Maryame has taken the lessons learned from her exchange year to make a difference in her community.
By Mariyam Mohammed Suleman (YES 2011-2012, Pakistan, hosted by AYUSA in Coquille, OR)
I have always believed that quality education and opportunity can bring change beyond our imagination and that we can never improve if we don’t challenge ourselves. Once we begin to challenge ourselves, we not only lead better lives; we can transform our ideas into change for our communities. These are just a few of the many life-changing lessons my YES experience taught me.
I was a YES exchange student from 2011-2012 in Oregon. The opportunities, experiences, and teachings of YES were not limited to that one year – they are with me always. One such example is the 2018 Civic Education Workshop, to which I was invited to be an alumna mentor for 100 current YES students. Serving as a YES ambassador for the program during this one week workshop contributed so much to my life. The Civic Education Workshop was the first time that I had visited the States since departing my YES year – that’s six years!
The CEW participants were not only well-informed about the issues in their home communities, but they were dynamic and eager to take initiative as soon as they go home this June. Throughout the week, along with two other amazing alumni mentors, I had many opportunities to share with current YES students what I have been doing as a female alumna in my less-developed region in Pakistan to raise a voice for young girls’ education. This week also brought me stories from around the globe that convinced me there is still so much energy and positivity among youth to make the world a better place.
For me, the highlight of CEW was presenting my story at the U.S. State Department. As alumni mentors, we not only shared our stories but also discussed educational projects we could collaborate on with the U.S. State Department in our home countries. We also attended meetings with our host communities’ Senators, Congressmen, and staff on Capitol Hill, and I was very pleased how receptive they were to hearing about the YES program and our work as alumni. Throughout the week, the conversations with everyone we encountered were based on making a difference in our communities.
My personal passion is improving the lives of girls in my region. I am aware that I can’t change their lives drastically, but I can work towards changing the perspective of my community on gender equality. And that might one day change lives.
In the last six years, my two main strategies for changing perspectives on gender equality have been education and raising awareness. In September 2012, just a few months after my return to Balochistan, I founded an English language learning center for young girls in a nearby suburb. I financed this project through an online fundraiser.
In February 2014, I organized my first YES alumni project. In honor of Women’s Day, I held a two-day tech camp at my college in Gwadar, a coastal city of Balochistan, which is in the southwestern province of Pakistan and one of the least developed regions in the world. Balochistan has the lowest literacy rate, the highest maternal mortality rate, and the fewest female legislators in Pakistan. These statistics, along with local political instability and social norms which deny women many social rights, contribute to poor living conditions for women and young girls.
I cannot easily change social norms. All I can do is help educate the girls of my community through my learning center, develop a reading culture with a library in my hometown opened with the support of the YES alumni network Pakistan, and raise awareness by arranging activities for international days that celebrate women and literacy. I hope this will create a ripple effect; I know from YES that change starts with one person.
Another thing that has always motivated me is writing. I began writing during my exchange year, and my blog, which I started in 2013, has more than 28,000 views. I also work as an assistant editor for an online newspaper, The Balochistan Point. My writing focus area is mostly Balochistan, its social issues, and gender equality. My exchange year was no less than a dream for me, so I have also written a travelogue based the experiences of my YES year. It was published in 2016, and earned the provincial literary award in 2017. I look forward to continuing to challenge myself and the gender perspectives in my community through my activism and writing.