Empowerment and travel event for women – The Star Online

Zafigo.com is a platform which gathers a community of women travellers, said Marina the founder of the women travel website. EBBY SAIFUL/The Star.

What is apparently the first empowerment and travel event dedicated to women in Asia will take place from Aug 29 to 31 in Penang.

ZafigoX is exclusively for women who share a passion for travelling, said Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir (pic) at the media launch in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

ZafigoX is the brainchild of Marina, who is also the founder of Zafigo.com.

I believe that travel is an indirect but very powerful way of empowering women to be more self-confident and independent.

As we venture out of our geographic boundaries, especially alone, we also open our minds to going beyond societal and mental boundaries too.

It is this awakening that empowers us to choose the lives we truly want to live. From this belief, both Zafigo.com and ZafigoX have sprung, said Marina.

Founded in 2014, Zafigo.com is a platform for women to share safety tips, guides and stories of their travels so other women could learn and be inspired by them.

Marina said it would be a safe haven for women travellers to discuss personal challenges and exchange invaluable knowledge and experiences.

She added that it was aimed at enlightening women about the practical things they should take note of when they travel alone.

Under the umbrella of ZafigoX, there will be various activities in store, namely talks and workshops conducted by international and local women speakers.

The panels will be mediated by Marina, Travel & BE founder Anita Ahmad, Vbuzz executive producer Sumitra Selvaraj and Kudsia+Co co-founder and chief executive officer Kudsia Kahar.

Among the speakers will be Manal al-Sharif, who led a right to drive campaign in Saudi Arabia, South Korean Jin Jeong who cycled solo over 63,000km around the world for six years, and Malaysias Petrina Thong who hitchhiked from Sweden to Malaysia.

The workshops include one on self-defence by Malaysian MMA fighter Ann Osman and a travel photography masterclass from multi-award winning photographer Brendan O Se.

A public bazaar at the event will give local women artisans an opportunity to showcase their products and facilitate business networking.

We are happy and proud to be the first to bring an event like ZafigoX to Asia and use this opportunity to inspire and empower women.

We feel that this event will benefit women who want to try something new by providing them with insights on travelling to different countries, said Marina.

Zafigo.com strategy and development officer James Chong said: Although there are limited slots for participants, most of the panels and workshop sessions will be recorded and released on Zafigo.com.

That way, the spirit and beliefs of Zafigo.com could be nurtured and reach more aspiring women travellers.

ZafigoX, which is set to host 300 women participants, will be held at the Royale Chulan Penang Hotel in conjunction with George Town Festival 2017. For details, visit http://www.zafigo.com/zafigox.

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Empowerment and travel event for women - The Star Online