“Aunt Habiba said that anyone could get wings to grow: the point is to stay alert and capture the crackling silk of the winged dream,” she told me. But she also indicated that there were two prerequisites to getting wings: the first is to feel fenced in, and the second to believe that you can break the fence”
Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood” (1994), Fatima Merssini, Morocco, 

Crossing borders defines me as a woman: I am myself, because I stopped being myself. I felt fenced in and decided to break the fence, as Fatima Merssini wrote. I have always sensed the possibility (of transcending). I perceived something beyond myself and the here and now.

A wonderful lineage of women showed me -in their struggle and in their silent suffering- everything I wanted to leave behind: social norms which maintained the status quo and ways of relating based on control. I sneaked, guided by the perfumes coming from the other side of the doors.

Along the way, I met some women and some men, who inspired me. They showed me the path that I am walking today. Today, many of them are invited to be part of Global Change. 

Beyond frontiers

Going beyond my personal, geographical and cultural borders is a conscious, daily decision. It is a fierce fight.

Encounters that I have have during my travels, in particular, challenge me as a whole. Each one of them has chipped away at limitations that used to seem firm, clear, or (almost) part of me.

These experiences offer, as a common theme, dozens of emerging questions which spring forth to disarm long-held certainties. By meeting others, we can be ourselves, but enriched. Transformed.

Beyond borders, will offer opportunities for many more who like me want to cross their personal, geographical and cultural borders

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From South to South

From South to South, my life is a story of encounters with the diversity of our Global South. From South Africa to Kenya, from India to Sri Lanka or China, from Mexico to Uruguay, from Brazil to Morocco or Somaliland, I join many others in creating new stories that aim to overcome policies and practices of invisibility, centuries of oppression, exploitation and marginalization. I resonate with them.

In particular, I build solidarity with those who, like me, embrace the idea that every human being deserves a dignified life – regardless of gender, color, culture or religion.

As I travel and encounter with many others, I discover what the word “humanity” means in practice. A word so often wasted in human rights texts or philosophy books. A word so seldom felt and exercised on a daily basis.

From South to South, will offer the possibility of connecting, listening and working with the voices of the many ‘Souths’ of our world. All of us, who were historically disconnected.

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Ephemeral Art

When traveling, bridges can be built through music and dance. When traveling, there are promises or words that cannot be pronounced, but that can be danced or heard.

As a female traveler, I connect with many others by listening to their music, enjoying their dances and their arts. I have explored territories and flavors, without the need for a common language. I even celebrated my union with those that I could not hug all the time or in the way I wanted. The invisible world that music opens was, and always is, a spell to continue on the path, weaving invisible connections.

Being a woman who travels is a militant commitment to joy. Facing perpetual change, the past, or a threatening present, requires reconstituting a defiant attitude, always, returning to the vital source of celebration.

Ephemeral art, will be dedicated to creating events to celebrate the connecting power of art.

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Knowledge is Power

I travel with what I like to call a “nomadic consciousness”. That is, embracing the humility of being a life-long learner at every step. I scrutinize with curious and critical eyes the reality that appears as apparently immovable or objective.

I confront the perpetual crisis of de-constructing reality with the power of knowledge and the inspiration provided by the positive actions of all those committed to building a new world.

Knowledge is power will provide stories and action models which demonstrate that dreaming and building a different world is more than an illusion. It’s a reality.

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Invitation to fly together

Today, like an eagle, I circle the skies – caught between feeling the pressure to hunt and the temptation to surrender to the wonderful feeling of simply flying to observe, from the highs, the beauty of life.

However, today I go hunting again: if you resonate with who I am and what I do, I invite you to fly with me.

I am a female traveler. And I wish that many more will become travellers of life, knowing that, at last, the goal is to free ourselves to be more and better than we are today.

Global Change is one more door that I open so that, hopefully, many others will dare to be born again to build a new world. A world of dignity for all.