“My name is Amal and I am from Hebron. I work as a social worker in a school. Today I celebrate International Women’s Day and I want to congratulate all women today for this occasion!”
Amal Shawamreh, 25, is from a small village called Doura close to Hebron. She has two sisters and five brothers, and graduated from university in 2012, where she studied education. Amal was born with a deformation in both arms and initially struggled to find work, taking nine months to finally secure this job as a social worker and a counsellor in a girls-only school not far from the centre of Hebron.
“My village is only 35 km away from Gaza. Every day I commute more than an hour to work but I don’t mind this.”
In 2011, Medical Aid for Palestinians set up a project to encourage people with disabilities to be activist towards their own rights. Through this she trained to become a Community Development Awareness Trainer and gave workshops all around her area in schools and organizations. Together with the other participants they went around municipalities to remind them of their duty that according to the law, 5% of the employees should be people with disabilities.
“During the project, I realized that I am not sick and that people should also stop looking at me like that” says Amal. “Here in the school, the students were looking at me strangely but little by little I made them discover that my hands are normal, that we have the same skin and same nails, but mine are just a bit different.”
Amal believes that gender inequality can also present challenges for women and girls in her community. “My brothers and I got the same chances from our parents when it comes to education. But there are still many differences. They can stay out late at night, they can talk to whoever they want and my parents don’t control them. Whereas for me, my parents are not happy with me working far away and doing the commute on my own. When I need to call a taxi, my father does it for me because I shouldn’t be talking to men. Even when they are colleagues!
“Often I wish I was born as a boy so I would have more freedom. I love being independent and I can do whatever I please.”
In her role as a counsellor, she gives classes to the girls about their rights. “I try to make them aware that their body only belongs to themselves and that no one has the right to harass them or touch them.” Hebron is one of the most conservative areas in the West Bank and marriage for under aged girls still exists. “Things are changing slowly but surely, and girls are becoming freer to choose their partner.”
However, Amal believes there is still much to fight for as women. “Even on a municipality level very few women play leading roles. The men organize the meetings late in the evening, because they know it is difficult for women to go out then and they cannot participate. Even if this is an all-girls school, all the people that work here are women and the principal is a man!”
Asked what her hope is for women in the future, she replies “In my lifetime, I want to see a woman as the president of this country.” Amal is helping make that hope a reality. Through her job, she strives to raise strong girls and empowers them to become independent young adults.