It is very encouraging to learn how our CFUW members are positively engaged in making a difference in the world! Our very own Kathryn Wilkinson, VP Education followed her life long passion and took her teaching skills on the road all the way to Tanzania to work with village girls to raise their level of education. This is a repeat trip for Kathryn to work on an initiative that is dear to her heart. Her testimonial introduces the reader to a world that seems so remote from Canadian sensibilities, yet we know the world is shrinking and it is possible to participate in reshaping outcomes for women and girls globally.
Kathryn’s account describes the cultural norms, stressors for women/girls and the initiatives led by a Canadian organization that addresses gap areas in community development. She links these initiatives to the Sustainable Development Goals agreed to by the United Nations member states.
We can all be proud of Kathryn’s active engagement in making a difference in the world. If you have an international project you or your club is involved in supporting, do share your story with me. Good news warms the heart and lifts the spirit. By sharing your story with others you’ll increase the consciousness of hope and multiply the practice of giving.
Cheryl Hayles, VP International Relations
Kathryn’s account describes the cultural norms, stressors for women/girls and the initiatives led by a Canadian organization that addresses gap areas in community development. She links these initiatives to the Sustainable Development Goals agreed to by the United Nations member states.
We can all be proud of Kathryn’s active engagement in making a difference in the world. If you have an international project you or your club is involved in supporting, do share your story with me. Good news warms the heart and lifts the spirit. By sharing your story with others you’ll increase the consciousness of hope and multiply the practice of giving.
Cheryl Hayles, VP International Relations
Testimonial by Kathryn Wilkinson, VP Education
“Educating girls is a sure way to raise economic productivity, lower child and maternal mortality, improve nutritional status and health, reduce poverty, and eliminate HIV/AIDS and other diseases.” UNICEF
The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017 and 20 delegates from CFUW will be in attendance. Attending CSW is an amazing experience and opportunity to network with other women’s organizations, politicians and policy makers. In March 2016, the focus of CSW was the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals. This past October/November, I spent a month in Longido, Tanzania and worked with a program for girls (PASS) who had just finished primary school and were waiting to hear if they had passed the state examination for admission to secondary school. It was my third visit to the same community and, reflecting on my trip, it appears to me that the problems faced by the community, and especially by the women and girls, are an example of the importance of the SDGs and, in particular, of the first seven of the seventeen: Poverty, Hunger and food security, Health, Education, Gender equality and women’s empowerment, Water and Sanitation. It was my privilege to work with a small Canadian Non Government Organization, TEMBO, that has been working in and with the community since 2004.
Tanzania has a young population with 44.1% of the country’s population aged below 15 years of age and the UN Human Development Index ranks Tanzania at 148 among 169 countries. Poverty is evident everywhere in the community and particularly in the outlying villages. Many of the girls arrived at the program with just the clothes on their backs. Many come from traditional bomas (mud huts) and staying in the hostel for the program was their first experience of a mattress, and a mosquito net. One day, we teachers noticed one of the girls wearing sandals (flip flops made from old tires) that were way too big. Her sandals had broken and she was borrowing shoes from the other girls to walk to class. Some girls arrive with no basic supplies, even underwear (Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere).
October/November is the season of the short rains but there had been a little rain since May. In the village, there are water taps but the water was rationed. In the outlying villages, women and girls walk to collect water. Animals get water first because the cattle are the bank account. When there is limited or no water, there is nothing with which to cook the basic food such as a thin porridge or ugali that is made from flour and water. It is not unusual to see children with enlarged rear skulls – a sign of water deprivation. At one of the outlying schools, local officials report that the World Food Program was contributing funds to provide a meal mid-day but they no longer receive this contribution because of perceived greater needs in war torn areas of the world. Many of the children have stopped attending school because they are too hungry to walk or because the thought of a meal motivated them to attend. (Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture).
UN Women in Tanzania reports that “discrimination, abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) is wide-spread and common due to patriarchal and traditional norms”. Longido is in the heart of the traditional Maasai community where men may take as many wives as they want and early and forced marriage is common. The ‘ideal’ age for a girl to marry is puberty so it is a challenge to protect girls from being forced into marriage, often as the second or third wife of a much older man. FGM is also widely practiced with all its attendant health issues. FGM has been illegal in Tanzania since 1998 but Mary, a Community Outreach worker and a Maasai woman, believes it is almost impossible to enforce and can only be changed through educating the community. A Maasai girl is taught to look forward to her ‘special time’. It is a celebration and she will receive gifts of clothing, jewelry and goats. Her family will be proud of her and she will be ready for marriage. Mary is the first Maasai woman in the community to hold an ‘alternative’ coming-of-age celebration for her daughter. She organized a big gathering of friends, neighbours and local officials. Only when the party was well underway did Mary announce that her daughter had not undergone circumcision and never would. It was an act of courage and Mary continues to work to persuade members of the local community to abandon FGM. Boys and girls in Longido are participating in the Sara-Juma Club funded by TEMBO and taught by Mary who has created a curriculum focusing on the needs of local adolescents: puberty, health and hygiene, importance of education, HIV/AIDS and FGM. Classes are held weekly for Standard 6 and use dance, music and drama. There is also a FEMA club for students in secondary school where they are taught about their rights for education, safety, sexual health. Sara-Juma classes are fun to attend but the message is very clear and most importantly it is being shared by boys and girls. On my first visit to a Sara-Juma Club, I was invited to teach a song in English. The students then reciprocated in Swahili. I asked what they were singing – Do Not Mutilate Me! The hope is that they will take the lessons they have learned back to their homes. (Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.)
According to UNESCO (2011), in regards to education, “Poor rural girls face the worst access conditions, and disparities tend to broaden at of the end of primary … Poor rural girls have virtually no opportunities to pursue secondary education.” According to the UN, in 2013 in Tanzania, primary enrolment was 87.4 females and 86.2 males per 100. Many boys start school later because they look after the herds but by secondary school the numbers start to change. 30.8 female to 33.7 males attend secondary school and for tertiary education the number is much lower: 2.5 female and 4.9 male. Education is a major focus of TEMBO. As of 2016, TEMBO has sponsored more than 230 girls to attend secondary school, outfitted them with their school supplies (all students board at an assigned school) and offered them ongoing support through academic enrichment programs during the school breaks.
In Tanzania, when students have completed four years of secondary school, some students qualify for vocational or teacher training programs. Since 2007, TEMBO has sponsored more than 26 young women to attend a two-year training program to become primary school teachers and supported 55 young women for vocational training programs. Many of the TEMBO sponsored students have chosen to study community development and are now working with local community-based organizations.
Each week, adults in three villages (Kimikouwa, Oldorko and Ranch) gather under a tree close to their traditional Maasai bomas for a Swahili literacy lesson (the Maasai speak Maa) and life skills class. The majority of participants are women and this is their first exposure to education. I watched a young mother struggle to hold a pencil while her toddler looked on and then tried to imitate her. One Wednesday in November, there were seven women in the class and between them they had 30+ children. Not one woman had attended school and only two of their children were attending. In a traditional Masaai community, such as Longido, there is limited value placed on education. Many children may be registered for school, but they do not attend. Where there is a choice, the brightest stay home to herd cattle. I visited a grade 6 classroom where the ages ranged from 10 – 16. Children start school at different ages; they drop out when needed by family.
Happy is well named and she currently works as a house girl in Longido. She passed the national exam at the end of primary school and completed two years of secondary school. The eldest of four children from a village near Kilimanjaro, she had to drop out of school when her father died to help support the family. When time allowed, she was working independently at the Longido Learning Centre studying to write the form 2 exams. Her dream was that her younger sisters would have an easier life than the one she was living. The Longido Learning Centre is a joint project between Longido District and TEMBO and officially opened in February 5, 2016. It is a centre for informal educational opportunities in Longido and offers resources and programs to all age groups as well as quiet space for independent study, meeting space for community groups and opportunities for Open University students. (Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all).
Access to toilet facilities is an issue for many women and especially for those in rural areas. Leaving home at dusk or dawn to find a ‘toilet facility’ is potentially dangerous. In Tanzania, for many women, menstruation is a time of “shame” and women seclude themselves in the boma for the duration or risk being shamed for being “dirty”. In June 2016, TEMBO introduced women in the remote villages surrounding Longido to a menstrual kit which includes panties, panty shields and washable liners. Kits were made and donated by volunteers in Canada and distributed through TEMBO. Sanitation in schools is also an issue. Tanzania is a poor country and Kimokouwa is an especially needy community. Last year, the elementary school, was closed for 2-3 months because the toilets were condemned. When the primary school results were announced in November, only 1 of 42 students in Standard 7 in Kimokouwa had sufficient education to achieve a mark that would get them into secondary school. In effect, their education was over after year 7. (Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all)
And finally, Goal 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Collecting firewood is another of the duties of women and girls. They can be seen walking through the bush weighed down by large bundles of wood. It is illegal to sell charcoal as deforestation is a major issue in the country but women can be seen with small piles of charcoal they have made for sale.
Perhaps the agents of change look like you. In Longido, there is evidence of the difference a small group of dedicated people can make in the lives of women and girls who need support.
“Educating girls is a sure way to raise economic productivity, lower child and maternal mortality, improve nutritional status and health, reduce poverty, and eliminate HIV/AIDS and other diseases.” UNICEF
The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017 and 20 delegates from CFUW will be in attendance. Attending CSW is an amazing experience and opportunity to network with other women’s organizations, politicians and policy makers. In March 2016, the focus of CSW was the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals. This past October/November, I spent a month in Longido, Tanzania and worked with a program for girls (PASS) who had just finished primary school and were waiting to hear if they had passed the state examination for admission to secondary school. It was my third visit to the same community and, reflecting on my trip, it appears to me that the problems faced by the community, and especially by the women and girls, are an example of the importance of the SDGs and, in particular, of the first seven of the seventeen: Poverty, Hunger and food security, Health, Education, Gender equality and women’s empowerment, Water and Sanitation. It was my privilege to work with a small Canadian Non Government Organization, TEMBO, that has been working in and with the community since 2004.
Tanzania has a young population with 44.1% of the country’s population aged below 15 years of age and the UN Human Development Index ranks Tanzania at 148 among 169 countries. Poverty is evident everywhere in the community and particularly in the outlying villages. Many of the girls arrived at the program with just the clothes on their backs. Many come from traditional bomas (mud huts) and staying in the hostel for the program was their first experience of a mattress, and a mosquito net. One day, we teachers noticed one of the girls wearing sandals (flip flops made from old tires) that were way too big. Her sandals had broken and she was borrowing shoes from the other girls to walk to class. Some girls arrive with no basic supplies, even underwear (Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere).
October/November is the season of the short rains but there had been a little rain since May. In the village, there are water taps but the water was rationed. In the outlying villages, women and girls walk to collect water. Animals get water first because the cattle are the bank account. When there is limited or no water, there is nothing with which to cook the basic food such as a thin porridge or ugali that is made from flour and water. It is not unusual to see children with enlarged rear skulls – a sign of water deprivation. At one of the outlying schools, local officials report that the World Food Program was contributing funds to provide a meal mid-day but they no longer receive this contribution because of perceived greater needs in war torn areas of the world. Many of the children have stopped attending school because they are too hungry to walk or because the thought of a meal motivated them to attend. (Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture).
UN Women in Tanzania reports that “discrimination, abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) is wide-spread and common due to patriarchal and traditional norms”. Longido is in the heart of the traditional Maasai community where men may take as many wives as they want and early and forced marriage is common. The ‘ideal’ age for a girl to marry is puberty so it is a challenge to protect girls from being forced into marriage, often as the second or third wife of a much older man. FGM is also widely practiced with all its attendant health issues. FGM has been illegal in Tanzania since 1998 but Mary, a Community Outreach worker and a Maasai woman, believes it is almost impossible to enforce and can only be changed through educating the community. A Maasai girl is taught to look forward to her ‘special time’. It is a celebration and she will receive gifts of clothing, jewelry and goats. Her family will be proud of her and she will be ready for marriage. Mary is the first Maasai woman in the community to hold an ‘alternative’ coming-of-age celebration for her daughter. She organized a big gathering of friends, neighbours and local officials. Only when the party was well underway did Mary announce that her daughter had not undergone circumcision and never would. It was an act of courage and Mary continues to work to persuade members of the local community to abandon FGM. Boys and girls in Longido are participating in the Sara-Juma Club funded by TEMBO and taught by Mary who has created a curriculum focusing on the needs of local adolescents: puberty, health and hygiene, importance of education, HIV/AIDS and FGM. Classes are held weekly for Standard 6 and use dance, music and drama. There is also a FEMA club for students in secondary school where they are taught about their rights for education, safety, sexual health. Sara-Juma classes are fun to attend but the message is very clear and most importantly it is being shared by boys and girls. On my first visit to a Sara-Juma Club, I was invited to teach a song in English. The students then reciprocated in Swahili. I asked what they were singing – Do Not Mutilate Me! The hope is that they will take the lessons they have learned back to their homes. (Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.)
According to UNESCO (2011), in regards to education, “Poor rural girls face the worst access conditions, and disparities tend to broaden at of the end of primary … Poor rural girls have virtually no opportunities to pursue secondary education.” According to the UN, in 2013 in Tanzania, primary enrolment was 87.4 females and 86.2 males per 100. Many boys start school later because they look after the herds but by secondary school the numbers start to change. 30.8 female to 33.7 males attend secondary school and for tertiary education the number is much lower: 2.5 female and 4.9 male. Education is a major focus of TEMBO. As of 2016, TEMBO has sponsored more than 230 girls to attend secondary school, outfitted them with their school supplies (all students board at an assigned school) and offered them ongoing support through academic enrichment programs during the school breaks.
In Tanzania, when students have completed four years of secondary school, some students qualify for vocational or teacher training programs. Since 2007, TEMBO has sponsored more than 26 young women to attend a two-year training program to become primary school teachers and supported 55 young women for vocational training programs. Many of the TEMBO sponsored students have chosen to study community development and are now working with local community-based organizations.
Each week, adults in three villages (Kimikouwa, Oldorko and Ranch) gather under a tree close to their traditional Maasai bomas for a Swahili literacy lesson (the Maasai speak Maa) and life skills class. The majority of participants are women and this is their first exposure to education. I watched a young mother struggle to hold a pencil while her toddler looked on and then tried to imitate her. One Wednesday in November, there were seven women in the class and between them they had 30+ children. Not one woman had attended school and only two of their children were attending. In a traditional Masaai community, such as Longido, there is limited value placed on education. Many children may be registered for school, but they do not attend. Where there is a choice, the brightest stay home to herd cattle. I visited a grade 6 classroom where the ages ranged from 10 – 16. Children start school at different ages; they drop out when needed by family.
Happy is well named and she currently works as a house girl in Longido. She passed the national exam at the end of primary school and completed two years of secondary school. The eldest of four children from a village near Kilimanjaro, she had to drop out of school when her father died to help support the family. When time allowed, she was working independently at the Longido Learning Centre studying to write the form 2 exams. Her dream was that her younger sisters would have an easier life than the one she was living. The Longido Learning Centre is a joint project between Longido District and TEMBO and officially opened in February 5, 2016. It is a centre for informal educational opportunities in Longido and offers resources and programs to all age groups as well as quiet space for independent study, meeting space for community groups and opportunities for Open University students. (Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all).
Access to toilet facilities is an issue for many women and especially for those in rural areas. Leaving home at dusk or dawn to find a ‘toilet facility’ is potentially dangerous. In Tanzania, for many women, menstruation is a time of “shame” and women seclude themselves in the boma for the duration or risk being shamed for being “dirty”. In June 2016, TEMBO introduced women in the remote villages surrounding Longido to a menstrual kit which includes panties, panty shields and washable liners. Kits were made and donated by volunteers in Canada and distributed through TEMBO. Sanitation in schools is also an issue. Tanzania is a poor country and Kimokouwa is an especially needy community. Last year, the elementary school, was closed for 2-3 months because the toilets were condemned. When the primary school results were announced in November, only 1 of 42 students in Standard 7 in Kimokouwa had sufficient education to achieve a mark that would get them into secondary school. In effect, their education was over after year 7. (Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all)
And finally, Goal 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Collecting firewood is another of the duties of women and girls. They can be seen walking through the bush weighed down by large bundles of wood. It is illegal to sell charcoal as deforestation is a major issue in the country but women can be seen with small piles of charcoal they have made for sale.
Perhaps the agents of change look like you. In Longido, there is evidence of the difference a small group of dedicated people can make in the lives of women and girls who need support.