Issuu

SPECIAL

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WE, WOMEN Sometimes encounters turn out to be journeys that take us far away, into the world, into time. This is what happened on my trip to Iran, a journey I have yet to make physically but which I made spiritually through the experience of coming into contact with some of the Iranian women of the Arab horse, with their words, with their writings. Thanks eternally to Shery and her generosity, patience and friendship with which she accompanied me on this journey of discovery of a world I did not know and which I now see better and with new eyes, with an unexpected glance. Thanks to her and the way she has embraced the We Women Project, I have come to know many women, 10 to be precise including Shery, whose stories are on the next pages and are stories of care, of love, of strength. In addition to the ten stories, there is a special one, the one you will read first, in Shery’s words. It is the story of Mary Leila Gharagozlou, a woman whom many have met and who really marked and changed me. Mary was an extraordinary woman who changed history, whose life was dedicated to horses, to her love for them, to the respect that she bestowed on these marvellous creatures throughout her life, and to the great work that she did and that allowed the recognition, and therefore the preservation, worldwide of the Asil Arabian breed and its tradition and descendants. But what marked me most about Mary’s story was her ability to be above every impediment, every limitation, the determination with which she lived and managed all her incredible work, a strength that allowed her to touch so many lives in a profound way, made her go through and overcome great challenges and in the end took

by Giorgia Mauri

her beyond the physical time we are allowed, to speak to us still today through her story and to inspire us anew. This means that we are stronger than everything, time, adversity, it means that our stories move the world, touch lives, change balances, and therefore we all have a great responsibility: that of doing things well, of doing good and putting it into our own lives and the lives of others, without limits, believing in what we do and always looking towards the goal, passing the baton to others at some point. Thank you Mary for having lived such a full life and for having taught those around you, thank you for having believed so strongly to make this inspiration still possible today, which remains in the words and memories of those who knew you and remains as an indelible legacy to draw on every day, an inexhaustible source of strength. It is a great honour for me to have been able to meet Shery and all the Iranian women in this edition of We Women. It is a privilege to have read Mary’s story and to have been able to gather information, photos, words and to have been able to talk to some of the people who knew her and shared so much with her. I hope that the strength of these women, Mary, Shery, Hilda, Shirin, Homeira, TajGol, Negin, Golnaz, Sama, Juan and Kimia, will reach you as it has reached me, I hope that our closeness, as women in the world and here, in the Arabian horses and on the pages of We Women, will be the engine of an unstoppable evolutionary step. I hope that the words of these extraordinary women will reach as many people as possible, inspire you and be a friend to you, wherever you are and whatever road you are on.