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Published: June 23rd 2010
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Gender: the wide set of characteristics that are seen to distinguish between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity So my participants have all arrived, orientation is almost complete and I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the program! It’s hard to believe that only 4 days ago, we were all relatively strangers as everyone has bonded so well already. Both Fran and I have teams that couldn’t have been better picked for us. My participants are all really amazing individuals and I am completely blown away by each of them. They are a mature, like minded bunch who are so positive and genuinely passionate about doing ‘good’ in this world. They are also absolutely pumped to get into the program and start working….how good (as my good friend Miss Jess would say)!
Yesterday we made the bumpy bus trek from Nairobi to Kisumu (with our driver side swiping another bus and tipping us onto two wheels at one point) and then officially kicked off “orientation” by taking our groups to an organisation called TEMAK, who do some inspiring work helping to support teenage mothers in
the Kisumu district. The founder of the organisation, Filamino, is an incredible women who was inspired to take action when her two older sisters were abused by men, became pregnant, and eventually passed away because of a variety of Kenyan cultural customs and norms that put women lower than men. She spoke to us about how at only 17, she knew that this was not right and wanted to fight for a better life for young women.
The issue of teen pregnancy in Kenya is a big one and for a number of reasons. One is safe sex and the lack of education around it. Sex is often a taboo subject which leaves young girls with no-one to talk to or turn to. Once a teenage girl becomes pregnant, she will have to drop out of school, leaving her with a newborn baby, uneducated and with no way of earning an income. Polygamy, rape, peer pressure, and poverty are all factors that are increasing teenage pregnancy and multiplying the issue. In Kenyan society, the woman is also expected to not only single handily raise the children, but also provide food, health care and shelter for her family.
I
was simultaneously inspired and dejected listening to Filamino speak about these issues. As a group of volunteers from Australia, there are 14 of us….13 females and only one male (lucky guy you might think but don’t worry we have been giving him his fair share of stick) and many of our participants were the same ages of the girls we met and spoke with. Talk about a reality check!
So we were all completely touched by this experience and the work the organisation is doing, however one of the things that really helped put it into context for me was that just moments before we had arrived, I had probably my worst encounter with a male in all of my time in Africa. To cut a long story short, there was a mix up with tuk tuk drivers (which is rather easy to do…trust me) and we had called a driver to organise transport for us, and now didn’t need it. So we were out the front of our hotel when this guy started getting angry at me and yelling that I had wasted his and his driver’s time. I was sincerely sorry so apologized profusely and explained that
it was simply a mix up but that we had already bartered and paid other drivers so were sticking with them. This guy then followed me over to my tuk tuk and stood at the side of the door yelling into my face in both English and Swahili, ordering me to fix this problem. I grew some balls and “sledged him” so to speak but it was not without more heated exchange. As we drove off I was shaking and feeling about as big as a mouse after facing it off with a 6 foot, god knows how many pound, black as the night sky Kenyan man.
Overall I was fine, everyone was safe and sound, and we were away from crazy yelling guy, so I got my composure and was back feeling myself by the time we arrived (enough to actually help our diver get our tuk tuk out of mud after he got us bogged along the way…but that’s another story). So in the end it was no big deal, however while listening to Filamino speak about the impact male dominance has had on teenage girls, and after meeting many of these girls myself and speaking with
them, the thought of this guy stayed with me. If I had lost my nerve after dealing with this guy for about 30 seconds, and I am a somewhat confident white female who has grown up in a world where gender equality flourishes, how the hell did young Kenyan girls who lack self confidence, education, and support stand a chance?
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