Proud to be an African Black Woman !!!

having fun and being a center of curiosity in Kathmandu, Nepal

I have never been so proud of being an African Black Woman (ABW)…

Yes! During my journey I have learned to be proud and celebrate some of my success in life. In many instances, I’ve had the opportunity of being proud of myself, proud of my work, proud of my realizations and achievements, proud of my daughter, proud of some of my friends, simply proud of being who I am! But what I experienced in early August proved to me that being proud of me and my world was not enough: I had to be proud of being an ABW.

I flew to Nepal, in Asia to attend training on CEDAW FOR CHANGE, the course is about how to use in way to bring impact in our advocacy work. The training brought together 30 participants from 16 countries. This was organized by the Women’s Human Rights Institute (WHRI) from 4 to 15 August 2014. I attended this meeting with a colleague from my organization.

Although sessions were from 9 am to 8 pm, we had from time to time a chance to go out and mingle with the Nepalese people and their culture. Some persons were so surprised to see the color of our skin and came to touch us, just to make sure it is not dust or something similar that makes our skins so different. You could read in their eyes that they’ve never met black people or they’ve never touched one. It was so hilarious to be a subject of positive curiosity – positive because they were not mocking us as if we were monkeys like the Western did during slavery times- since some of them have heard about my country (remember, some Nepalese soldiers are in the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC) but have never seen Congolese or ABW. I remember one asking me if I had been burned by the heat of the sun… They were so excited to see us shining in our black skins and not even trying to use those lightening cosmetics!!! They treated us with due respect, telling us how they wish they could one day travel to Africa and meet with so different, interesting and dynamic people.

Besides, during our training, we were asked to mention someone we consider a mentor in our live and justify the choice. Before that day, I have never imagined I could be considered a mentor, a model to someone. Surprisingly, I was mentioned and that me once more proud of being an ABW that sheds light on her African sisters.

This is to say that we should be proud of who we are. No matter the challenges, being an ABW is a privilege and we need to consider ourselves blessed because somewhere, there 

will always be people trying hard to be like us.

Thanks to the Power up journey of self-discovery, that allowed me to perceive this differently  and enjoy the experience.