SonjaBe.com International Relations – Be Here | Be You | Be True

Written by Sonja Be Few people will stand against the will of the government and the cultural norms of a society. Few women have the courage to speak up against injustice and advocate for real change. Noorjahan Akbar and Anita Haidary are two of those rare and brave young women who have, despite adversity, challenged the societal customs of Afghanistan. In a country where women lack the safety, support and basic rights to succeed, Noorjahan Akbar not only felt a heavy responsibility towards Afghan women, she also saw an opportunity: the opportunity to address the issues of inequality, violence, sexual discrimination and lack of access to education in Afghanistan. With an uncooperative government, poor human rights conditions, and unenforced laws on the elimination of violence against women, one can only imagine the vast challenges that lay ahead of these women.  Despite the major obstacles, Read More »

Written by Chantelle Krish From the day she came into this world Nora Sinclair was faced with obstacles. Poverty, family violence, addiction and mental health issues plagued Nora from a very young age and eventually led to living a life on the streets of Canada’s poorest neighborhood, the Downtown East Side of Vancouver. Nora’s mother was schizophrenic and developed an addiction to cope with her mental illness. Soon she turned to prostitution to support her drug use and from a young age Nora watched her mother’s clients come and go from their home. Her mother’s mental health became increasingly unstable and Nora’s personal safety was often at risk. In fact, Nora was molested by one of her mother’s clients. All of this happened to Nora by age six. Eventually Nora was put into foster care Read More »

Written by Ashoka Venezuela. Translated by Rebeca Fernandez.  Catuche is a poor community in Caracas with myriads of problems. Housing consist of poorly built shacks that are in danger of crumbling due to the instability of the river embankments upon which they stand, and a potable water supply is almost non existent. The river itself is a source of great discomfort for Catuche’s 12,000 inhabitants. After years of neglect, it has transformed into a veritable sewage system and it has been directly linked to very high rates of illness and infections in the area. Also, due to the lack of roads, 85 percent of Catuche’s inhabitants have to mobilize on foot any time they need to go in or outside their community. Read More »

Written by Samuel Ramos Latinos are known for inspiring many people around the world to experience life like never before. From being moved to dance to one of Cuban singer Celia Cruz’s songs; to expressing your love to your partner through the poetry of Chile’s Pablo Neruda, Latin Americans provide a rich array of material for the journey through life. Despite all of this, one thing that Latinos are not known for is being tech savvy.  But that’s where they’ll surprise you. Cuban born Yoani Sánchez is a computer programmer who became interested in computer science after temporarily leaving Cuba for Switzerland in 2002.  While in Switzerland, Sánchez says that she became disillusioned Read More »

Written by Rosa Owusu My mother always taught me that there are a lot of things life can strip you of, but one thing no one can ever take from you is your education and your mind. The mind is a very powerful being and entity. It is our job to keep it sharpened and alert. No one can do that for you but you. One of the ways we can do this is through the pursuing of higher education. As women, it is easy for us to make excuses for why we cannot or should not choose to fight for our goals, especially when it comes to education. Sometimes it’s an issue of where we are at in life. We have children, a husband and a household to run. Who has time for that? Other times it’s an issue of self-confidence. What if I fail? What if I’m not ... Read More »

Written by Sonja van der Putten Sexual exploitation.  Human trafficking.  Access to education.  Maternal mortality rates.  Female feticide.  Physical and mental abuse.  Wage inequity.  These are just some of the forms of discrimination that continue to exist and plague our world today.  Discrimination against women continues to persist in both the developed and developing world, despite the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.  Ratified by a mere 99 countries, and adhered to by much fewer, this convention was created to ensure women equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political as well as public life – “including the right to vote…as well as education, health and employment,” so that women could enjoy what we have all come to understand as fundamental rights and freedoms.  None has battled so hard for adherence to this Convention, as Elizabeth Evatt, former Chief Judge of the ... Read More »