Video conference for international women

Video conference for international women

by Sarah Rohrer
The Goshen Record
March 10, 2006

Twenty-one students met in Wyse 318 for a face-to-face dialogue through video conferencing with women around the world in celebration of International Women's Day.

Approximately 30 women from the Philippines, Nepal and Afghanistan, along with 70 individuals from Goshen College and other colleges in the U.S. participated in the video conference called, ``Imagining Ourselves: Women's Emergent Roles in a Changing World,'' on Tuesday.

``The video conference is part of a series of international dialogues called by the non-partisan Americans for Informed Democracy called ``America and the World Coming Together,'' which aims to build bridges between Americans and foreign citizens,'' said Seth Green, Chair of Americans for Informed Democracy.

``When we focus on `global citizenship,' it can be overwhelming to even think about where to begin learning ...,'' said Hilary Mayhew, a junior who planned the event.

She said she hopes this dialogue can ``give us a point of connection and engagement with areas we are otherwise unfamiliar with or unexposed to.''

Mayhew's hope is that dialogues like this event can connect women around the world and show the common roles and struggles women in today's world face.

Some of the issues shared during the dialogue from the women in the Philippines, Nepal and Afghanistan were domestic violence against women, inability for women to pursue education, gender power imbalances, poor economic situations and the impact of AIDS and HIV on young women around the world.

Students from American sites asked questions of the women from the three other countries. When asked what the term ``feminist'' means, the presenter for the Philippines said, ``You are a feminist if you believe that women's roles are different from men and if you think this needs to change.''

The event concluded with encouragement for each other and plans to continue conversations through an online forum, with hopes of working at further action to support Afghani women who were asking for assistance to bring about much-needed social changes.

Additional dialogue and information can be found at the International Museum of Women's virtual exhibit found at www.imow.org. Students can also learn more about Americans for Informed Democracy by going to the Web site, www.aidemocracy.org.