Bénédicte, Civil Law and International Development and Globalization,
Alternatives, DRC,
Solidarité des femmes pour le développement intégral (SOFEDI)
Sharing discussions, reports and conferences opened my eyes. Reporting and reflecting on the plight of women and girls has brought tears to my eyes. Young girls left to fend for themselves with a pregnancy after a sexual assault and looking for a way out with traditional remedies, which can sometimes endanger their lives. Women who sell their bodies to the mining industry to meet their daily needs, women mineworkers who remain unpaid for months on end. At the very beginning, I had developed this sense of duty to protect them, to overcome the injustices they experience, in short, I wanted to change everything.
But that's not possible, and it frustrated me for a few days. Enraged, that still here in the 21st century such things are being done, the way women are manipulated, denigrated and pushed aside, neglected. Everything they do has been shaped by society, not only by men and international organizations, but also by their government, which should be ensuring their development, but instead forgets about them.
Really, these emotions have generated in me this feeling of doing everything I can, of doing everything I'm mandated to do, not only for myself and my NGO, but for all the women who receive help from my NGO. I want to put my 100% into everything I do, and I hope that indirectly I can play an effective role, even if it's a lesser one.
Above all, however, I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with an organization that focuses its activities and initiatives on women and girls. Finally, I see the other side of the coin, not only the theoretical side taught in my courses, but also the practical side. The links between theory and practice are indeed different. But to tell the truth, what I experience goes far beyond my classes. What I learn from the internship cannot be taught and assimilated through courses. Even with a virtual internship, I see the realities of women and the injustices they suffer, and I'm even more amazed by the efforts and initiatives that the SOFEDI organization undertakes.