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Miheret Teku-Jego: The Shift's First Success Story

Miheret Teku-Jego is a refugee from a small town in Ethiopia called Dilla.  She arrived in Toronto 6 years ago on an accounting scholarship for a program at George Brown College.  After her first year in the accounting program,  she was advised by a lawyer to apply for refugee status due to the increasingly unsafe state of Ethiopia at the time.  When she applied for refugee status, however, her student visa was terminated, and she was unable to complete her accounting program.  Since then, Miheret has been struggling to get by, working menial jobs for which she is over-qualified.  Recently, Miheret was granted landed immigrant status, and received a work permit.  

Here at the Shift, we were recently introduced to Miheret, and were touched by her story.  She is a kind and generous person, whose main goal in life is to give back to the community, and help in any way that she can.  Back in her home town of Dilla, she took part in community programs that focused on teaching mothers about birth control and family planning, and giving children an education.  She gives back to the community in Toronto as well, volunteering at Redwood Women's Shelter.  

We were able to connect Miheret with a scholarship for an Administrative Assistant's program at Willis College of Business, Health, and Technology.  Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone, the campus administrator at Willis College, was looking for someone just like Miheret, and she graciously and quickly accepted Miheret into the program. Miheret is enjoying her first week back in school, and feels as though, after years of conflict, her life is finally beginning to get back on track.  Miheret is looking forward to becoming a valuable part of the Canadian workforce, and her ultimate goal is to give back to those in need in Toronto, as well as back in Ethiopia.  


Miheret is a proud supporter of VikGedeo, an organization that focuses on educating girls in Dilla.  The goal of this organization is to build education facilities for girls who have been denied an education.  It is very common for girls to be taken out of school before reaching the 8th grade, due to accomodation issues, as well as costs.  VikGedeo believes that educating women is the key to creating positive changes for society as a whole.  They are in the midst of a project at the moment of building a dormitory that will house 80 female students.  Donations are still needed for this project, as well as for other projects in southern Ethiopia. You can easily donate to this organization by visiting their website: www.vikgedeo.com

-Angelica Rao

Will Sakineh be Executed?

This morning, the Toronto Star published an article stating that Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani would be hanged today for the murder of her husband.


Sakineh was originally convicted of adultery, the punishment of which is execution by stoning.


 However, after a conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister, France's foreign minister stated that Sakineh will not be executed. This statement was published by Reuters online this morning.


Sakineh is 43 years old and the mother of two children.  After international outcry and protest, Sakineh's original sentence of death by stoning for adultery was suspended.  The charge of murder is still pending.


Iranian officials are still deciding her fate.


To sign a petition to save Sakineh, click here.


The stoning of Iranian women for adultery has been a publicized topic for many years.  In 1986,  an Iranian woman named Soraya M. was stoned to death for alleged adultery.  Soraya's aunt, Zahra, recounted the story of her murder to French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, whose car broke down in their village.   Freidoune turned the account into a bestselling novel, which then became a film in 2008, The Stoning of Soraya M.

What if we Chose to Raise our Daughters as Sons?

What would be the outcome if we chose to raise our daughters as sons? 

This is an option for families who have girls in Afghanistan, where there is intense societal pressure to give birth to boys.

The New York Times recently posted an article about bacha poshes–which literally means daughters “dressed up as boys.”

“A bacha posh enjoys all the freedoms afforded to a boy in Afghan culture, including the right to have a job, to play sports and to travel freely. Moreover, the presence of a bacha posh increases the family’s social standing in the same way that a permanent son would. Generally, the child’s temporary cross-dressing lasts until puberty, after which the family’s daughter miraculously reemerges just in time for marriage.”

These women become more confident, outspoken and aggressive.  They find the transition into becoming a wife hard as they have to be taught how to "act female", which includes lowering your eyes and being soft spoken.

Read more on the Bacha Posh from an article from Ms Magazine
October 7th, 2010

Why aren’t more women in Canada in positions of political power?

Toronto has recently elected Rob Ford as our new mayor. Of the top mayoral candidates, there was one female, Sarah Thomson. Sarah Thomson dropped out of the race at a critical time in order to lend her support to George Smitherman.

In the words of Sarah,

“I really want everyone to know that we have to come together and work together to make this better and George is the one to lead us,” she said.

“I just wanted to show people that I’m behind him and I’ll be behind him until the end.”

From The National Post on October 10th, 2010.

Read Columnist Chantal Herbert’s “Where are all the big-city women mayors?” in which she makes reference to “Canada’s sturdy political glass ceiling.”

From the Toronto Star on October 25th 2010