Girlhood Page 3

  I practiced piano and became too intimidated to begin studying for the Mandarin test. Instead, I decided to read. I ate dinner with my family, then washed the dishes with my father and brother.

  We finished the movie we began watching last night, and now here I am. I’m supposed to be asleep, but I think I’ll stay up and try to write poetry.

  Monday

  Today was stressful because I realized that we had a lot less time to work on the English assignment than I previously thought. The first lesson of the day was Mandarin. Learning a language is similar to the feeling I get from solving a puzzle (once again, a cliché)—you can arrange words in different ways to create different meanings.

  Next, we had a library lesson. We have these once every fortnight. I found an interesting book—it’s written in the style of a gothic novel. After recess, I had geography and science. Lunch was relaxing, I planned to get some work done, but instead spent it with friends. Our final class was sport. We spent the lesson swimming laps in the school pool. I spent the afternoon doing homework in my dressing gown. I revised [studied] for the Mandarin test, and added to an essay for history. I finished at around 8:30 p.m. I spend the majority of Monday evenings alone whilst my mother takes my brother to tutoring. I like the novelty of being alone—I’m not exactly sure why though. I stayed up past my bedtime reading.

  Ayaulym

  19 years old

  Almaty, Kazakhstan

  What kinds of movies do you like?

  Mostly I like to watch documentaries, or films based on real events. I am also a fan of the Marvel Universe. When I watch these films, I begin to believe in miracles. I always buy a ticket for Marvel films in advance, and I don’t miss any movies.

  What are your favorite books?

  My favorite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I read this book three times, and each time it opened more and more for me. I also love his other books.

  What are your favorite subjects?

  All the subjects that I study at the university are very interesting to me, but my favorite subject is Science of Culture.

  Ayaulym loves to read. She just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and is about to start The Da Vinci Code. She also loves going to the cinema and taking walks in the park.

  Like many of the girls in this book—including Sattigul in Mongolia and Raksa in Cambodia—Ayaulym has to leave her home and live in a dormitory in another city in order to attend university. She travels from her village, Tonkeris, to Almaty Technology University in Almaty, one of Kazakhstan’s largest cities. At home, she lives with her mother (a teacher) and her father (a nurse). She is the youngest of three sisters; the older two are both married with children.

  Ayaulym is studying the restaurant and hotel business. After college, she hopes to get a job in a restaurant or hotel. “I want to better tourism in our country . . . In this way, I can help develop our country’s economy,” she says.

  Ayaulym spends most of her spare time in the dorm, chatting with the other girls who live there. Some of them, like Ayaulym, are from villages in other parts of the country, but many are international students. In fact, in 2018, there were 18,000 international students in Kazakhstan.14 Many were from countries in Central Asia, India, and China, and some were from as far away as Mexico.15 ◊

  Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union, a region stretching from Eastern Europe across Russia that was governed from Moscow under a communist regime from 1922 to 1991. Kazakhstan is a big country—about the size of Western Europe—and it has one of the biggest economies in Central Asia.16 Its wealth is driven mostly by oil and minerals.

  It ranks 52 out of 144 countries on the global gender gap index,17 which measures inequality between men and women across different areas, including job opportunities, how men and women are comparatively paid for doing the same jobs, and how many women are in political office. ◊

  Translated from Russian

  May 15, 2019

  Today was a very good day; I think the weather contributed to that.

  I woke up today at 7:00 a.m. and went for a run; every day my result is better, and there are more and more people in the stadium. Then at 7:40 a.m. I came home, took a shower, and made a tasty breakfast. I love breakfasts.

  Tomorrow is my sister Nurzhamal’s birthday; she lives in Astana. And today I bought a plane ticket online. I will fly there on the 21st of May. I think she will be really excited about my arrival, because she has been trying to convince me to come to her for 5 years.

  Today, I finished reading a novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a very interesting book. I enjoyed it. Now it is the turn of The Da Vinci Code. I have heard a lot about this book, and I think it will be interesting.

  Then I practiced English for an hour. When will I learn the whole English grammar?! :(

  I waited for my nephew after school, and we worked on his homework. Since I am now on holiday, I try to make more time for him.

  We finished the day by riding bikes.

  Dad taught me to ride a bike from an early age, so now I ride very well.

  In general, I had a nice day. I’m going to bed. It’s 11:00 p.m.

  May 16, 2019

  Today was a great day. Because it was my mom’s birthday. She turned 51. We celebrated with the people we are closest to.

  Preparation began in the morning. Since it is now the holy month of Ramadan, we invited guests to dinner in the evening. Only the closest [were invited], and it was about 30 people, if not more LOL.

  The sisters came with their husbands and children, grandparents, all my cousins and dad’s brothers. We had a great time with the family. There was a lot of food and a lot of hearty talk.

  We sat until midnight. Then we started cleaning and gave all the guests treats. So that was mom’s birthday.

  May 17, 2019

  Today was a very productive day.

  I ran in the morning, 2 laps more than usual. I woke up at 7:00 a.m. I came home, took a shower, and ate a tasty breakfast.

  Then I began to get ready for the city, for the dormitory in which I live. I went to the dorm because I had a lot of things to do in the city and going from home was inconvenient.

  At 3:00 p.m. I went to the training center. We had a thematic lesson. The theme of the lesson was “How to pass a job interview.” It was a very interesting lesson, a lot of useful information, especially for me, because in July I plan to get a job where I would have to have an interview. Now I feel much more confident and a little prepared. Diana conducted the lesson; she works in this center.

  After the lesson I went to the store and replenished my travel card.

  Then, having returned to the dorm, I learned about the graduation at the center. It will be held at the Smart Point, namely at the Amphitheater. I’m very glad.

  Then I worked in the kitchen for 3 hours, cooked dinner for tomorrow, and then had dinner with everyone.

  Then at 21:00 I took a shower and read a book.

  Now I’m going to sleep.

  May 18, 2019

  Today I woke up at 8:00 a.m. and took a shower. At 8:30 a.m. I went to breakfast with everyone. At 9:00 a.m. I went to work in the kitchen for 3 hours.

  In my dormitory you don’t have to pay money, instead you work for 3 hours.

  Then at 12:30 p.m. I had lunch. We had fries with steak for lunch, but it was only fries for me, because I don’t eat meat.

  At 13:30 p.m. I went to buy a book for my sister as a gift for her birthday. I bought The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. She loves detective stories.

  Then, at 16:00 p.m., Nellie and I went cycling and bought groceries for an orphanage.

  At 17:30 p.m. I went home. I arrived in 1.5 hours.

  Mom and I drank delicious green tea with ginger and lemon.

  At 20:00 p.m. two of my friends, Aktoty and Aruzhan, came over. We chatted about a lot of thi
ngs. They left at 21:30 p.m.

  Thank you to the Wonder Foundation and the Kazakhstan Foundation for Cultural, Social and Economic Development for connecting me with Ayaulym.

  Chanleakna

  16 years old

  Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Melbourne, Australia

  What’s your favorite thing to do in Phnom Penh?

  Besides studying, I would go out with my grandma and sister or my friends, going to the café or watching movies.

  What are your favorite subjects?

  Currently, I am taking the science-related subjects as well as mathematics and English literature. My favorite subjects right now are chemistry and mathematics.

  Tell us a little about your friends.

  Well, about my friends, I don’t really have any. I mean I only have a few true friends who will be there and stick with me through high waves and hard rocks.

  What are your plans for your future, when you grow up?

  I personally want to be a medical scientist but after I graduate Year 12 curriculum here I will take on a Bachelor of Nursing first.

  “I’m just an ordinary 16-year-old girl . . . trying to discover my extraordinary,” wrote Leakna in the summer of 2018. She shared diary entries for the “Girlhood Around the World” series that originally appeared in The Lily, writing about her days at school, her friends, and her family. At the time, she lived in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, which is home to about two million people.18 The country has one of the youngest populations in Southeast Asia, with about two-thirds of its people under the age of thirty.19

  In Phnom Penh, Leakna lived with her grandmother, sister, and aunt. Her parents divorced when she was just two years old, and she hasn’t kept in contact with or seen her mother for fourteen years now—“She already has a new family,” says Leakna—but she gets along with her dad. Her primary support system, “emotionally, physically and financially,” however, is her grandmother.

  In early 2019, when I got back in touch with Leakna for this book, she had moved from Phnom Penh to Australia for school.

  “Since forever, I’ve always wanted to study abroad but I never got the chance to. Now that I got a full accommodation scholarship here in Australia, it was one of the best opportunities I’ve ever received,” she explained.

  The process wasn’t an easy one: after she was accepted to the school and given a scholarship, Chanleakna had to apply for a visa to be able to live and study in Australia.

  Now, Leakna is in Year 11 in Australia (comparable to eleventh grade in the United States), and she’s on a rigorous academic path: she wants to become a doctor of medical science. That’s what her sister is studying in university, too.

  She’s got a whole path planned out—Australia offered better opportunities, and she’s seizing them with determination. “I decided to move here because I want to be more independent, experience something new, and receive a better education,” she explained.

  “It’s been more than half a year here in Melbourne, Australia, and honestly I sometimes like it and I sometimes don’t,” says Leakna, “Sometimes I just feel like I made the wrong decision and everything, but it’s alright. There are good days and bad days . . . I was homesick most of the time, cried my eyes out.”

  In these three diary entries, written over the course of nine months and from different continents, Leakna writes both about life before she leaves Phnom Penh and what life looks like across the world and far away from her family. ◊

  In Cambodia, about 40 percent of girls are in secondary school, or high school.20

  “In Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, many of these girls tell us they feel constrained by social and cultural norms that define what girls can and cannot do, and define what is ‘acceptable’ for girls,” says Kate Heuisler, Chief of Party, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Development Innovations project. She works with young Cambodian women on several programs, including Technovation Cambodia, an all-girl tech entrepreneurship learning program, in which Leakna participated.

  “Many families feel strongly that they want girls to pursue certain careers and studies, and many expect their girl children to do all the housework, coordinate family business activities, and stay home in the evenings and on weekends. This is a challenge for any young women that want to explore educational opportunities after school hours,” Heuisler says.

  But “things are changing across generations and as technology advances,” according to Heuisler. More girls have phones and access to the Internet, so they have ways of finding out about opportunities. Even going abroad on a scholarship to study, as Leakna has, is easier for girls now than it was for their older sisters.

  Leakna is one of about five million students around the world who travel to another country for education.21 In fact, there are more than 680,000 international students in Australia, where Leakna now lives and studies.22 The largest numbers of these students come from China, India, Nepal, Vietnam, and Brazil.23

  Moving across the world brings great opportunity and also adjustments: learning to navigate a new culture and country, learning to live alone, and learning to live with homesickness, far away from family—all themes Leakna writes about in her diary. ◊

  July 4, 2018

  Hey diary, today is pretty exciting and probably is one of the most satisfying days of this week. So I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and went to school like I normally do but probably with a different excitement. Haha!!! I really can’t wait to see the result that will be coming out today evening. Will I be one of the shortlisted candidates that will be selected to go to the next round of the international science competition? * My friend said to me: “Are you going to say hello or are you going to say goodbye to the hectic?” But wait! The result was finally out and it was unexpected, it really was. I was so happy and astonished as well, hehe. I PASSED!!! I AM ONE OF THE SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES, YAYY!

  The first thing I did after knowing my result was to call my grandma and daddy telling them that Nana is passing (Nana is my nickname). They were so happy <3. Seeing how delighted they were gave me the courage to continue fighting, I almost teared my eyes out. *shh* aye, I’m tired now. Good night, diary.

  July 6, 2018

  So I woke up at 6:30 a.m. when the alarm rang and went to school on time, hehe! What am I really looking forward to today? Hmmm, I hope it won’t rain. But expectation went wrong and something that is not supposed to happen, happened. Remember about the shortlisted candidates about the science competition thingy? So the program just suddenly announced that tomorrow is the judge cut-down round. Like wait, what? This is too fast. I can’t accept it and they said it is just choosing the topic, going up on stage, and presenting what you are going to do. But hey!!!

  Choosing the topic is one of the hardest decisions ever. If you make mistakes about choosing the topic, then sorry. Like oh my god, I talked to their assistant, begged them so hard and they finally agreed to do it another day and extended the deadlines. Phew!!! Thank god, and I went to the café alone and researched about stuff. Well, didn’t get to spend my time with friends or family much but mehh! Will do it another day when I’m a little bit more free. Alright another class started at 5:30 p.m. and ended at 7:30 p.m. It’s time to go back home . . . get things done and go back to sleep . . . *lights off* goodnight.

  April 2019

  I was having a really tough time in Cambodia, I could consider that as a mental breakdown. It feels as if the world is against you and those thoughts keep on running wild in my head. I lost sleep and my appetite. Few weeks have passed, I got my student visa to Australia and it was such a whole new journey for me.

  Finally, I can leave all of the unnecessary problems behind and go one step forward. It is never easy, leaving your home country and living by yourself at the age of 16. It feels so cold physically and mentally; it feels as if each and every single decision can change your life
. I’ve learned to be more and more independent and responsive every day.

  I mean school is not that bad, I enjoy studying here a lot—just, the subjects and the lessons that I’ve missed from term 1 are pretty hard to catch up with. Since I skipped one term of the school year, I have to take more subjects than the other students and it is tough. Almost everyone expects and motivates me to do well in school and on the exams. It was such a pressure for me to deal with daily but that’s okay, I will do my best. Go to school and come back home . . . I feel really homesick most of the time, I miss my grandmother, dad, sister, and everyone so bad to the point where it tears me down sometimes. But I’ve made good friends here from Cambodia, China, and the Aussies. I love how people don’t judge your choices and no dramas. But yes, being an independent international student is never an easy task but I’ll manage to survive anyway. I am so thankful for all the opportunities I’m granted. Forever grateful xX

  Thank you to USAID’s Development Innovations project for connecting me with Chanleakna.

  Leakna participated in the Thailand International Science Fair. In 2019, students from sixteen different countries participated in the competition.

  Chen Xi

  16 years old

  Singapore

  Tell us about your friends.

  In my current class, I haven’t really made any close friends. I guess I don’t really feel like I fit in?

  I usually hang out with people from other classes, mostly people I’ve met through my previous extracurricular (netball) groups and my ex classmates. The ones I’m closest to would be Isabelle, Le Xuan, and Chiao-Yi. I rarely hang out with them now due to our hectic schedules, so thank God for social media.

  I have also made many friends in the minuscule yet close-knit humanities community in my school, who I do spend time with frequently as I work together with them often.