Hey!
Yesterday was a very interesting day! I went to a Cama Ghana
Committee Election. Cama Ghana was created in 1998 by Camfed Ghana. It is working
to promote girls education in order to keep young girls off the streets who may
be susceptible to violence.
The election was fascinating to attend but definitely had
its difficulties. We all settled down and as they invited the five members running
to say their speeches, two were missing. One had already mentioned they would
be absent because she was taking care of her sister, but the other one was
unknown. This caused a huge uproar and yes, political debate. Many members were
upset and didn’t think it was fair for her to be in the runnings, while others
thought somebody else should stand in her place for the time being. The
directors really pushed democracy and wanted the people (the women) to decide
what to do. So the women decided to nominate somebody to replace the absent
one. Once that was decided, once again the women had to vote on who should be
nominated. Finally, after all of this was figured out, the vote took place. The
votes were counted in front of everybody and the women helped by counting
allowed. It turns out the same chairperson was reelected and the newly
nominated woman came second as the VP.
Ghanaians love to talk politics, at any time of the day! We
discussed politics one day at lunch with four other gentlemen. The topics
ranged from kids in school, to rape, to posting pictures on Facebook. I noticed
they wanted to hear the “Western view” on things, which I found interesting.
Many times in development studies we are told about the western way of things
and to remember that one size doesn’t fit all. We were discussing how children
should not have contact with teachers outside of school (like doing chores for
them), and they asked if it was the same in Canada. As far as I am concerned,
we don’t do chores for teachers but if we needed assistance from a teacher it
should always be at school or at least in a public area. The overall concern
was whether or not a teacher has the right to ask a student to fetch water for
them and whether or not a parent can get mad. We agreed that it was
inappropriate and that the child has a right to say no. It is also interesting
to see so many people’s contradicting views and watch them debate! I love it!
It was fascinating to see how politics plays such a huge
role in Ghana, as demonstrated at the Cama Election and during my lunch break.
Literally everywhere you go there is some sort of political debate going on and
they take it very seriously!
Although this was a really fun day for me as I got to
experience women empowerment first hand, at the end of the day I was left with
a challenging contradiction. I was walking to a restaurant and met a young man
who introduced himself to me. We started talking and he was asking me about my
job here and he asked why I didn’t choose to work with the boys. I simply said
that there was no position available for me to apply to that worked with boys.
To be honest, I don’t think I have ever seen a job posting or volunteer
position that focuses on empowering men or even volunteering with boys/men. He
simply mentioned that boys need attention too. And it is so true, there is so
much on women nowadays and so many programs to support girls that it totally
ignores the other side. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, or that girls don’t
need help, but simply that this should be a two way street. Women are oppressed
for a reason, and perhaps through empowering boys/men, things can change on for
the better on both sides. Gender issues will not get better unless both parties
are actively participating. It definitely got me thinking more and more about
gender mainstreaming and how to appropriately tackle future gender-related issues!
Lots of love!
Bianca
For more information on Cama Ghana visit:
Website: http://camfed.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=impact_ghana
News Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/oct/16/female-entrepreneurs-ghana-poor-education
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=camfed+ghana
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