Saturday

It’s the summer holidays in Australia and I’ve been spending it in my home country of Algeria where it is winter and no holiday going on. This is because Australia’s summer lasts between December to February instead of June to August like the rest of the world.

Today is one of the last days of my trip. I am staying at my mum’s family house in Tiziouzou, a sprawling city with both traditional and modern ideologies. It is a province that belongs to the Indigenous people of Algeria, the Kabylies. The Kabylies are a Berber ethnic group native to north Algeria.

It is the last day of the weekend here and my uncle decided to take my many cousins and sisters on the back of a truck around the town. My aunty really wanted to go, however, she had to stay at home to make dinner and clean the dishes, as is the case in many Algerian homes.

Many women in Algeria wear hijabs, so I slipped on mine and hopped onto the truck (I usually wear the hijab in Australia anyways). Sitting in the truck, I compared the lives of people in Algeria to those back in Australia. First of all, not many women are around in the streets in Algeria, except in the markets. Women and girls are rarely seen playing sports in the streets. In addition, just like Australia, there are employment gaps. Men are the primary drivers of public transport and workers at the state governments.

As we arrived at our destination, which was an area of plateaus and farms, city life began to disappear. We were welcomed by soothing and opulent nature. There were valleys of flowers, crops and farm animals with a beautiful backdrop view of snowy mountains and amazing scenes. Here, we picked flowers and ran around under the warm sun. I mostly talked with my cousin who always made me laugh. It was an amazing moment.

Sunday

It was the first day of the week and students were returning to school. In Algeria, students wear mufti (which means normal clothes) and they have to wear a compulsory school apron over their mufti. Girls are required to wear pink aprons while boys are advised to wear blue. The question haunted me: Why was the education policy so sexist? I later learned that in middle school and high school, all students wear white aprons so I was a bit relieved.

Today, my family — including a bunch of my other older cousins and uncle — had decided to travel to the capital city of Algiers and visit some of Algeria’s iconic sites. We went to Promenade des Sablettes and the Martyrs’ Monument. The Martyrs’ Monument or Makam al shahid in Algeria is a monument commemorating the Algerian war for independence and those who died fighting in it.

Later that day, we caught the airway tram to have lunch at the Jardin D’Essai, a large public botanical park. The food was mouthwatering. My cousins, sister and mum ate a garantita (which is an Algerian chickpea pie) stuffed into a baguette. This food is a typical fast food eaten in Algeria. I just ate chips and chicken. This outing was in no doubt the highlight of my journey and the best day I’ve experienced in ages. My cousins and uncle also bought me a number of unforgettable souvenirs, including the jersey of a famous Algerian footballer Baghdad Bounedjah and a replica of the Martyrs’ Monument.

Monday

I couldn’t convince myself that I had to wave goodbye to my home country of Algeria today.

I woke up early at 7:30 a.m., showered, packed up and ate breakfast. I got ready to leave the house at 9:30 a.m. in a minivan with my grandma, aunties, uncle and two 6-year-old cousins to get to Houarre Boumediene airport. My cousins didn’t go to school because there was a strike by teachers who were asking for better pay. The journey was going to be 1.5 hours and this would be the last time I would see my cousins for probably three years because Algeria is really far from Australia and the tickets are expensive. The minivan was full of inside jokes my cousins and I have made over the month as well as the sharing of memories from our time in Algeria. We took selfie after selfie.

Upon our arrival at the airport, we checked in our luggage and stayed for another hour talking to our family. The time ticked passed rapidly and suddenly, it was the moment I dreaded. The moment to kiss goodbye to each of our family members and my country. As I hugged my uncle, he whispered in my ear, “I know you’re smart but smarten up more, you have potential” and then he disappeared. It was only my sisters and mother making our way to the departure gates. There were tears as large as dimes in our eyes, pelting down our pallid cheeks. I was tearing up because I would miss Algeria. I would miss my cousins, the marketplace, the lingering scent of community, tight bonds of three generations in the street, things I rarely see in Australia. I feel like in Algeria there is more of that trust between people. Little kids playing in the street, adults talking to kids, helpfulness and generosity from people you don’t even know. A sense of belonging. I just didn’t know how I would leave all this behind and go to Australia, a country where, in my opinion, people are more closed off. At the same time though, I was returning to school, to my friends, to a country I also loved because of its own unique beauty and I was grateful for that.

Tuesday

To return to Australia, I had to first take a long flight to Dubai. I was in a downcast mood because I would be leaving my country of Algeria. It was a strange feeling. I had gone to Algeria many times in the past but never had I felt this deep connection to the country. Yes, I was very patriotic even in my young years but never have I felt a weight on my shoulders while leaving it. I slept and only ate a little bit of my food. But the occasional chatter of the many Algerians on the plane made me a bit better. After a swift landing, we finally arrived in Dubai and switched to a plane that will take us to Australia.

During this long flight, I started thinking that leaving Algeria wasn’t too bad. I was returning to school on a plane, I had access to food, I had two homes in two different countries. What else could I ask for? At least I had all these things. Some people didn’t. I have read hundreds of stories on the internet about people, especially women without a home, without an education. Suddenly, I remembered what my uncle had told me. “Smarten up as you have potential.” I was thinking how could I support those less fortunate than me while also taking my uncle’s advice? I thought about how I love art and have a Pinterest account with many viewers. I thought, why don’t I draw pictures about the issues I care about and post them on Pinterest? On the plane, I drew a couple of pictures of a girl wearing the hijab as well as children doing their tasks of child labour. Sure enough, I forgot my homesickness of Algeria and I was drawing for a purpose.

Wednesday

We arrived in Australia late at night. It was extremely humid and hot. Well, it is summer so that’s quite normal. When we got home, we went straight to bed. However, because I was so jet lagged, I only managed to sleep for four hours.

When I woke up at around 6 a.m. I had to pray like eight prayers that I had missed out on during my travels. As a Muslim, you are required to pray five times a day and I had missed so many while travelling. This praying is done as a way to say thank you to God for all the necessities he has granted us.

When I finished praying, I had to get ready for my first day of school on Thursday. I spent the whole summer holidays in Algeria having fun that I totally forgot about getting ready for school. I only had one day to prepare. I drew title pages for each of my subjects and digitally drew some of them as well (I have eight subjects in total, including geography, science, English, maths, PDHPE, history as well as my two electives: French and commerce). Title pages are essentially cover pages that students in Australia are usually required to do for each of their books at school and they are meant to be creative. I also drew more images of female education and equality, which I posted on my Pinterest account. My favourite image that I posted was of a woman pilot. I was inspired to create this one because when I was at the various airports during my travels, I didn’t notice any female pilots. I thought that this gender gap needs to be closed.

That afternoon, to keep me from sleeping during the day, I went to the back of my house to train for soccer with my sister. I am going to start playing in my local club in a few weeks and I really needed this training since in Algeria, the only soccer I managed to play was with my 6-year-old cousins. I love soccer. It is close to my heart and gives me a sort of cultural connection to Algeria, my native country. Just last year, Algeria had won the African Cup of Nations so I was extremely happy when that happened. I used to wake up at 2 a.m. just to watch the games live on TV (the competition was in Egypt and I was in Australia so there was almost a 10-hour time difference)! Anyways, in addition to this passion for watching soccer, I also love to play it and encourage other girls to participate in this fascinating sport and change the stereotypical views of girls and athletics. That afternoon, after like one hour of goalkeeper training, dribbling drills and practising free kicks, I returned home and immediately got out my art supplies and drew a girl wearing the hijab playing soccer. I posted it on Pinterest straightaway with the caption, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Thursday

It was the first day of school! Excitement ran through me. Despite being jet lagged and having to travel an hour on the school bus, I was eager to go to school. School is a place I enjoy and know is important, because I know that education is vital to have a knowledge of the ever-changing world. Sometimes, I sit and wonder what life would be like without school or without an education.

I walked through the gates of my high school, hopeful that I will achieve new goals this year. My main goal was to participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible. Last year, I participated in library monitoring, futsal regional/state championships and the Da Vinci Decathlon, which is an academic competition. However, this year I am looking forward to doing other things, such as helping hold fundraisers for disadvantaged people, participating and earning a sports awards at the end of the year as well as topping my grade in at least one subject (although I did do that last year, I topped the grade in three subjects, one of them being commerce, my favourite subject!). Anyways, I was starting the new year with 149 other girls and I was excited.

The day began with a whole school assembly which began with the acknowledgement of the country by an Aboriginal student. The acknowledgement of country is an opportunity to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land, the Aboriginal people and pay our respects to them. The Aboriginal people are the original inhabitants of Australia and lived in this land for thousands of years. During the assembly, we received our new timetables and school diaries. There were screams as we discovered that some of our friends will be in our class and tears that we will be getting teachers we didn’t particularly like.

Today, I also interviewed my principal about girls’ education in Australia! It was so I can give you Assembly readers an idea about girls’ education in Australia. I was quite nervous at first but I learned a lot of things from the interview. She explained to me that Australia is able to promote girls’ education really well. I learnt that subjects that were once considered male-dominated, like woodwork, have become available to both boys and girls. She told me that as principal at an academically selective high school for girls, she is extremely proud that there is a school designed specifically to educate and empower talented young women in all academic areas and other areas such as sports, the arts and technology. My favourite part of the interview was when she said, “I have received the courses that the graduating class of 2019 will be studying in universities this year and I am confident to announce that they have chosen a variety of topics such as engineering and science not previously chosen by girls in the last decade. It shows that education for women has come a long way and that is something to be very proud of.”

Friday

Today was our second day of school. It was also a sports day where we played a mixture of soccer, netball and basketball games. Because it was sports day, we were required to wear our sports uniform to school, not our usual tunic and black leather shoes. It was so fun and engaging and everyone participated fabulously.

I also attended my first PDHPE class of the year, which is a class where we learn about personal development and health. The first unit we are learning is “The best version of me,” which promotes a sense of self and self-worth. Our teacher shared with my class a very important message: “Don’t compare yourselves with others or you will get nowhere.”

That afternoon when I returned home, I had afternoon tea. I ate my last remaining Algerian sweets (arayesh) that we brought from Algeria with a glass of cool milk. Then I did my daily check of every single football team that has an Algerian player and checked the scores. But despite my love of football, my PDHPE teacher’s words kept ringing in my ears. Indeed, I had learnt an important message. Instead of comparing myself or becoming jealous of someone else’s accomplishments, I should strive to work harder in order to become a better version of myself. I decided that that should be another goal to achieve this year and at the same time, I hoped that everyone should take on that advice to become more aware, more knowledgeable on everything that is happening around them.

Houda

is a Kabylie Algerian girl born in Australia. She loves to promote girls’ and women’s rights through various art forms and enjoys playing and watching sports, particularly football.