Native Land

Hello internet, and welcome to Wednesday!

Monday was Thanksgiving here in Canada, as I'm sure your bellies can recall. In the U.S. it was Columbus Day--something many people would like to see changed, as it turns out Columbus was kind of a big jerk. He's been accused of tyranny, terrorism and genocide. And, as often happens with big jerks in history, he went on to be painted quite favourably by settlers in the continent he claimed.

Columbus's attitude towards native peoples in the lands he conquered was a common one, and it had profound repercussions that continued far beyond the colonial era. It's well-known that the government of Canada has a shameful track record when it comes to ensuring that the needs of its indigenous groups are met. This leads me to my focus this week: Aboriginal women in Canada.

Worldwide Wednesdays

Heya Athenites,

So on my last post, I talked about how I was preparing for an interview with Sophie Harkat, the wife of Mohamed Harkat, a man under house arrest with alleged links to al-Qaeda. Most of his restrictions have been lifted, the biggest one being that “Mo”, as Sophie calls him, no longer needs to be under surveillance by his wife 24/7.

Sophie and Mo had expected to live normal, quiet lives, maybe start a family. She never expected to become a human rights activist, fighting for her life and her husband’s against big government and its nine judges in ridiculous Santa Clause outfits at the Supreme Court. She learned how to use the system, that is, the courts, the government and the media, all at one time fighting against her, to fight for her husband. All this while being the wife of a so-called “al-Qaeda sleeper cell”.

I sat down with the two of them to figure out what this experience meant to them as a couple.

Watchin' the Law

Hello, internet.

It's that time again. We're about to get global up in the Athena blog. This week, we're looking at some contemporary laws concerning women. It's a feature that may become regular, because knowing where the law stands on women's rights internationally is a great foundation for understanding of how we, as a planet, are doing with respect to establishing and maintaining gender equality.

So let's go ahead and take a look at what's happening in this big, crazy world.

Worldwide Wednesdays: Fistulae 101

First off, how about a quick intro? Last week you met the wonderful Yamina; I’m the second half of the dream team covering Worldwide Wednesdays. My name is Hannah Jackson and I’m a second-year student at Carleton University pursuing a B.A. in linguistics and psychology. I’m a fan of Wikipedia, wandering aimlessly and spending quality time with the Ottawa Public library. I’m incredibly psyched about this blog and the opportunity it gives me to both learn about and share the trials and triumphs of women worldwide.

There are a lot of big, big struggles in the lives of women all over planet Earth. Some of them get relatively good coverage (not quite Kanye-at-the-VMAs coverage, but something is better than nothing) whilst others are barely a blip on our collective radar. This week I’d like to draw your attention to something you may not have heard of. It’s certainly new to me! Whilst sweating on the elliptical yesterday to the sweet, sweet sound of a podcast interview with Peter Singer, I overheard the mention of “obstetric fistula.” I went home and looked it up, and I think it’s something worth knowing about, so here’s a debriefing:

Worldwide Wednesdays

Salam wa aleikum Athenites!

My name is Yamina. I am a second year journalism student. I will be one of Worldwide Wednesdays' weekly bloggers with my friend Hannah (you’ll meet her next week).

As a Canadian woman, I feel extremely privileged. Although, as women, we still continue to struggle in certain aspects of our lives, being a girl or woman in Canada is a lot easier than being a girl or woman in other parts of the globe. Having the privilege to wear what we want, go where we want and strive to be whoever we want to be can make Canadian women start to feel too comfortable. Complacent. It's when I catch myself feeling too comfortable in my life as a young woman that I think about other young women in the world who struggle for their rights

So with this blog we would like to see the world beyond our backyard. Each week we will post links to videos or articles that discuss women's issues in different countries across the globe. We will share our own views on the stories, but we would also love to get feedback from readers. We will show you women struggling, but we will also show you women rising up against all odds and succeeding.

You're probably wondering why I started my post with “salam wa aleikum”, which means “hello” in Arabic. It's because this week’s story comes to us from Sudan. It shows that in Sudan, the woman are the ones to wear the pants. It is the story of Lubna Hussein, a Sudanese woman who decided to defy the country’s so-called “decency” laws and wore trousers in public. Even against the threat of public flogging (whipping), she has stood her ground. She has become a sort of celebrity in Sudan. Check out the latest in the case here.

Ms Hussein, are thoughts are with you.

Ma’as salaamah,
Yamina