"More than that, what really horrified me was when I was in my casual clothes, people treated me normally, but when I was wearing the veil and I was out with my mom, or just walking, people would treat me differently," Nocum said.
"There was a very real sense of fear and distrust because you don't see a lot of hijabis here in Manilla. When I wear that, it automatically signals something that people actually associate Islam here with conflict and aggression," Nocum continued.
"I'm supposed to be the same person. I'm Arizza, but it's the way when I wear the clothing of one religion versus the other I'm treated completely differently." [...]
The idea was to create a buzzing community center in which Catholics and Muslims could interact together. Arizza became involved in 2011, helping set up five further libraries across the Philippines in just a year. [...]
Nocum: "Our beneficiaries were Muslims and Christians down in the south, in the areas of conflict, but we realized we needed a program to reach out to other Filippinos who weren't previously aware of the trouble that has been going on."
No comments:
Post a Comment