For Trui Hanoulle it started as an interest in going places and learning about people. Over the past two decades what followed became a life’s work; to gather stories about women who dare to move even in the face of prejudice, stereotypes, and other elements of gender barriers.
Mubaraka Mohammadi, skate boarder, teacher / Afghanistan, photographed in BelgiumMahnaz Bahrami, trucker, motorbiker, musician / IranSoudabeh Baharloo, long distance busdriver / IranVenous Balouch, 12, is the only girl in Balouchistan to surf. The town of Chabahar, close to the Pakistani border in the far Southeast of Iran, is the only place with good surf waves. Remarkably, surf was introduced in Iran only in 2010, by the Irish Easkey Britton and two other Iranian women. Now most surfers are men, but Venous’ father believes firmly in his daughter’s talent and trains and supports her as much as he can. But surfing season is limited to four months only, ‘we are beginners ourselves’, says Abdulrahman. Venous should be able to go abroad and get a higher level of coaching to develop her skills and make her dream to become a professional surfer, come true.
She herself helps and coaches village kids, boys and girls, to start surfing. She is an example to many.Elke Maria Löhnerz, motorbiker, teacher / Germany
Today on the podcast Trui joins me to talk about her mission and what she has seen and learned from the back of a motorcycle across continents and within cultures that many of us do not often hear from. She has also been kind enough to share photos of her project “Move She Does” which you can see here or in your podcast app as the episode plays.
Chris Lydon is a journalist, radio host, and observer of human behavior. He also has a deep love for jazz, books, and a good bowl of oatmeal. Chris and I became friends some ten years ago because of his legendary radio show and podcast, Radio Open Source. The first podcaster in the history of the medium, a former reporter for the NY Times, Chris cares a great deal about where we’ve been, as citizens of planet earth, and where we are going.
Over the years it has become a tradition that I come spend some days in Boston, talking with him and participating in his daily life. A tradition that has had a massive impact on my life, a pilgrimage that I dare not miss. At Chris’s kitchen table, eating oatmeal, talking about the world… thats where I love to be. So what better way to start a 2018 of restoration and rebirth…. it’s Chris Lydon and myself.. looking back at 2017 and finding clues about 2018.
A little over 2 years ago… I send an email to a then little known but highly contreversial blogger by the name BitchPhD. At the time I was compelled by her stories and opinions which included family stories as well as commentary on current events with a particular focus on feminism and reproductive rights. I emailed Dr.B to say hello and also to help with a technical issue since I was, at that time, a masters student with plenty of time on my hands here in Amsterdam.
From there I remember Dr. B responding in a very positive way and from there we exchanged lots of emails and frequently caught up with each other via IM. Yet another one of these instant friendships that I’m sure many of us have experienced since the dawn of blogging.
I mention this because I hadn’t thought about it in awhile until I was riding through Portugal reading my favorite newspaper – O Público. Their magazine pullout section had a special article on feminism and blogging. Many of the blogs were in Portuguese, which of course didn’t surprise me. But to my surprise, right there on the first page of the article in big letters, a link and a description of BitchPhD’s blog. Instant smile on my face to see the good doctor getting recognized, even in Portugal.
So of course yesterday I emailed her to let her know and catch up a bit. She was happy to hear the news and I passed along the bibliographic info. We talked a bit of her upcoming adventures that I had read about on the blog. That brought back memories of when we first became friends long ago when her blog and my blog were still young. Speaking of age, here’s one of my most favorite of her posts from this summer, entitled: 40 is the New Fuck You .
I mention this because I hadn’t thought about it in awhile until I was riding through Portugal reading my favorite newspaper – O Público. Their magazine pullout section had a special article on feminism and blogging. Many of the blogs were in Portuguese, which of course didn’t surprise me. But to my surprise, right there on the first page of the article in big letters, a link and a description of BitchPhD’s blog. Instant smile on my face to see the good doctor getting recognized, even in Portugal.