Be Interactive organizes running and walking sessions for socially isolated women, most of whom are Muslim. Started in Amsterdam in 2005, the program now serves several other Dutch cities.
Women Win works together with Be Interactive to document best practices and create guidelines, supporting organizations for socially isolated women. A recent external evaluation of Be Interactive by groups in Geuzenveld, Amsterdam, highlighted the following findings: The top two forms of empowerment identified by the women questioned were "self-confidence" and "body awareness." Almost all respondents asserted that more women and girls within the community have started to do sport. This is because there were more Muslim women in the community running with Be Interactive, which encouraged other women to join Be Interactive too. Respondents stated that what enabled these women to join was that its participants helped other women in the community to gain consent from their husbands - a barrier prior to participation.
"When I ran my first 5K race without stopping once, I knew I could push other boundaries in my life I considered impossible until that moment; like going back to school, and having a job."
- Zainab Makhlouf, director
In 2008, Zohra, a 40 year-old mother of two and project leader of one of Be InterACTive's running groups located in Osdorp, Amsterdam, realized that a little persuasion was needed on her behalf to get women in her neighbourhood to take part in her running project. Most of the women, the majority belonging to the Moroccan Dutch community, previously had little involvement in organized community activities outside their homes and had concerns about the purpose of the project, as well as their safety.