Pioneering ways to help women
of Bahrain
Gulf Daily News – BAHRAIN – 04 February,
2006 The empowerment of Bahraini women is a hot topic today,
but the Awal Women’s Society (AWS) has been working towards that goal for almost 40 years. Ever since a group of female students first came From humble It Its latest project, offering trained female staff to The next step will be training women to care for the The idea is to make women It all part of “We have always “We have never “They need to “They shouldn’t just The society was the first women’s It was a novel idea in a male-dominated society, but Ms “Nobody stopped us,” she recalled. “We even “The girls would come walking from miles away because they The members quickly Before that the only option was to take a fee-paying It opened up new horizons of independence for women who “We “We realised that “This meant that When the Education Ministry set up Adult Education Summer courses were These continue today on a limited “We try to teach them about things which they don’t study in “The girls are given the chance to express Other activities to encourage education included the There is a small library of books related to The society In keeping with the society’s aim to educate women, it When things go wrong, the AWS legal advice A hotline is available for those who “Since we don’t have a “Women come to the society facing “We deal with many different All too often the women are unable to get professional In many cases the “A lot of the women need money so we try to find “We try to find them a job “We can also send them to other organisations which can offer Problems in marriages are made much more daunting If women are in a position to find “Too many women are poor in money, education and “Then they get married and they don’t know “They can’t go back to their own To encourage and support The Awal Kindergarten caters Encourage “One The society offers a wide range of activities to help women One of these is the distribution of Although it is open to both men and women, the majority of The Al Naqda project was established in This has saved the handicraft from dying out and also “The participants work at the Craft Centre in Manama and at However, the “We were thinking of how to change the attitude of women “Everyone said that Bahrainis wouldn’t agree to serve at “Some Bahraini families were “But years ago, before all this “We accepted the challenge and at the beginning people were “Demand sometimes outstrips supply. “We started The staff have been given The service is available round the clock and a “For example, The next step is to set up the elderly and child-care The only stumbling block is finance, as the society Members are already encountering scepticism about the “People have said “They said that about the Training is crucial to Once this |
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