My dream for women and girls is that each one is free from stereotypes, discrimination, and barriers. I wish that they can hear the purest call of their soul, the truest hope, and that they can be in touch with their deepest core. I want the world to be filled with women and girls who refuse to be average and who furiously and unapologetically seek their freedom to live full, with confidence, love, poetry, strength, dreams, and passion. So they can step into their greatness with the wave of a magic wand.
“For women by women.” This leads my life. I grew up in a family with strong female figures who firmly believed in women’s power. Among them was my grandmother, who founded an orphanage and helped many vulnerable children. Her presence was like the sun of my world, and it was from her that I learned that life is a gift. Women around me, including my grandmother, sowed seeds of confidence in me to be the best version of myself.
One day, during a volunteering activity for pupils from the slums at a public school, I asked them to share their dreams. Everyone confided one except a little girl. “Dina, I do not have a dream,” she said, crying all the tears she had. She was 7. I shall never forget her tears. Many girls’ dreams are trampled by social stereotypes and traditional gender discrimination.
I dream that girls like her find their inner strength to rise above the storm and find the sunshine. No more standards, no more labels, no more dream-killers. Women who believe in rainfall wonder why they worth it. I dream of a fairy tale where women and girls do their own magic, with not only happy endings, but also happy lives, where they are the queen of their own kingdom. I have a dream that every woman and girl blooms as they are in the sun.