led by Cara Cruickshank
Self-Empowerment Course
for Women in Afghanistan
This is an opportunity for female students in Afghanistan, ages 17-29, to attend an online college-level course in Self-Empowerment and Feminism for a full 3 month semester. The students must keep their identities hidden for their own safety. The class meets online for two hours, three times per week. This course is offered free of charge.
THE course
This course leads students through an interactive process of creative writing, journaling, reading, discourse, lecture and video content on a wide variety of socio-political, psychological and gender-related topics. Students are guided through exercises and practices to deepen self-compassion, self-awareness, mindfulness and self-care.
1.
Course Topics
Self-Expression
Subtopics:
A. Nonviolent Communication: Identitfying and expressing Feelings and Needs
B. Memoir Essays and Vision Statements
C. Understanding Self Governance and Self-Sovereignty
2.
Self-Compassion
Subtopics:
A. Mindfulness Practices
B. Laughter as Liberation, Joy as Rebellion
B. Rest and Relaxation as a Human Right, Self-Care and Wellness
3.
Women’s Studies
Subtopics:
A. Exploring Masculinity and Patriarchy
B. Inspiring Women Figures Then and Now
C. Women’s History and Women’s Rights
4.
Community Building
Subtopics:
A. Exploring Taboo questions
B. Class discussions
C. Visiting Guest Lecturers on Women’s Health, Mental Health, Women in Buisness, Law and Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Science
This course provides emotional support, education and creates community building. We aim to help you build stronger tools to stay committed to your life vision and feel validated in your optimism for a brighter future.
“Throughout the course you have opened my eyes to self-acceptance, self-love and the importance of listening to our inner voices. You have taught me to find inner peace and true freedom.”
-S.R., age 28
Self-Empowerment course
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"I concluded this course feeling powerful. There is nothing about this course I would change."
-R.S., age 19
About the Instructor
Cara Cruickshank is an educator, community organizer and women's advocate. She has lived in France, Brazil and the U.S. She is founder and host of Cafe de la Culture, a nonprofit organization that creates safe spaces for cultural exchange and intersectional community conversations on important topics. Cara is writer, director, and producer of theater for social change, including "The Alchemy of Imperfection'', which premiered in Paris and toured throughout the U.S. during the #MeToo movement from 2017-2018, exploring female experiences that defy cultural boundaries; culminating in an Actor’s Equity Association production in NYC. Cara has designed and led empowerment, diversity and gender studies workshops, courses and intensives for marginalized and international communities in the U.S., Brazil, Turkey, and France including programs through Laguardia Performing Arts Center, NY’s Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, and the University of Balikesir. She has curated and moderated panels and round tables nationally with frontline activists on topics such as #MeToo, BLM, Indigenous Rights, the Refugee Crisis, and beyond. In 2022, Cara co-designed and ran Global Village Day Camp, an empowerment and holistic educational summer camp for refugee and immigrant youth in Aurora, Colorado, gave public speaking engagements on women's advocacy at Bard College and for the University of Michigan’s Global Islamic Study Center alongside Afghan Activist and Rapper Sonita Alizada. Last year, Cara was also Featured Poet at Spoken Word Paris and Spotlight Poet for World Slam Champions Rachel McKibbens and Dominique Cristina in Denver, Colorado. In February 2023, Cara launched her first semester of the Self-Empowerment and Feminism course for Afghan women through the Afghan Youth Leaders Assembly and aims to continue developing and expanding this important work.