In dark places all over the world, women are helping each other to overcome devastating practices of rape, prejudice, sexual trafficking, illiteracy and oppression.
The glimmers of light that are these women have not gone unnoticed, and one woman has taken pains to capture that light by recording their stories. Author and photojournalist Paola Gianturco spoke to a small crowd at Eugene’s Temple Beth Israel Tuesday night about her latest book, a philanthropic project titled “Women Who Light the Dark.”
After working in the advertising, marketing and public relations field for 34 years, in addition to teaching women’s studies classes at Stanford University, Mills College, and inside corporations, Gianturco became tired of her frenetic style of life.
“I realized I had earned two years’ worth of money in one year and I was exhausted. I decided to take a sabbatical and during it I was going to do only what I loved and wanted to learn about,” she said.
Her interests revolved around photography, collecting folk art, and learning about women in developing countries.
“If you take all those things in a basket and mix them, this is what you get,” she said of how her book project evolved.
Despite the fact that Gianturco had only planned to be on sabbatical for one year, “it took five years, not one, and I never went back to business!” she said with a smile.
While working on “Women Who Light the Dark,” she traveled to 15 countries around the world, including Slovakia, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Brazil, ending right back where she started – the U.S.
At first, Gianturco set out on her own, traveling and photographing at will, but she later contacted the Global Fund for Women about being introduced to women who work for groups that it funds. Most of the women portrayed in her book are grantees of the organization, and Gianturco is dedicating 100 percent of her book royalties to help support the women’s causes that she documented all over the world.
“This book was the most difficult emotionally and physically for me to write. The issues were so serious, so disturbing, but at the same time the women’s efforts to succeed were so impressive,” she said of her book project, which took her one year of “14-hour days” to write.
It wasn’t until she was nearing the end of her project that Gianturco realized a common theme uniting the women she had profiled: creativity. All of the women used different forms of creative arts or strategies to combat their forces of oppression, and they varied in ways that were culturally appropriate to each place.
For instance, in Zimbabwe, many traditional healers perpetuate a myth that HIV-positive men will be cured if they have sex with a virgin, leading to many cases of rape. The Girl Child Network, founded by a high school teacher, performs poetry in public about rapes that happened to the girls to order to raise an outcry and bring the responsible men to justice – a rare occurrence.
“These women may lack material resources, but they possess a wealth of an even more precious resource: imagination. And their imaginations light the dark,” Gianturco wrote in the introduction of her book.
In her final book chapter, she portrays a local Eugene organization, Mobility International USA, which is dedicated to “empowering people with disabilities around the world to achieve their human rights,” according to the group’s Web site.
Gianturco traveled to Eugene in 2006 to photograph and document a MIUSA-sponsored program called the Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability. This program brought together female leaders from different countries in order to enhance their leadership abilities in areas of disability legislation, health and fitness, parenting, dealing with the media and self-defense, among others.
“I like to think of WILD as a trampoline. The women are already leaders, and it takes them where they are and bounces them a little higher, so they can network and gain connections,” said Susan Sygall, CEO of MIUSA.
While documenting the WILD program, Gianturco was amazed at the success of the program, despite the complications of crossing the numerous language and disability barriers of the women. In addition to the workshops, the women participated in outdoor activities such as a ropes course and white-water rafting.
“The women left here so certain they could do anything, they left so empowered,” she said.
“I fell in love with Eugene,” Gianturco said. “The community was wonderfully involved and local businesses were very supportive of people with disabilities.”
Sygall, along with two of the WILD participants, are not only featured in the book’s chapter on MIUSA, but grace the cover of Gianturco’s book as well, among the faces of other women.
“I think this book has already accomplished a lot just by portraying these women,” Sygall said. “The world needs to know that people with disabilities can be leaders.”
“She did a fantastic job of expressing women’s identities around the world and documenting their struggles. She is educating the broader community, and encouraging people to become world citizens,” said Susie Morrill, a photo instructor at Lane Community College and chair of the Photography at Oregon Committee.
“Women Who Light the Dark” is being sold at local bookstores Barnes & Noble and Powell’s Bookstore, and can also be purchased at amazon.com.
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