ASK for Choice: Global Gender Justice

NEW EYES ON IRELAND

October 25th 2017. Nora Dooley, CAC Gender Strategist, writes about the launch of our ASK for Choice partnership with Sports Against Racism Ireland (SARI).

I first visited Ireland while studying abroad in Dublin during college. I lived there for 5 months, went to class, traveled and spent time with extended family members – a heritage that affords me the privilege of having dual citizenship. Returning to this country that so honors my existence as to dub me ‘citizen’, I welcome reflections on what that word – that claim – means.

With CAC we have the unique opportunity to learn about communities through the eyes of people who live there – citizens. And in my experience our partners amplify the meaning of this legal or informal identifier. It is not enough for the CAC global community to simply live in a space, to exist, to benefit or endure. Citizens of CAC partner communities are people who engage, ask difficult questions, take personal and collective responsibility and hold themselves and each other accountable for the day-to-day, year-to-year realities – in all their beauty and complexity.

Our new partnership in Dublin added layers to my understanding of Irish citizenship, just as my presence in Ireland as a CAC representative provoked fresh gratitude for the chance to hold this space. With SARI leaders we shared our ASK for Choice curriculum which stimulated conversations around existing inequalities and created opportunities to strategize on and off the pitch around solutions to translate ideas and policies into practice.

The SARI team welcomed me into their community. They are Irish – and they are also Nigerian, Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, Zimbabwean, Kenyan, Indian, Congolese, Brazilian… and many more. They dwell in Dublin, they build inclusive spaces and they celebrate and thrive on diversity.

This is not the Dublin I experienced as a naive US American stumbling around a country I thought I had a claim to. I am grateful for my second passport, and because of SARI I feel closer than ever to understanding and truly appreciating what it means to be Irish; and because of all CAC partners, closer to realizing the potential of citizenship anywhere (legal or not!).

CREATING TRADITIONS OF WOMAN-POWER WITH REFUGEES IN JORDAN

November 13th 2017. Global Citizen, Ian Phillips, joined us on-field to work with our new ASK for Choice partner, Reclaim Childhood, and their coaches from Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan and Egypt.

It’s 5am in Amman, Jordan. The first few tentative rays of light are making their way through the night sky. The stillness in the air is broken by the Muslim call to prayer, and the sound echoes across the hilltops, down in to the valleys, and makes its way to my window. The chants are haunting, and beautiful, but did I mention that it’s 5am? The call to prayer rings out from mosque to mosque five times a day and, like the sound that echoes throughout the city, the influence of Islam is pervasive here. It can be heard, seen, and felt in the streets. While this influence manifests itself in many positive ways – such as the kindness, warmth, hospitality and generosity that I witnessed every day, it’s also fair to say that the traditional attitudes many people associate with this part of the world create significant challenges for the women and girls who live here.

We’re here in Jordan to work with a local NGO called Reclaim Childhood, an organization that uses sport to empower and educate girls. Often, the practices and leagues set up by Reclaim Childhood represent the only opportunity these girls have to leave their house in order to play, exercise, express themselves, and learn important lessons in a safe space. Their all-female staff and coaches are courageous, intelligent, empathetic, compassionate – and inspirational. The highlight of the week was having the opportunity to visit the coaches in action – and seeing a field full of smiling, happy, vibrant young girls. This, more than anything, shows that the efforts of Reclaim Childhood’s brave coaches are worthwhile, and that their programs are having a positive impact.

The week of training in Amman was an amazing experience. The CAC coaches and myself were able to work with a group of people who are passionate, thoughtful, and genuinely dedicated to creating positive change in their respective communities. I’m grateful for the chance to get On-Field with CAC, and to meet some of the local partners who make this work so worthwhile.