Women from different nationalities, different cultures and languages, different past, and stories, meet in the mountains with a goal in common; find themselves again. Mainly because nature is healing. Nature is soft. Nature is powerful. Mountains are the tip of these attributes. For this reason, during my research, I’m going to let other women’s experiences inspire me to put into my own words how I see their past and resilience, build my own verses through their voices. This will be achieved by reading In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez Lavado, studying her NGO “Courageous Girls” and the NGO “Seven Summits Women Team”. Also, by listening to Silvia Vasquez-Lavado’s interviews and talks, and talks by Nepali women who are survivors of human trafficking.
During the fieldtrip I expect to experience the emotion of nature, its quiet aura and tough soul. I want to imagine what these women, who lived through hell and survived, felt when they stood at the top of a mountain and saw the world beneath them. The emotion of seeing beauty after the terrors that haunts them still. A landscape so unique that makes every step worth it.
Cómo La Naturaleza Nos Ayuda a Empoderarnos | Silvia Vasquez-Lavado | TEDxTukuy. YouTube. YouTube, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29-oaVHaqig.
McHugh, Kevin E. “Movement, Memory, Landscape: An Excursion in Non-Representational Thought.” GeoJournal 74, no. 3 (2009): 209–18. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41148330.
Unity in Diversity. YouTube. YouTube, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM7RQXn7Vt0&feature=emb_logo.
Vasquez-Lavado, Silvia. “In the Shadow of the Mountain.” Octopus Publishing Group, 2022.
One response to “Women’s Empowerment Through Mountains: Research”
Great! Thanks for the insightful sources as well. I think your ideas could be easily linked to the school of critical thinking dubbed eco-feminism, so try to look around that area as well (might be useful in this or any of your future projects).