Good morning, once again, from Thailand. I'm progressively feeling better every morning, as I finally begin to adjust to the time change (too bad we leave on Monday). I also finally talked to Mom and David last night on a streetcorner outside 7-11. I could tell Mom had been pretty freaked out by not hearing from me... I think she was secretly crying over the phone when she first heard my voice. Mom doesn't like me to be where she can't get in contact with me, and for her, there is no place more remote than Bangkok, Thailand. David, on the other hand, just sounded plain lonely. But his White Sox did sweep the World Series, so that was a bit of consolation for him.

Ah, the conference, the conference. Let me tell you that this is the most diverse group of women I've ever been with in my life. Literally, I'm inclined to think that just about every nation in the world is represented here... certainly every region. During the fundraising workshop yesterday, I learned how to raise money for NNPCW with a group of women from India, Turkey, the Phillipines, and Kyzrikistan (sp??) respectively. During my workshop on young women and feminism, my partners were from Laos and Malaysia. We listened during plenary yesterday to an Iraqi woman, who told us how women in Iraq had actually lost freedom under the new Iraqi constitution. One of Ann's workshops yesterday was all about the movement for the rights of Roma (Gypsy) women in Eastern Europe.

This is forcing me to deal with a new issue, one that has pushed my comfort zone at the conference-- being in the minority, not only as a white woman but also as an American. It isn't easy to hear the constant criticism of US policies worldwide in relation to women's rights, and know that while I am not the American government, I am the face of America to many people here. I do think that most people differentiate between American citizens and the American government. Still, though, it isn't always easy to be the people that some folks can vent their frustrations on.

Yesterday afternoon I went to a great workshop about young people and feminism. One of the videos they played showed young women and men from around the world talking about the feminist movement-- their impressions of it and where they thought it should go. It was probably one of the most hopeful pieces I saw in the entire conference, because it showed how much has actually been done. It was awesome to hear young men from Africa talking about how they saw themselves as feminists, based on their understanding of the term as meaning equal rights and opportunities for all people. I've ordered a copy, and may try using it as a discussion prompt in some places on the World Tour.

Another aspect of the younger women's workshop (and AWID has done a fantastic job of incorporating significant young women's involvement in this conference) was the way in which it didn't harp on someone else to help us. I guess we're in a different place in the global North, where a lot of the de jure obstacles to women's rights are gone, than in the global South where women's second-class status is still codified into law in many places. For us, frankly, I don't know whether relying on institutions such as the government or the United Nations to make women equal is going to solve the problems that remain. I'm tired, anyway, of relying on someone else to help us women. Part of empowerment is learning to help one's self. Sorry, my thoughts on this subject are pretty random and just beginning to percolate. But I've been thinking a lot about it at this conference, and questioning older women's reliance on these national and international structures as the end-all answer.

I think that's all, as far as rambings go for now. A line is forming for the Internet, so I should stop hogging this computer and move on. Check back in tomorrow for my last post from Thailand!!

Kelsey

PS-- Sorry about the Bible verse... my Internet is getting funky, so I'm having trouble looking one up online.

Kyrzykstan dsn't hv ny vwls.