A Woman's Experience

I arrived today at a school on the outskirts of Nairobi. The school, Mutuini, is part of our School Safe Zones (SSZ) initiative. The idea is to make schools safer for children, in hopes parents will feel confident leaving their children there for the day. So far we have provided money for a new gate and fence around the school, as well as some toilet and water catchment repairs. Our hope is that these improvements would not only improve the school's facilities, but also inspire students, teachers and parents alike to further support the school in whatever way they can.Accompanied by some local leaders, we had a meeting with the parents in the school. About 90% of those present were women, many carrying children. I was told that many - if not most - of the homes in this area were female, single-headed househoulds. There are many reasons for this, and traditionally the African man works outside of the house, going into the city, while the woman stays at home to do important housework. These women had walked many miles to arrive for this meeting; to sit in the hot sun, listen to various people talk, and have some white guy take their picture.
Many people gave speeches, and many more listened. My coworker Sarah thanked the parents for coming, saying how they were an integral part to the initiative. A representative from the government stressed the importance of education in poverty reduction. Two counselours spoke about alcoholism, one treating it as a disease and the other as lack of affection in the home. I had known that alcoholism was a problem, but was surprised at how matter-of-factly the community admitted women were routinely beaten by their husbands.

Who knows what awaits the return of these women: countless tasks when she is already exhausted from walking so far, a husband who is angry that dinner isn't ready yet, a child whimpering on the floor from the pain of a water-borne disease. The time spent going to this meeting might have prevented one woman from drawing water that day, another from selling a few pastries to pay for school supplies, and one more from preparing a meal.


I hope it was worthwhile.