WORDS OF WISDOM IN MONACO
girls ; it ’ s not something that I wanted , because when you do humanitarian things , you don ’ t push the local people . A lot of people ask me , « Why only girls ?» You have to know that in India , boys can easily go to school and there is no danger for them in going . For girls , it ’ s totally different . They can be raped during a walk to school ; it happens every day . For boys , they benefit from the philosophy there that the level of men is higher than women , so that some think that there ’ s no need to educate girls . The majority of locals did want a school in the village , but some of them were a little unsure . But now , due to its success , we have a waiting list and most of the villagers want to offer education to the girls .
I visit every year to spend one month with them in the village and the villagers know me . I wear traditional clothes and I ’ m totally integrated . And when you are integrated , it ’ s much easier to talk to the people . One thing I have to work on is marriage . Because child weddings are a tradition . There are children that are 6 or even 5 years old who are getting married . It ’ s an old tradition in those castes because the village is that of a lower caste , the untouchable caste . So , step by step we try talking to them to start an evolution regarding child weddings . We organized a meeting with the parents , the mayor of the village and with some people from the government and we said , « Maybe you could stop child weddings — or if you want to offer your daughter to a family , because it ’ s a tradition , maybe you could wait until the age of 16 ». At the beginning it was a little difficult , but we had zero marriages last year , so we are happy with that . Because it ’ s really sad . We have a story of one girl who left the school and the village because of this problem . She was 15 years old and she didn ’ t want to , but she left the village all the same .
HM : Do the children have a better chance of obtaining a higher education afterwards ?
Annie Battaglia and Martine Ackermann playing with the schoolgirls of SNEH school in India
© Martine Ackermann
MA : Yes . We have three students , one of them learned Sanskrit , which is very difficult to study , another one is in university now . So it ’ s very motivating for the girls and even for the families . Normally , if you are born in a caste , you stay in the caste . There is a lower caste , a middle caste and a high caste , it ’ s a social thing you can ’ t change . Modi , for example , was from the chaiwala caste and now he ’ s the Prime Minister of India . at the table . Sometimes I was more « cool » and we could watch TV and eat in front of the TV , because that ’ s something we ’ re not normally allowed to do . But a family home is not a hotel and there are rules . It ’ s not like waking up one morning on holiday and you just wait for your lunch , it ’ s not like that with me , there are rules . On holiday , they can wake up at 12 , but here they have to walk the dog , they have to prepare the table for lunch or dinner . Then ,
Carla Ackermann and Martine Ackermann distributing books at Trestha school in India built by Child CARE Monaco
HM : Talking about the lockdown and COVID situation , it has affected people in different ways . Some people experienced depression , some people learned from the situation . What about you , did you learn any lessons from it ? Did it change your mind about certain things ?
MA : Yes , it changed my mind , in a good way , I guess . First , we had no choice . From one day to the next , we could not go outside , we could not go to a restaurant , we could not go shopping , we could not go for a walk . It was something we were not prepared for . It ’ s the first time I lived through something like that . We all had to live together in the house , 24 hours a day , with teenagers and with my husband . At the beginning , we had a meeting and I said , « Ok , we will live like this for one month at least , so there will be rules . Everyday , someone has to cook ».
HM : Even your children ?
MA : Oh yes , even the kids , they cooked what they wanted , but they had to cook . Every morning when we woke up , we put nice clothes on , I had my make-up on every day , no pyjamas , that was a part of the rules . And we ate lunch everyday
I realized that I had to do something , because it started to get boring for me , so I decided to make a show on my balcony everyday .
HM : During lockdown , every day , you performed here on your terrasse , singing the national anthems of different countries , which is really supportive of the international community here in Monaco .
MA : Yes , that was the idea .
© Martine Ackermann
HM : How did you come up with the idea to sing the national anthems of different countries ?
MA : First of all , I was inspired by the Italians , because they really made a party every night . Of course , the situation was dramatic for everyone , for us as well . Instead of having bad feelings and living in negativity , I took the idea from the Italians to sing everyday , to choose a country first and then to sing the national anthem . And to talk about the country as well . It took three hours everyday to research information about the country I chose . My neighbours were there every night at 6:45 waiting for me . Sometimes I was late and I could hear « Martine ! Martine !» I was here for 43 days and everyday I chose a different
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