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08 Jul emPOWERgirls Story: The wider the range of voices on campus, the stronger our understanding of female empowerment

In our 'emPOWERgirls Stories' we highlight the power women in UWC Maastricht's community. This week you can read about Ebony Burnside , who is working as English teacher and Head of Year at UWC Maastricht.

After my two years as a UWC student in Hong Kong, I enrolled at a women's college for university. While I had always been privileged to have strong female role models in my life, the experience of being surrounded, every day, by women -- students, professors, administrators and alumni -- who were passionate and accomplished was transformative for me. I learned to become a feminist on my own terms there, as I was reminded daily that there is no one right way to be a woman. Now, as a teacher at UWC Maastricht, I find myself being most grateful for our students who push me to continue this crucial journey. They challenge me to examine myself, rethink my habits, broaden my perspectives and, yes, often the students who do this are our female-identifying students. When we look at schools, we tend to measure their success by the opportunities that the staff provides for the students, but I am grateful every day for the UWC education the students provide for me. I am grateful for our students who push us to continue to examine our ideas about feminism, demanding that it be both intersectional and inclusive. The wider the range of voices we have on campus, the stronger our understanding of female empowerment will be.
 

Ebony Burnside | UWC Maastricht, English teacher and Head of Year

01 Jul emPOWERgirls Story: Providing young women with education changes everything

In our 'emPOWERgirls Stories' we highlight the power women in UWC Maastricht's community. This week you can read about Larissa Stutterheim, who is working at UWC Maastricht as English teacher.

There is an activity I often did with my Environmental Systems and Societies class as part of our revision for exams. Over the course of two years, we had discussed so many global environmental issues, as well as the policies and initiatives to address them, and the ways in which so many of these elements were connected. I asked them to create mind maps for the different units of study focused on different global concerns. I then asked them to make connections, to indicate how different issues, like water scarcity and pollution and soil degradation and overpopulation, were connected. And then the most important question was always “Where do we begin?” The realization that so often struck so many students during this activity was that the best place to begin is with the education of girls and young women. Providing young women with education changes everything. Not only does education empower these girls to take charge of their own bodies, their future, and their communities, but it has a monumental ripple effect on the economic, environmental, and systemic well-being of their communities.  ------ Another way in which I have witnessed female empowerment in education is through an ongoing student-led project at UWCM  that I have been lucky enough to take part in supporting. Why Are We Still Talking About This? is a project through which a group of our female students tell their stories on stage of their experience of being a woman. Their monologues, spoken word poetry, and skits convey stories of being objectified, overlooked, held back, taken for granted, silenced, and assaulted, but they also convey a powerful commitment to speaking up and standing tall, to questioning the status quo and rejecting stifling social stereotypes, breaking through stigma, protecting each other, and taking ownership of their life and their story. The project offers these girls the opportunity to create and claim their own truth and to empower others to do the same. It also awakens their male peers to the layers of experience that have shaped them and their worldview, offering them insight into the struggles and challenges of being a woman.  

Larissa Stutterheim| UWC Maastricht, English Teacher

24 Jun emPOWERgirls Story: The ripple effect of educating one girl will be seen and heard for many generations

In our 'emPOWERgirls Stories' we highlight the power women in UWC Maastricht's community. This week you can read about Kate Doyle, who is director of our Secondary School.

"Having worked in South Africa and the Kingdom of Eswatini (former Swaziland), as well as at two United World Colleges, I have witnessed the direct impact that educating girls & empowering women can have on a whole society. Educating one girl does not just affect her individually. Her education & empowerment can have a direct influence on other girls in her area; can allow for women's voices to become part of decision making in society & can change future generations. The ripple effect of educating one girl will be seen & heard for many generations. It is that powerful.  One of the highlights of my career to date was being a founder member of Brave Girl. This fantastic initiative continues in the Kingdom of Eswatini & is one that I would love to see grow in other parts of the world. I am thrilled to be a supporter of Empowering MENA (brave!) girls via UWC Education."
 

Kate Doyle (South Africa) | UWC Maastricht, Director of Secondary

16 Jun emPOWERgirls: Inspiring, intergenerational and intercultural exchange by doing good!

In our ’emPOWERgirls Stories’ we highlight power women in UWC Maastricht’s community. This week you can read about Sandra and Christelle. Sandra is working at UWC Maastricht and founder of the Female Empowerment Network. She is meeting Christelle, a 19 year old student from Burkina...