Would you do it again?

I have been home for over a month now, it is safe to say I have settled back into my pre-Ethiopia lifestyle but it certainly took some time and with it there is an underlying sense of unease. The subject question is something I have been asked by just about everyone I have spoken to since I came back, read on for my thoughts and conclusion…

Two days of travelling and I came
home to this which was perfect!

Preparing to go away filled me with excitement, trepidation and curiosity. My actual journey was rammed with emotions that I had been told I would experience, but did not think I actually would. This made dealing with them that much harder, being able to rationally understand them and contextualise them was tough.

I found myself regularly questioning my views, other peoples’ views and learning about topics that prior to travelling I had not given much attention to. For example; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Harmful Traditional Practice (HTP), and areas surrounding religion, education, health and gender equality.

I know I could not have done it without the support of the friends that I made, considering as a team we only met on the day of our departure travel the bonds we formed over three months are similar to those of people I have known for years. Out of the UK team I came to be particularly close to three girls, they are responsible for keeping me sane and smiling. The four of us are so different in so many ways and yet we have this chapter of our lives in common and that is what makes our friendship unique.

The four of us briefly reunited at our
 Returned Volunteer weekend

The Ethiopian volunteers were an eclectic mix of people, and they brought their culture, views and personalities to everything they did and certainly taught me a fair few things. My counterpart and I had an explosive (sometimes bombs and sometimes fireworks) type of relationship, we would debate, agree, disagree, laugh, smile, cry and shout together but actually I needed him. He educated me, translated for me and cared for me, as I did for him and this relationship is what I think makes the ICS program ideal for first time overseas volunteers.

Our team were fortunate that our placement town, Hawassa, had mobile phone reception, internet availability and plenty of internet cafes to make use of. This made staying in contact with our loved ones back home so much easier and this truly got me through. I learnt that being away from home is not an endurance test to see how long you can go without contacting home because actually you need that connection sometimes. A familiar voice or a sentimental email does wonders for your morale. You may recall a post titled S.W.A.L.K – this was also a great coping mechanism for me and one that I would really recommend for other people.

Although most of the time I felt like I was only ever sharing negative thoughts; it was not a wholly negative experience. Sure, there were days when I went home after seeing homeless people laying helplessly in the street, knowing that even if I could give some loose change it would make very little difference to their situation, I just wanted to cry because I felt helpless and heartless. Then there were days were I had laughed so much, felt so proud and upbeat that I almost felt ashamed of my previous negativity.

An action shot of one of the many
 laughs I had

I soon learnt that looking to quantify my effectiveness as a volunteer was a sure way of slipping into a melancholic state, and actually there was no need to because I knew in myself that I was trying hard and that was enough. The smallest things that you do, almost as second nature, can mean so much to the people it affects. In hindsight part of me wishes that I had just been myself rather than trying to ‘achieve’ things and being able to tally success.

So, would I do it again? Yes, but maybe not for some time and potentially not for as long. Why? Honestly, because I enjoyed my time there and living somewhere is not the same as visiting for a holiday but being away from my loved ones for that long took its toll. My opinion to foreign aid has also changed considerably and I strongly believe that skills and funds are what developing countries need, because sadly it is evident that funds alone are not filtering down to where they are needed. So being able to take skills to where they are needed is something I am passionate about.

I have so many thanks to give for my experience being what is was; my husband, family and friends in the UK for being so supportive, and having faith in me. All the people who sponsored me and helped with my fundraising to make my trip possible and supporting the charity I chose to work with. The UK and Ethiopian volunteers who taught me, helped me and tolerated my erratic mood changes. My host family who welcomed me so warmly into their home, cared for me, accepted me and provided for me. My placement organisation for teaching me so much about myself, and also the school teachers I worked with for being so appreciative of me. All the beneficiaries I met for speaking openly and truthfully about their life experiences and welcoming me into their homes. My program supervisors for being there when I wanted to leave and never doubting my abilities. The children in the streets, schools and homes I visited for always guaranteeing to warm my heart and make me smile. And of course VSO and ICS for giving me this opportunity!

Please feel free to post questions if you want to know more, I've been as brief as I can be but there is just so much that could be said!

Kx

Global Citizenship Day – Gender Equality

14/03/2013

This article is written as part of my role within the Media team for the volunteers placed in Awassa, it is published for the VSO ICS program.

Friday 8^th March 2013 marked the Global Citizenship Day (GCD) on Gender Equality held by ICS volunteers based in Hawassa and International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day 2013 brandishes the slogan “The Gender Agenda - Over time and distance, the equal rights of women have progressed. We celebrate the achievements of women while remaining vigilant and tenacious for further sustainable change. There is global momentum for championing women's equality.”

The purpose of a GCD is to raise awareness and create topical discussion regarding different global issues. Over the duration of the three month program, four GCDs will be held. This was the second one to take place. Alex, Endalkachew, Fisseha, Kimberly and Laura were responsible for organizing the day. The majority of the event took place at Ebenzer Grace, an orphanage which is also the placement organization which Fisseha is part of.

Their intentions for the day were to provide information to the other volunteers about Gender Equality, discussing it at a global level and bringing it in to Ethiopia. To put the information into context the contrast between the UK and Ethiopia were highlighted. The topics covered included; a brief history of women’s empowerment around the world, information about International Women’s Day, details of Millennium Development Goal 3 – promote gender equality and empower women, key facts from the Global Gender Gap Report produced by the World Economic Forum, African gender issues, excerpts from the National Policy for Women in Ethiopia and role models from the UK and Ethiopia which break ‘gender specific’ expectations.

Following this, the group was split to have segregated male and female coffee ceremonies. It was agreed that having segregated discussions would allow for comfort and confidentiality to ensure that the topics covered were openly reviewed. The men went to another venue to have their coffee ceremony and discussion.

Each coffee ceremony consisted of the ICS volunteers and a couple of guests from the community. It was vital to have people from the community involved to learn the perceptions of gender equality from the people that it matters to. It also ensured that there were a couple of generations involved, and therefore comparisons could be made from the past to current day. Some of the items raised in the discussion included; Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other Harmful Traditional Practice (HTP), how a young woman can develop her self-esteem and self-image in the eye of the community, and what contributions can be made by the male population of Ethiopia to empower their women.

After the debates came to an end, the volunteers regrouped to review and compare the outcome from each group. The general consensus from both groups brought agreement on the importance of changing opinion and improving female status in the community. The female group had in depth and precise information as the community members involved had a breadth of real life scenarios to share. Their stories had a direct and emotive effect on the volunteers. The men had a different perspective on the subjects and also discussed some situations that had been rumored in the area.

As a whole the GCD was informative, it brought a lot of quality discussion and raised several critical issues which proved to be an eye opening for many of the volunteers. For some it has cemented that there needs to be considerably more done to close the gender gap around the world and that education on HTPs needs to be at the forefront.

Kx

Nurture or Mutilate?

08/03/2013

The topic covered here is controversial, I write from my own point of view, based on my current experience and situation. My intention is to bring a key global topic to the attention of those that choose to read my blog. The language used is frank and the subject raised is emotive.

As part of my volunteering role I was involved in a team of 5 to arrange a Global Citizenship Day (GCD), our topic was Gender Equality. We held our GCD today, with particular reference to the date being International Women’s Day. We held an educational morning for the other VSOs in our team discussing Gender Issues globally, and then bringing it down to the area of Ethiopia we are in. For the latter part of the event we had segregated male and female coffee ceremonies to enable confidential discussion on topics affected by gender equality.

I have been prompted me to write this blog post by something I came across whilst doing my research for the GCD, it is a global issue but some of the things I will mention are specific to Ethiopia. I knew about it vaguely, but was unaware of the realities of it and how globally spread it was. Particularly that is happens ‘under the radar’ in the UK.

Female Genital Mutilation or FGM for short is one of the main Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP) in Ethiopia. It is now illegal, but of course is still present due to ‘tradition’ – when I asked if anyone knew why it had been started, and thus become a tradition, no one could answer me. It is just ‘the done thing’ for many communities.

So, what is FGM? Well as the name suggests, mutilation means to ‘cut off’ or ‘amputate’ parts of the body. There are four types of FGM, although many of the practitioners do not differentiate between them and just do whatever is customary for their area.

Circumcision, is the cutting of the hood of the clitoris, it is also referred to as ‘Sunna’ in Muslim countries. I will note here that generally the men of Ethiopia are circumcised, as dictated in the Bible, within 7 days of birth.

Clitoridectomy, is the removal of the clitoris, scientifically known to be the most sensitive part of the female body. It is also responsible for the pleasure sensation felt during intercourse – something they will never experience.

Excision, involved the cutting of the clitoris and all or part of the labia minora.

Infibulation, is the most severe form of FGM. It involves the cutting of the clitoris, labia minora and the whole of the labia majora. The two sides of the remaining skin of the vulva are then pinned together by thorns and thread, thus sealing the vaginal opening except for a very small hole. The small hole is to allow for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. The girls’ legs are then bound from hip to ankle and she will be kept immobile for weeks to ensure the formation of scar tissue.

All of the above ‘procedures’ are often performed by medically incompetent people, without the use of anaesthetic or pain relief – if they are lucky they will get to sit on a stone for a little while beforehand to ‘numb’ the area. It is said that the ‘cutting’ is usually done by a broken piece of glass, a razor blade or a thorn. There is no sterilisation of any of the items used or the area in which it is done.  

Not only is this practice excruciatingly painful for the victim, it brings about many other health issues; bleeding (which is often fatal), shock, infection, urine retention (the burning sensation felt when urinating after the procedure often leads to this), tetanus, laceration, HIV/AIDS, urinary tract infection and pelvic infection (as a result of retention of urine, menstrual blood and vaginal secretion) – to name a few.

Girls are generally under the age of 16 when this is done to them; usually they have not had their first period when they are cut. I have read accounts of girls being subjected to this as young as 3 years old – an age where they are too young to understand.

The act itself is painful enough, but it has repercussions in the future too. It is considered that a woman should be a virgin when she marries (this is often why marriages are made so young, to ensure their virginity). For a woman who has been cut in the most brutal way, her first sexual experience will bring no pleasure, only pain from her partner tearing open her scarred tissue (if she is lucky, he may cut it for her rather than just forcing his way in). Child birth is another future issue, with fistula being prevalent for cut women, and many other complications which are a direct result of their mutilation.

Often a ceremony takes place, with music, dancing and singing to celebrate the girl reaching her cutting age. One account I have read mentions that the singing takes lace to cover up the screams of agony coming from the girls. The mothers of the girls are not allowed to be present, because they have experienced the pain of child birth and this makes them weak to seeing their own flesh and blood being subjected to such trauma. To me this is an indication that they know it is wrong, because they know the mothers would show compassion.

So, why is this still practiced when all of the above information is available? Well, it seems that tradition prevails, and of course the risks and moral issues have not reached all the communities. Even those that are educated about the outcome of FGM often disregard it for fear of being stigmatised. So much so that young girls plead with their family to be cut so that they are not outcast from the community, of course not knowing that they will regret it before it is finished being done – peer pressure is just as direct as the pressure from the girls’ parents to be ‘accepted’. An uncut girl is considered to be unclean, and ‘free’ which is why she will remain unmarried in a community with the cutting culture.

There are many campaigns in place, not only in Africa but all over the world to stop this act; from educational information being shared, to young men campaigning that they want to marry uncut girls. Opinion is slowly being changed, I have been reading FGM Network Update and have read a few articles about the women who would carry out the procedure being turned from the profession and now educate people of the risks of the very thing they used to make money from. Of course, they still have people trying to bribe them to do it for them in secret, but the reiterate the fine and prosecution they will face if they are found out.

The catch twenty two of FGM being formally recognised as illegal is that people turn to ‘back street’ options to fulfil their intentions, often causing more complications than necessary. If a girl then begins to bleed profusely or suffer they will take her to hospital. To any medical professional it is obvious what has been done to the girl, but they cannot go to the police or any authority because once word gets out that the hospital are whistleblowing people will stop taking the girls there when they need it – essentially increasing the mortality rate.

The main reason for this coming up in our gender equality discussions is that it is often the fathers that make the choice for their daughters to be cut, even if it is against the wishes of their mother. These young girls are not getting to choose what happens to their own bodies, they are made to be submissive to men. It is said that they do this to girls when they are young to stop them behaving inappropriately by playing or behaving in a free and happy way. They suffer this pain to be reminded who is boss, and will have this reminder regularly throughout their married life. It is supposed to make them strong, and prepare them for the struggle they face in their life, but essentially it is they struggle they face in life.

Kx

References for your perusal:

Desert Flower - the video story of a Somalian super model who was subjected to FGM

FGM Network Ethiopia

FGM in the UK