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| (Selfie with a Cow, Thiruvalangadu village, India) |
By
now we should all know that no one is perfect. As much as we hear this phrase
all the time, most of us do not believe this. You can start with admitting your
imperfections and even applauding them. I usually know where my strengths and
weakness lie, where I can improve and when to make space for others to take
lead. Endeavouring to be good at everything is incompetent, ‘aint nobody got
time for that’. There is nothing wrong with saying ‘no’ sometimes, or else you
will end up over committing and making fake promises to people. I have started
committing to things I actually enjoy instead of piling every little thing on
my calendar for the sake of other people. Working with the health team in the
village has given me the opportunity to work with young girls and lead Women's Confidence Class lessons.
Leading a Women's Confidence Class in our Youth Resource Centre in Thiruvalangadu village was a rewarding experience.
I am passionate about women's rights issues and promoting gender equality, and I planned my lesson about body image with full enthusiasm. Body image can
include a person’s thoughts and feelings about their weight, shape, skin
colour, size, height and their appearance more broadly. Television and
magazines portray an ideal body image that causes people from around the world
to question their looks and lose confidence in themselves. According to All
Party Parliamentary group on Body Image, 42% of girls and young women feel like
that the most negative part about being a female is the pressure to look
attractive. Two people could look identical but have a very different body
image as a result of peer groups; media, family and the society and culture in
which we live in. Personally, I think we should build a positive and healthy
body image for the future generation. My lesson for the girls was successful; I included self esteem activities to boost confidence levels. Overall, all
the girls enjoyed the lesson and fully participated in all activities.
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| (Women's Confidence Class, India. 18.11.2014) |
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| (Rakish's sister, Thiruvalangadu village.India) |
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| (World Toilet Day, Thiruvalangadu School. 19.11.2014) |
Social
media is playing a big role. Twitter is a great example; young girls' pictures
are always analysed and fully criticised on their timelines. Some girls are now
more concerned about little things like the shape of their eyebrows and the
size of their forehead. (By the way, I love my forehead, sometimes I pull my
Hijab back to show my forehead!) Social media has a huge effect on young
people’s confidence and this can not be ignored in our society.
"To lose confidence in one's body is to lose one's confidence in oneself " Simone de Beauvoir
World Toilet Day. Thiruvalangadu Village, India.
The health team have successfully celebrated ‘World Toilet Day’ in Thiruvalangadu village, India. World Toilet Day is a United Nations (UN) observance, on November 19th, that highlights a serious problem – the ‘silent’ sanitation crisis is a ticking time bomb which affects billions of people around the world. This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw attention to the global sanitation challenge. The issues surrounding sanitation is bigger than I imagined; according to the UN, 1 in 3 women worldwide risk shame, disease, harassment and even attack because they do not have safe toilets. Furthermore, the absence of adequate toilets in schools can lead to a higher rate of girls dropping out of education, as well as risks the health and safety of female students.
The health team have successfully celebrated ‘World Toilet Day’ in Thiruvalangadu village, India. World Toilet Day is a United Nations (UN) observance, on November 19th, that highlights a serious problem – the ‘silent’ sanitation crisis is a ticking time bomb which affects billions of people around the world. This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw attention to the global sanitation challenge. The issues surrounding sanitation is bigger than I imagined; according to the UN, 1 in 3 women worldwide risk shame, disease, harassment and even attack because they do not have safe toilets. Furthermore, the absence of adequate toilets in schools can lead to a higher rate of girls dropping out of education, as well as risks the health and safety of female students.
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| (World Toilet Day, Thiruvalangadu School. 19.11.2014) |
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| (World Toilet Day, Thiruvalangadu School. 19.11.2014) |
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| (World Toilet Day, Thiruvalangadu School. 19.11.2014) |
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| (World Toilet Day, Thiruvalangadu School. 19.11.2014) |
Developing countries should prioritise improving sanitation; 2.5 billion people practise open defecation or lack of adequate sanitation facilities. Unfortunately, poor sanitation leads to 700,000 child deaths from diarrhoea each year. Restless development is working extremely hard to prevent such problems, and the health team have done a great job in raising awareness about the importance of World Toilet Day....
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