WEEK 5 (10.11. - 16.11.2009)

First workshop with theatre group of the DSB Cairo, 11th grade girls between 16 - 17 years. Collecting the first questionnaires. The girls improvise on different subjects, Wedekind is still at home.

PoV Sexual Education Part 1

Skype conference with Y., a young woman who has been working over the last 4 years on the concept of a sexual education manual for schools in Egypt: (chat extract)

"to be honest we are quite "cautious" with this manual cos at any point in time anyone can use

this to make a huge fuss for our organization... always the case with taboos... we work mainely in the frame of catholic schools and we are extrelmety cautious with any external intervention... the training was implemented 4 times in cairo, once in menia, actually in assiut, once in mansoura, one time in alex for schools.. everytime we have about 8 to 14 schools represented, and so i'd say about 60 schools currently have the manual.... now who know how many are using it!!??!! We are doing some follow up/ support programs for some schools this year in alex and upper egypt because the schools just didn't dare starting... or the teachers...

we are not distributing the manual without the training, which makes the process slow, but which also requires a certain degree of comitmeent and initiative from the school itself ... there has been stupid stories like this before in the media... u know: the catholic schools teach kids about sex is a very easy story to make up... if u read the doc clearely u'll see the word "sexuality" if almost not mentioned at all... the sensitiviy comes from the subject + the fact it is edited by a christian organization. although some moslem helped in its creation and revision ... we don't want to get schools in trouble either (lol) we give support to the schools... but we don't publicize this"

PoV Sexual Education Part 2

Meeting leading religious sexologist Heba Qutb.

Answer to sexual education No. 1: "Do you teach a duck how to swim?"

Answer to avoid ignorance by giving information No. 2: "It´s about the dosis... Education should take place within the family ... importance of safe and controlled information. If the information comes from other sources, it has dangerous and negative consequences (e.g. problem of the internet) ... One has to find the right dosis. Certain doors should not be opend because it is dangerous ... When sometimes teenagers arrive at my practice, I try to bring back the balance of the dosis."

In her weekly show Kalaam Kebier Qutb talks about sex, problems with it and solutions for this found in quran. Additionally she runs a clinical practice in Cairo for sexual councelling. Masturbation, she claims, is a desease and homosexuality is curable.

TV-Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CqMfX-HMZ8&feature=related

PhD (Sexuality and Islam)

www.esextherapy.com/dissertations/islam%20dissertation.pdf

Homepage

www.hebakotb.net

Meeting Selim, a 14 year old boy from Cairo. Very curious about our experiences. We translate the questionnaire so he will pass it on to his friends. Translating from german into arabic is not only a language - language issue.

"What could really be meant for me, when you say in love?"

"I am older than my younger brother (12). Because I know I already know about all these things, that when you like a girl, you don´t only care for her appearance. My brother doesn´t know all this."

"I don´t remember."