quixotecoyote
Howling to glory I go
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2006
- Messages
- 10,379
My sister is serving in the peace corps in a West African country.
She is there primarily to provide education on medical issues, especially women's reproductive health.
Her best friend in the rural village she is stationed in is the pharmacist. This man has 2 wives, which bothered her at first, but she moved past it, albeit reluctantly. It's one of the things you have to get used to in a truly male-dominated society.
She's had trouble getting used to that, and every time she think she's come to terms, something new happens. In a neighboring village a contact of hers with 3 wives decided to cheat with a fourth woman. His current wives are expected to acknowledge it calmly without getting angry, but one did. So, as a corrective measure, he thrashed her until she was barely alive and then threatened to throw her out of the family and take the children unless she begged forgiveness for her misbehavior, which she did and now things are back to the status quo.
That sent my sister on a new loop of culture shock, but she settled in once again.
This morning she went and asked the pharmacist to hang anti-mutilation posters in his shop. He agreed, but let her know that he planned to excise his 6-year-old daughter when she came of age.
Now his daughter was one of the children my sister had regular contact with. When she told me this story, the girl was in my sister's hut playing with a strawberry shortcake coloring book.
That was more than my sister was going to take. She told him that she heard anything about him coming close to taking a knife to the little girl, she was going to call the police herself. (There's a 60-year sentence for genital mutilation there, but it's tough getting complaints filed and witnesses to testify.) The pharmacist didn't take her seriously.
She then went to every pre-pubescent girl in the village and told them that if they say the signs that they were about to get cut, they should run to her and she'd hide them in her hut until the police got there.
I think she might be biting off more than she can chew, but I'm so damn proud of her for making the attempt that I thought I'd share.
She is there primarily to provide education on medical issues, especially women's reproductive health.
Her best friend in the rural village she is stationed in is the pharmacist. This man has 2 wives, which bothered her at first, but she moved past it, albeit reluctantly. It's one of the things you have to get used to in a truly male-dominated society.
She's had trouble getting used to that, and every time she think she's come to terms, something new happens. In a neighboring village a contact of hers with 3 wives decided to cheat with a fourth woman. His current wives are expected to acknowledge it calmly without getting angry, but one did. So, as a corrective measure, he thrashed her until she was barely alive and then threatened to throw her out of the family and take the children unless she begged forgiveness for her misbehavior, which she did and now things are back to the status quo.
That sent my sister on a new loop of culture shock, but she settled in once again.
This morning she went and asked the pharmacist to hang anti-mutilation posters in his shop. He agreed, but let her know that he planned to excise his 6-year-old daughter when she came of age.
Now his daughter was one of the children my sister had regular contact with. When she told me this story, the girl was in my sister's hut playing with a strawberry shortcake coloring book.
That was more than my sister was going to take. She told him that she heard anything about him coming close to taking a knife to the little girl, she was going to call the police herself. (There's a 60-year sentence for genital mutilation there, but it's tough getting complaints filed and witnesses to testify.) The pharmacist didn't take her seriously.
She then went to every pre-pubescent girl in the village and told them that if they say the signs that they were about to get cut, they should run to her and she'd hide them in her hut until the police got there.
I think she might be biting off more than she can chew, but I'm so damn proud of her for making the attempt that I thought I'd share.
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