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Marjolaine's entry
Entry 9 of 79 | show all | print this entry |
My first experience in Africa six years ago greatly enriched my understanding of the developing world. In 2000 I traveled to Ghana with my husband and daughters aged 9 and 7. We stayed among Ghanaians in a rented house in Kumasi for almost 6 weeks. Because of the nature of our work, we had guests stay with us almost the entire time we were there. The house was hooked up to local electricity, but we soon found out that it would be regularly cut off for no apparent reason. Cooking on an electric stove was a real lottery (if you lost you had to quickly shift pots to a hastily lit charcoal stove). Keeping food fresh in our small used refrigerator was no sure thing either due to the frequent power outages. We supposedly had running water, but spent up to a week at a time without it as it too sometimes stopped with no warning. It was good that my husband had been in Africa enough times to prepare for such a situation. As soon as we arrived in Kumasi, he purchased new plastic garbage containers, stationed them in the bathrooms and filled them with water. These became our reserve tanks when our water was shut off. This was water we used for cooking, washing dishes and clothes, cleaning, bathing and flushing the toilets (which sometimes became a luxury). When the tanks were empty, we would, if we could, carry them outside during rainstorms (it was the rainy season) to collect more. Once we had to pay people to refill them by hand, but the quality of the water was so poor we could only use it for the toilettes. These experiences were really very small inconveniences compared to the every day challenges of people here, in particular the women.
As in Ghana, French-speaking Africa is lacking in infrastructure. Not so much because of a lack of resources but mostly because of a lack of education and of widespread corruption. A minority of people has running water at home, and electricity is frequently interrupted even for that part of people who have access to it. Women have a very hard lot in this part of the world. Most get up before the sun rises to fetch the water and/or wood necessary for the day. They carry the water or the wood on their heads sometimes for long distances. Some may even have a baby tied on their back as they do this. If there are children, they are responsible to get the water and they too often carry it on their heads. The women then cook what they have on small charcoal stoves. The kitchen is often set outside their lodging, or in some villages, in a separate mud-brick hut.
Whether women have six or seven children as is common in rural villages in Togo, or fewer as in cities like Lomé, extra mouths to feed require that women contribute to the family income. Many are involved in buying and selling food and essentials in makeshift markets or along streets. They often carry their wares on their heads, moving quite gracefully in spite of the burden. I've seen a few running carefully towards potential clients while gently balancing everything. In the heat of the day, which is draining, we see some sleeping wherever they can, often directly on the grass or on hard chair or bench.
As we drive around cities, I am reminded of the harsh treatment many women receive in this part of the world, where women have less status than men. There is now a publicity campaign underway in francophone Africa to improve the lot of women and to limit the spread of AIDS. One billboard we saw said: "Un vrai homme ne forcerait jamais une femme à lui faire l'amour". Translation (mine) « A real man would never force a woman to make love with him ». It reminded me of an experience we had in Ghana in 2000 when my husband introduced me to a group of men and women as "my best friend." He shocked everyone there. A lady took me apart to tell me that such a concept is unheard of in Africa. She said men would only think of other men as potential best friends, women being inferior to them. Another time I also had a group of women ask me how they could stop having children. After asking a few questions to one of the most informed among them, I found out that they did have access to birth control provided freely by foreign aid organizations in their areas, but that many men just refused to use it. One woman had so many children that she asked me resignedly if I wouldn't take her youngest child home with me, because she just had too much work, and I could provide more for him than she could! I tried to encourage her, telling her babies are always happiest with their mothers; but that woman's despair has stayed with me ever since.
Another billboard that we've seen several times says: "Toutes les filles à l'école" which means "All the girls (need to go) to school". In principle school is free here, but in reality fees and charges mean a year of primary school costs up to the equivalent of 60 or 70 US dollars (when most sub-Saharan Africans are living on less than a dollar a day). At the same time, some parents have their children start working at a young age to help the family gain some income. If the family can't afford for all the children to go to school, often the boys will be chosen to go and the girls will be set to work, even if the girls are more academically able. (That is something that made our own young daughters very mad. They said it was so unfair!).
Strangely to our western way of thinking, boys are considered more important than girls. Sometimes people in Ghana would look at our two daughters and ask about our boy, since a family without a boy is considered incomplete. One time a man insisted incredulously that I must have a boy, and when I said we didn't have a son and didn't intend to have any more children, he said I must just have left him somewhere.
The ladies I have met on this trip have all been very kind to us. Their own families have been delighted that our entire family is visiting them. Many have seen my husband periodically over the course of ten years, and are now excited to meet our children (especially) and me for the very first time. The girls and I are thrilled to have the chance to meet them too.
I'm hoping to ask Mrs. Ougoudélé, here in Benin, if I can spend a day with her observing what she does through the day. Fiona and Tatiana are not sure they want to come along yet. I understand, since I know it wasn't easy for us in Ghana and yet we lived in privileged circumstances...
There is so much more I could say about the women here but I will keep some for later...
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