Introducing myself and my journal: Stories of Women's Empowerment

About Me:
Community Classroom: International Edition - Women’s Empowerment

This innovative resource provides video excerpted from ITVS’s award-winning documentaries exploring stories of women's leadership and empowerment in Bolivia, Egypt, Israel and Kenya. Video modules are accompanied by standards-based lesson plans, discussion guides and action guides for use by educators as well as non-profit, international and community-based organizations.

Community Classroom builds cultural understanding, sparks discussion and fosters global citizenship through the power of documentary film. Available for FREE to educators and non-profit organizations, the video modules and standards-based lesson plans feature culturally significant topics that are a crucial part of education in today’s increasingly globalized world.

To access these resources and learn more about Community Classroom, visit http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/classroom/.

Descriptions of the films featured in the Women’s Empowerment resources:

Shadya
Shadya Zoabi, a charismatic 17-year-old karate world champion, strives to succeed on her own terms within her traditional Muslim village in northern Israel. Despite her father’s support, she faces the challenge of balancing her dreams with her religious commitments and other’s expectations. Shadya takes an intimate look at the evolution of a young Israeli Arab woman with feminist ideas in a male- dominated culture.

Shayfeen.com: We’re Watching You
After 24 years of leadership under President Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, Egypt is a nation on the brink of change. However, violence and widespread allegations of fraud accompany the first democratic multiparty elections in 2005. The film follows three women activists in their quest to expose the truth about Egypt’s new democracy.

Taking Root
How does the simple act of planting trees lead to winning the Nobel Peace Prize? Ask Wangari Maathai of Kenya. In 1977, she suggested rural women plant trees to address problems stemming from a degraded environment. Under her leadership, their tree-planting grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, defend human rights and promote democracy, earning Maathai the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Waiting for the Revolution
For over 500 years the indigenous people of the Andes have had to endure racism and discrimination. Now, with democracy on their side, the time has come for a change. Following two newly elected indigenous leaders from the campaign trail to their first year in office, filmmaker Rodrigo Vasquez journeys into the heart of the democratic revolution in Bolivia.

My Passions:
women's empowerment, independent film

My Challenges:
getting our free resources to the NGOs and educators that need them

My Vision for the Future:
empowering more inspiring women to share their stories

My Areas of Expertise:
filmmaking, curriculum development, community organizing