Short Biography of MARIA SPELTERINI, MEGAN HINE, MOHAMED TAHER, | 200 Words | in English
Biography of MARIA SPELTERINI in Short
(1853-1912)
Niagara Falls is the name given to three thundering waterfalls that sit on the border between Canada and America. The falls are over 12,000 years old, over a mile wide, and drop over seventy Olympic swimming pools worth of water every minute.
They are devastatingly beautiful and extremely dangerous. Even now, they continue to claim lives, year after year. as people fall in by accident.
But Maria wasn’t afraid.
Born in Italy, Maria was raised in a circus troupe and began performing at the age of three. When she grew up, she toured alone across Europe, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to America.
At the age of only twenty-three, Maria performed a daring feat to celebrate the 100th anniversary of America gaining independence from Great Britain. On a wire that was only 5.7 centimeters thick, she crossed the almost hundred-meter-long Niagara Gorge as the waters raged below her. Audiences were stunned. Maria thought it was easy.
So she made another attempt, a few days later. This time she wore huge woven baskets on her feet.
Still, too easy.
A week later, she crossed again. This time completely blindfolded.
And she made it.
In her final crossing, Maria walked with her arms and legs chained together. She still managed the entire tightrope walk without faltering
Maria wasn’t always so lucky. On May 5th, 1877, she was crossing a tightrope on a bicycle when it broke and she fell from a great height. The audience was shocked and terrified.
Maria survived, proof of the astonishing and amazingly dangerous things human beings are capable of.
Biography of MEGAN HINE in Short
(BORN 1984)
If you were ever stuck on a tropical island, lost in a jungle, or stranded in a desert, Megan is the person you would want by your side. She knows which bugs to eat, how to start a fire, and the best way to filter your own pee if you ever need to drink it.
Megan always felt trapped as a child. She yearned to be outside in nature, having adventures, rather than stuck in a grey classroom staring at textbooks. Playing tennis at school, she’d hit the ball as hard as she could out of the court so that she could spend the rest of the lesson hunting through the wild undergrowth for it.
Megan joined the military cadets when she was a teenager as a way of spending more time outdoors. It saw her white-water kayaking, ice climbing. and heading off on long treks through the country.
She’s since taught off-road driving in the Lake District and rafting in the Alps. Now Megan spends most of the year on her own in the wilderness. With just a backpack, some medicine, and an ax, she cuts her own path through jungles and up mountains, searching for locations to be used in survival TV programs.
There have been some close calls. One night in the Namibian desert, Megan woke to find lions circling her campfire. Another time, while leading an expedition through Thailand, she stumbled upon a drug farm and was chased for hours by farmers armed with machine guns. She’s been stalked by bears, bitten by snakes, and trapped by avalanches, but Megan wouldn’t want any other kind of life.
What advice would she give to her younger self? Megan says, ‘I would show her no matter how bizarre or far-fetched her dream is, there is a way to overcome the obstacles.
Biography of MOHAMED TAHER in Short
A recent report by the United Nations found that 99 3% of Egyptian women said they were being harassed simply for walking down the street. They were touched, shouted at, and made to feel unsafe. Given the conditions, many women preferred to stay at home.
Inspired by the project of a photographer called Dane Shitagi n which professional ballerina was photographed on the streets of New York, Mohamed wondered whether a similar idea could help the women of Cairo to reclaim the streets of their city.
He got in contact with all the dancers he could find. We got a lot of comments from girls saying they want to do this he said. They want to dance on the street. They want to feel free.
With his camera and various dancers, Mohamed headed out onto the streets of Cairo. They left early in the mornings, for the clearest light and to avoid the crowds and Mohamed captured images of the women expressing themselves openly and without fear. The grace and beauty of ballet placed against The hectic roughness of bustling city streets made for a beautiful series of photographs and a powerful message of no longer living in fear.
Although some women were initially hesitant about taking part afraid of the reactions they’d get from people walking past, the responses were almost all positive. Most people were surprised but excited to find ballerinas in the streets of their traditionally conservative country. They would stop the ballerinas politely and ask for photos, posing alongside them.
Egyptian authorities have now increased the punishment for sexual harassment. But changing laws doesn’t necessarily mean changing minds Mohamed hopes that projects such as his will help change further how the women of Egypt are viewed and treated.