I already made a sweater with the funky-monkey-fabric, so now it was time to check out the party-penguins.

I used the same pattern (more or less) for my second sweater, but this one has a hood.

My niese, age 6, and nephew, age 4, painted these pictures on one of their Christmas-visits. I had them framed for my sister´s (their mother) birthday. Acrylics on watercolor paper. When you give kids proper equipment & tools, it´s amazing how “professional” their art can look. Especially when you frame their work. I am so proud of them, I just had to share this with you

Unfortunately this is not my original image, I have merely altered it, and added the text.

(By clicking on the picture, you get a link to different organizations working with women-related issues in the following countries)

1. Afghanistan

Two women die every hour giving birth in Afghanistan. Violence against women is common, 9 of 10 women are victims of domestic violence. There is a great resistance against girls getting an education. In 2009 a law passed that legalized rape in marriage, and accept child-wedlock. Women need permission from her husband to get an education or to work. Women don´t have the right to inherit anything, and therefore also the right to take care of her children if her husband dies. If caught as an adulterer (even though it´s through rape), the  woman will probably be stoned to death, and the man will walk free.

Afghan women lining up for food during the Taliban regime. (UNHCR Photo)

2. Somalia

Girls in Somalia are married at a very young age. Violence against women and children are very common. There is no national justice-system in the country, and the regional laws are very gender discriminating. Genital mutilation is common, about 98% women are circumcised.

Kenyan women demonstrate against rape in Darfur, Sudan: Violence against women is becoming an increasingly public issue across Africa.

3. Congo

Every day about 36 women are raped in Congo, half of them between the age of 10 and 17. Rape is a tactical part of the warfare in Congo, made to humiliate, terrorize and spread fear in the society. Sexual violence also prevents peace and security in the conflict-areas. Raped women and girls are often stigmatized and banished from their family. A lot of them have to marry their rapist, to prevent bringing shame over their family.

4. Sierra Leone

90% of women in this country have HIV, due to massive rape being used as a weapon during the civil war. 12% of the women die during pregnancy and birth. Over 25% of children die before the age of 5. 24% of women can read and write.

5. Niger

In the world´s poorest country, 62% live below the poverty limit. This means great health difficulties and little food. Only 4% of women have access to birth control, and 67% of births happen without professional healthcare. Girls marry young, 75% before the age of 18. 14% die due to pregnancy, birth or illegal abortion.

Women and children queue up to receive food at a distribution centre in the village of Yama in Niger.Photo: Reuters

6. Yemen

Women can´t leave the house without permission from a male relative, are often arrested on the street even with this permission, and are generally vied as male property. 71% of women are illiterate. Many girls are forced into marriage at the age of 12. They often have children before they are fully developed themselves, which leads to a high mortality-rate and serious health problems. Yemen is according to the UNs Gender Empowerment-list the country in the world with the biggest political and financial difference between women and men.

Yemen child brides. Image: IRIN

7. Bangladesh

Women in Bangladesh have few rights in society, legally, politically and socially. Next after Yemen on UN`S Gender Empowerment list. Women are´nt allowed to own land or run a business.50% of the girls are married before they are 18, and 80% give birth without health-personnel to help them.

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This is harsh reading. I had several wake-up calls just researching this post.

Norway is one of the world´s top countries when it comes to equal rights based on gender, and I am happy to live here where I have so many possibilities and rights. Women can stay at home for a year with full salary after giving birth, for instance. But there is still a 15% salary-gap, that frankly shouldn´t be there. So we still have a road to travel here too.

A few more facts from CARE International:

Six out of ten of world’s poorest people are still women and girls

Two thirds of all children shut outside the school gates are girls

The majority of civilian casualties in conflicts are women and children

Sexual violence is increasingly used as a method of war. In Rwanda, up to 500,000 women were raped during the 1994 genocide. In Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, an estimated 60,000 women were raped during the 1990s conflict.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the death rate of women was at least three times higher than that of men in some communities

Women own just 1 percent of land in the world, according to UNDP, while they produce most of the food worlwide

Every minute, another woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth

So much to do, so many ways to do it! Come on girls, let´s make that change! Find one way of doing just one thing. We can make a difference.

That is why I am more than in awe of those who are brave enough to venture out on expeditions. Into the unknown is one thing. When that unknown is -30 degrees, icy and windy, it´s no less than heroic. Or insane. Probably both.

Nonetheless, Norway has a couple of Arctic heros that truly deserve honor, Fritjof Nansen being one of them. This picture is onboard Skandi Arctic, that I made artwork for last year.

Oh, and you know what. These wonderfully brave explorers aren´t all last century. I met an old friend at the theatre in Bergen this weekend. She´d crossed (most of) Greenland on skis when she was younger. In deep respect I take my hat off for you, Marita!

But my sister has a good suggestion: Go sleeping-fly-hunting, be careful as you gather them, arrange them on a piece of paper, and draw little landscapes for them to “act” in. Pop over to her blog to see more pictures. I just thought they were so funny, I had to share. Unfortunately I don´t know who came up with the idea originally.

Actually I am about to fly away! In just a couple of weeks I am heading for the States. I will tell you more about my trip later (it is the perfect combination of business and pleasure!), but as for now, do any of you have must-see recommendations for San Francisco, Las Vegas (not into gambling), Portland, Seattle and Chicago?

Anyway. Those of you who aren´t from Scandinavia, should really consider finding out about these private schools if you have a kid that´s around 18-19 years. They are excellent: living in dormatories, no exams, no grades, you make your own curriculum together with the class and the teacher, you choose subjects that you want to learn more about (find out what to do with your life) like arts/crafts, sports, music, dance, theatre, kitchen catering, international studies and so on, you get to travel, and you get to learn a whole bunch about yourself. And others. Sound like utopia? It´s not, it´s been my everyday life for , well, actually 14 years (I´ve been at another couple of schools too). The only thing it requires from the students is to show up and take active part in the year. And to restrain from drugs and alcohol. And generally behave relatively nice. I cannot recommend this warm enough. It´s a safe first year away from home, on the verge of growing up and into adulthood. There are sometimes foreign students at the school, this year there´s a girl from Wisconsin. Actually there are about 80 different schools like this in Norway, and you can read more about them here (in English), and I think about 10% of all Norwegian youths take a year like this. But Bømlo Folkehøgskule is the one closest to my heart

Anyway. I was asked to come help one of the teachers (my former student Heid! Yaiks! Time flies by! I´m so proud of her!) She was starting a new project in her Re-design class on reupholstering and refurbishing furniture. Yessss! Fun!

I started of with a crash-course in fabric-painting, moved on to another crash-course in machine-embroidery, and then some paint-techniques for wood, like marbling, staining, and such.

Here are some pictures from our day:

Demonstrating fabric painting.

Using one of my fun-foam portrait-stamps.

Not bad…

Placing it on the back-piece of the chair.

… and stapling it in place

On to the machine-embroidery. Drawing with the sewing machine.

Mix the embroidery with applique, and what do you get?

A love-bird for the chair? The bird is still not finished, but it might make a good alternative for a chair.

Ida liked the machine-embroidery, and spent most of the day making decor for bracelets and hairbands and broaches and…

Kristian had just joined the class a couple of weeks ago, and is becoming good friends with the sewing machine.

Here is his cow, half-way in the making. Isn´t it cute?!

And here is Nelly with her Nelliphant!

I had to put the teacher to work too, so here´s Heid painting an ordinary 70s kitchen-chair in BRIGHT yellow!

Heid working on the seat for the yellow POP-art chair. We´re using fun-foam stamps that I´ve made at an earlier occasion.

Not finished yet, but this will be cool!

From this (above) to this (below) in 6 hours:

Almost ready. Just need to staple the seat-fabric and tighten those screws.  This could make a fun kitchen-chair, don´t you think?

For this month´s giveaway, you´ll get an envelope with a bunch of my printed postcards. Some of them are made from Illustration Friday-designs, and a couple are reprints of art onboard ships.

Want to win?

As always there’s 3 ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on any of my posts in March, and get an entry.

2. If you leave a comment on the Celebrate March post  with a suggestion to how we can Celebrate April, you get 2 entries!

3. Promote my giveaway on your blog and get 3 entries! Feel free to pull this image to use on your blog. And don’t forget to leave me a comment so I know you did.

Anne Helen Robberstad

Despite her surname, we are not related. She´s an artist too, and works mainly with photography and video-art. Head on over to her blog to have a look at what she works with.