Fardouza Farah sets out to advocate for women, survivors of sexual assault

Fardouza Farah

sets out to advocate for women, survivors of sexual assault

By EMILY KAHNKE emily.kahnke@apgsomn.com

In October of last year, an Owatonna High School student took the stage at the Women’s March in Minneapolis before more than 10,000 people to speak about and advocate for reproductive freedom for all women.

Throughout her high school career, Fardouza Farah has been making waves both locally and internationally with her advocacy work. Notably acting as president of the Minnesota Youth Against Sexual Violence (YASV) for the last two years, Farah leads the state chapter of the nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to making strides towards justice for sexual violence survivors.

“I stumbled upon this my sophomore year and I was really passionate about the topic,” Farah said. “I feel like these issues get ignored or shoved under the rug, so I thought I would get involved — especially because Minnesota is lacking in that area in comparison to the rest of the country.”

As president of the Minnesota chapter, Farah is responsible for meeting with state senators, organizing fundraisers and other events. She also is responsible for being a speaker at many of the events. She recalled giving her speech at the rally, saying it was incredible and honoring to be able to speak about topics she was passionate about. During her speech, she revealed that she was 17 at the time and was blown away by the reaction of the crowd.

“A lot of people couldn’t believe I was 17,” Farah said. “It was really cool to see their reaction, and it gave me some confidence in that I might actually be making a difference.”

Farah has been working with the organization and Minnesota legislators to change laws surrounding people convicted of sexual assault claiming parental rights to children, specifically children conceived as a result of the assault, and said the lobbying work she has done is doing well at this point in time. The group also provides sexual education through webinars and educational information through social media pages.

Coming to Minnesota

Growing up in a turbulent time in South Africa until she was 12, Farah witnessed many protests surrounding the femicide that was occurring at the time, along with and the many racial issues and injustices happening simultaneously. She recalled protests happening throughout the country and in her

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In her spare time, Fardouza Farah enjoys hanging out at the arcade at Sparetime Entertainment with her friends. (Photo courtesy of Fardouza Farah)

Fardouza Farah is one of 150 students across the nation to receive a $20,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. Less 0.25% of applicants are chosen to receive the scholarship. (Emily Kahnke/southernminn.com)

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“It was hard to digest as a kid,” Farah said. “There were peaceful protests, but also a lot of not-sopeaceful protests. The protests surrounding racial issues in my neighborhood tended to not be very peaceful.”

When her family initially left South Africa, they settled in Rhode Island for a year before moving to Rochester to be closer to other family members, finally settling in Owatonna following her father working in the city.

It was here where she was establishing her roots, allowing her participation in extracurricular activities and advocacy work to increase. Minnesota students to represent the state as a delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program. She also received a $10,000 scholarship to continue her educational development. Typically, the winners would take a trip to Washington D.C. to see the nation’s government in action. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trip was a virtual one. Farah was still able to speak with many politicians and legislators, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden.

“That was a really cool experience, even though it was virtual,” Farah said. “My goal is to lead a political campaign across Minnesota, so it was great to see the country’s government at work and to meet with all the national politicians.”

The qualifications needed to receive the scholarship included being an active participant in student council and other leadership positions, which Farah excels at. In school, she is involved in Mock trial, Speech, National Honor Society, SHOC, Green Team, Girls United, Link Crew and Colorguard. In fact, Farah is the first person to wear a hijab and join the Owatonna High School Colorguard.

“I love my color team. That made it a lot easier for me to adjust, sometimes I felt singled out because my costume had to have modifications and the parades in the summer get really hot because of the extras to my costume, but I remember one parade where there were kids and their mom were also wearing a hijab and they seemed really excited seeing me down there,” Farah recalled. “It was a really cool reaction, and I ended up breaking down in front of my color team later because it was so sweet to see me being an inspiration to other kids like me to do things they wouldn’t normally consider doing.” Farah also participates on the executive board of the International Central Asian Project, where she tutors a group of girls in Kyrgyzstan twice a week as well as helps with all of the scheduling involved, tutoring the girls and helping them learn English. Farah cofounded the FL tutoring service, which is a nonprofit organization in Minnesota that provides free tutoring for lowincome students.

“I speak Somali and English, so it’s really fun to help them learn a new language,” Farah said. “They really want to learn, and it’s so gratifying to be part of that experience.”

Fardouza Farah (second from left) is the oldest in her family, with two younger brothers. She said her mother has served as one of her biggest role models throughout her life. (Photo courtesy of Fardouza Farah)

While speaking in front of 10,000 people at a rally for the Women’s March, Fardouza Farah was able to meet with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. (Photo courtesy of Fardouza Farah)

Accolades and fun times

Among other things, Farah was one of the less than 0.25% of the 68,000 applicants chosen to receive a $20,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, she was one of just 150 scholars chosen from across the nation this year.

Fardouza Farah recalled giving her speech at the rally saying it was incredible and honoring to be able to speak about topics she was passionate about. During her speech she revealed that she was 17 at the time and was blown away by the reaction of the crowd. (Photo courtesy of Fardouza Farah) Fardouza Farah recalled after her first colorguard parade, she broke down in front of her teammates following some children in the crowd being inspired by her being the first member of the team wearing a hijab. (Photo courtesy of Fardouza Farah)

Owatonna High School students Fardouza Farah (left) and Wilo Omot (right) spoke at a vigil for George Floyd and other impacted by police brutality in 2021. (File/ southernminn.com)

“She has an unlimited ability to take hold of her life and her future. She is gifted at debate and has proven that through speech and mock trial competitions. She is an exemplary student and she is going to be a star.”

— Owatonna Superintendent Jeff Elstad on Fardouza Farah

Last summer, she also worked with Minnesota Planned Parenthood to organize volunteers to knock on doors and participate in a phone bank with the intention to encourage and educate people about the COVID-19 vaccine. hours a week throughout the summer as my summer job,” Farah said. “We were able to make a huge impact on the community and spoke with more than 10,000 people over the summer.” as she puts it. Despite having a busy schedule, she frequently makes time to hang out with her friends at Sparetime Entertainment playing arcade games and has brunch at Central Park Coffee every Saturday. my schedule in my head, and I always make time to be with friends and hang out and have fun. Enjoying the simpler parts of life make things seem less hectic to me, but being busy doesn’t feel like a burden. I have fun doing everything because I am so passionate about all the things I’m involved in. ” Superintendent Jeff Elstad said he is continuously impressed by the strides Farah makes, both academically and personally.

“She has an unlimited ability to take hold of her life and her future. She is gifted at debate and has proven that through speech and mock trial competitions,” Elstad said. “She is an exemplary student and she is going to be a star.”

Looking ahead

Following graduation, Farah plans to attend college for political science with a pre-law track. She said she has applied to a dozen colleges across the nation. Though she has yet to choose a school, she said if she were to get an acceptance letter from Yale University, she would like to go there to pursue a career as a lawyer. “I think with a law degree and being a lawyer I wouldn’t want to work in a corporate law setting,” Farah said. “I’d really like to work with non-profit organizations.”

Farah also said she would be interested in holding some sort of elected office in the future, but whether that’s at a local or national level, she has yet to decide.

“I do think that legislators kind of have the most power in this country in making changes,” Farah said, adding that she plans to continue to be a fierce advocate and leader for positive change.

Reach Reporter Emily Kahnke at 507-4442376. ©Copyright 2022 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.