We Are OneUsing Theater and Film to Fight Discrimination
Discrimination against women manifests itself in many forms. According to the We are One team in Kicukiro District, women are discriminated against daily on the basis of their gender, race and nationality by family members, employers, teachers and Rwandan society as a whole. We Are One is also working on the sensitive issue of ethnic discrimination and its effects on women and children, particularly family tensions caused by inter-ethnic marriages and discrimination against children of mixed ethnic background.
In order to fight discrimination based on sex, race, nationality and ethnicity, the We are One team is producing theme-based plays, films and songs in order to teach women and marginalized indigenous groups about their rights and to change the attitudes among those who discriminate. They have begun to work first with local high schools to address the historic discrimination that has plagued one particular indigenous group. The team is also planning to provide literacy training to marginalized women within this ethnic group, the vast majority of whom are illiterate. They also have identified a need for income generation skills in rural areas to enable these same women to become less economically dependent on their husbands. Their goals are that:
- Women will have knowledge about their rights and claim them
- To reduce oppression of women and its effects
- To reduce discrimination, particularly of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity children
This venture is targeting three communities throughout rural Rwanda with especially high rates of discrimination due to limited development and empowerment activities. Themes of their performances include the rights of girl children, the value of single women and mothers and gender equality. In one particular school, there was such a strong response to We Are One's performance, that they started a high school club called the "We Are One" club so that the students could keep working on issues of discrimination. The team also created a club for the region's historically marginalized ethnic group. We Are One intends to help them work together as a team so that they can claim their rights as full Rwandan citizens in society.
Grant Amount: $3100
Team Size: 14 Members
Social Impact: 190 Women
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