"M2M Kicks Off!"
March 23, 2010
On March 6th 2010, Turning Point started it 2nd Annual Mecca To Manhattan: Muslim Women Moving Mountains workshop series. The workshops are held every Saturday and aim at helping Muslim girls and young women (ages of 13-20) empower themselves. The workshop series scheduled to start on February 27th had to be postponed by a week due to the snow storm.
The workshop started with 15 participants from different boroughs of NYC and kicked off with an orientation and an introduction to Turning Point's history and mission, purpose of the workshops and very engaging ice breakers. The following weekend Turning Point's Executive was to be named "Queens Person of the Week" so their producer was at hand to record part of the orientation and interview Robina Niaz and Turning Point's staff and workshop participants. The NY1 cameras did not seem to deter the participants from being open and honest about their lives and their experiences. The story aired over the following weekend from March 12-14 (http://www.ny1.com/8-queens-news-content/115162/-i-queens-person-of-the-week---i--social-worker-helps-muslim-women-overcome-domestic-abuse).
The participants were excited to begin their M2M experience, and chatted happily with each other during breaks. They all shared a bit about themselves and what they would like to learn from the workshop series. Despite the diversity in ethnicities, interests and ages, the girls shared a common Muslim identity and were eager to make friends and learn from one another.
That same afternoon the first formal workshop was facilitated by well-known artist and writer, Dr. Aphrodite Desiree Navab, who spoke about using art as a medium of communication. She also discussed the concept of storytelling as a historical strategy used by women for survival and communal healing. Navab engaged participants in a dialogue by having them draw and write a story from their life events.
Overall the first day was a tremendous success, as all the participants, as well as Turning Point's staff who worked hard to plan and coordinate the kickoff learned something about themselves, about each other and walked away with multiple new friends!
Mecca to Manhattan workshop series, fondly called M2M will end on April 17 with certificates of completion given to participants. M2M workshop series aims at enhancing the self-esteem and confidence of Muslim girls and demonstrating that today's Muslim girls and young women are tomorrow's leaders!