By Tara Dawood | Project Leader
This Eid, young girls should not be defined solely by their appearance, and certainly not to be made to feel bad because of the colour of their skin.
Atiya, 15, likes to play sports and she's very good at them. Her dream would be to represent her country on the playing field, but that is out of the question. Her family would never allow it. However, she's blessed because her family allows her to play. All that may be changing. The hours she spends under the sun have dark and her complexion much beyond its natural hue. On Eid, the family children play cricket on the street, and although she is a girl, the plays would include her. This year, her mother has put her foot down, complaining the sun is making Atiya too dark and she is now 15, and will soon be getting her proposals for marriage.
This is greatly saddened Atiya.
"All I want to do is enjoy myself with my cousins, but it seems the people around me are now saying, 'beta, no,' you mustn't get darker skin."
#EAGSkinColour is working to create consistent programming to change the dialogue. Thank you for helping us make a difference, for helping us to transform lives.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser