It’s been a while! The hot season is now upon is and to be sitting at a computer is sometimes unbearable!
These past few weeks have been extremely busy. I spent the last month preparing a day’s long training on “Gender Equality and its Importance in the Work We Do” and Thomas has been preparing for the Journée Nationale du Karité (National Shea Day) as well as the International Global Shea Conference, which, this year, is being held in Bamako.
But before I go into detail on the aforementioned activities and events, I wanted to share my thoughts, feelings and impressions of International Women’s Day. Working with a network of women’s organizations, one would think that I’d be immersed in activities leading up to and including La Journée Internationale de la Femme. This was not the case. For the last 10 days, our organization’s President has been in New York for the Beijing +15 forum where the Commission of the Status of Women reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). Without her here, little was planned in the office to mark the occasion. The Membres du Bureau (the Representatives of the 8 member organizations of the network) seemed to plan their own activities but didn’t really make their activities known to anyone. I did my best get involved. I purchased a pagne made specifically for Women’s Day and Thomas got one too.
A pagne is a piece of fabric about the size of a sarong. In Mali, there is a specific pagne which comes out to mark every event. (There’s a pagne for the National day against Excision, World AIDS Day, and even The African Cup Soccer Tournament). With my pagne, (from the 2 colors of choice, I picked blue and Thomas was given a green one) I had a wrap skirt and a top made and Thomas had a shirt made. The receptionist at work, Alima, took the fabric and our measurements to her tailor and for under $8, we had the 3 items made. The tailor made me the kind of skirt all Malian women wear. For just under $1, a string is added to the fabric so that it can be wrapped and tied around the body. I didn’t find it as comfortable as I thought it would. The fabric rubbed against my ankles when I walked and because of the extreme heat, and the piece of fabric wrapped around me three times, my middle was sweating!! Here's a picture of me striking a pose!
The Friday before the Journée de la Femme, I was told that there would be a parade on Monday and a few speeches. Because I was giving a day’s long workshop on the Wednesday, I hadn’t planned on attending the parade. Thomas hadn’t planned on it either as he was doing the last minute preps for National Shea Day.
I knew that some of the other CECI volunteers wanted to march in the parade and so I called them on the Sunday night to find out where the parade was taking place. They had no idea and told me that nobody seemed to have a clue. Monday morning, Thomas and I headed off to work in style.
As we approached my office, we saw that much of the Avenue de l’Indépendance was blocked and that there were tents set up on the sidewalks. (This is the large avenue which runs through half of Bamako. It’s one of the only Avenues with sidewalks) When I got to the office, it was closed (Nobody had told me that the office was going to be closed....and I’m guessing nobody really knew. It just happened!) Apparently, women don't go to work on International Women's Day. (i like the idea!!) We parked the car and locked our computers in the trunk and walked down to where the tents were set up
We continued to walk down the avenue past the tents which were set up for the Officials (politicians, ambassadors, etc) and those set up for the public. We finally reached the place where all the different associations, organizations, chapters of organizations, etc were lining up. All sorts of organizations being represented from L’Association des broderies Chinoises to l’Association des Esthéticiennes du Mali to L’Association de femmes de petites tailles (midgets)!
We then spotted a tractor with a wagon behind it. Members of one of the cooperatives Thomas works with were on the wagon with all their karate machinery. A big banner with KALOJE (the cooperatives’ brand name) was hanging along the side of the float. Thomas had no idea “his women” were marching but was thrilled at the publicity they were about to get.
The sun was starting to get hot and I hadn’t brought my hat (for once!!) so we ventured back to the tents and took seats in the shade. Lined up in front of the tents, in uniform, were all the women from all the ranks, sections, units of the army and police forces. Everyone around us was dressed in outfits either made from the green pagne or the blue one. Even many of the men in the stands were wearing shirts they (or their wives) had had made. I looked to my right and all the Officials were taking their seats. Representatives and Ministers from Ministries such as Ministères de la promotion de la Femme, l’Enfant et la Famille, Santé, Education, etc were all there as was the President and his wife. FYI the President (ATT) was not wearing the pagne and a colleague I found in the crowd remarked “Il ne le porte pas; il n’est pas encore avec nous! (He’s not wearing it; he’s still not with us).
I get frustrated on a daily basis here. Working with a network of organizations is difficult because people tend to be too busy to meet with me. How can I build capacity if there’s no one to work with? I also find that there are so many women’s organizations and associations here (in the thousands I think) and they don’t try to pool their efforts and funds together to achieve change. The day itself was wonderful and the energy was moving. What I saw on March 8th was unique. Women were together celebrating each other and asking for change.
These past few weeks have been extremely busy. I spent the last month preparing a day’s long training on “Gender Equality and its Importance in the Work We Do” and Thomas has been preparing for the Journée Nationale du Karité (National Shea Day) as well as the International Global Shea Conference, which, this year, is being held in Bamako.
But before I go into detail on the aforementioned activities and events, I wanted to share my thoughts, feelings and impressions of International Women’s Day. Working with a network of women’s organizations, one would think that I’d be immersed in activities leading up to and including La Journée Internationale de la Femme. This was not the case. For the last 10 days, our organization’s President has been in New York for the Beijing +15 forum where the Commission of the Status of Women reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). Without her here, little was planned in the office to mark the occasion. The Membres du Bureau (the Representatives of the 8 member organizations of the network) seemed to plan their own activities but didn’t really make their activities known to anyone. I did my best get involved. I purchased a pagne made specifically for Women’s Day and Thomas got one too.
A pagne is a piece of fabric about the size of a sarong. In Mali, there is a specific pagne which comes out to mark every event. (There’s a pagne for the National day against Excision, World AIDS Day, and even The African Cup Soccer Tournament). With my pagne, (from the 2 colors of choice, I picked blue and Thomas was given a green one) I had a wrap skirt and a top made and Thomas had a shirt made. The receptionist at work, Alima, took the fabric and our measurements to her tailor and for under $8, we had the 3 items made. The tailor made me the kind of skirt all Malian women wear. For just under $1, a string is added to the fabric so that it can be wrapped and tied around the body. I didn’t find it as comfortable as I thought it would. The fabric rubbed against my ankles when I walked and because of the extreme heat, and the piece of fabric wrapped around me three times, my middle was sweating!! Here's a picture of me striking a pose!
The Friday before the Journée de la Femme, I was told that there would be a parade on Monday and a few speeches. Because I was giving a day’s long workshop on the Wednesday, I hadn’t planned on attending the parade. Thomas hadn’t planned on it either as he was doing the last minute preps for National Shea Day.
I knew that some of the other CECI volunteers wanted to march in the parade and so I called them on the Sunday night to find out where the parade was taking place. They had no idea and told me that nobody seemed to have a clue. Monday morning, Thomas and I headed off to work in style.
As we approached my office, we saw that much of the Avenue de l’Indépendance was blocked and that there were tents set up on the sidewalks. (This is the large avenue which runs through half of Bamako. It’s one of the only Avenues with sidewalks) When I got to the office, it was closed (Nobody had told me that the office was going to be closed....and I’m guessing nobody really knew. It just happened!) Apparently, women don't go to work on International Women's Day. (i like the idea!!) We parked the car and locked our computers in the trunk and walked down to where the tents were set up
We continued to walk down the avenue past the tents which were set up for the Officials (politicians, ambassadors, etc) and those set up for the public. We finally reached the place where all the different associations, organizations, chapters of organizations, etc were lining up. All sorts of organizations being represented from L’Association des broderies Chinoises to l’Association des Esthéticiennes du Mali to L’Association de femmes de petites tailles (midgets)!
We then spotted a tractor with a wagon behind it. Members of one of the cooperatives Thomas works with were on the wagon with all their karate machinery. A big banner with KALOJE (the cooperatives’ brand name) was hanging along the side of the float. Thomas had no idea “his women” were marching but was thrilled at the publicity they were about to get.
The sun was starting to get hot and I hadn’t brought my hat (for once!!) so we ventured back to the tents and took seats in the shade. Lined up in front of the tents, in uniform, were all the women from all the ranks, sections, units of the army and police forces. Everyone around us was dressed in outfits either made from the green pagne or the blue one. Even many of the men in the stands were wearing shirts they (or their wives) had had made. I looked to my right and all the Officials were taking their seats. Representatives and Ministers from Ministries such as Ministères de la promotion de la Femme, l’Enfant et la Famille, Santé, Education, etc were all there as was the President and his wife. FYI the President (ATT) was not wearing the pagne and a colleague I found in the crowd remarked “Il ne le porte pas; il n’est pas encore avec nous! (He’s not wearing it; he’s still not with us).
I get frustrated on a daily basis here. Working with a network of organizations is difficult because people tend to be too busy to meet with me. How can I build capacity if there’s no one to work with? I also find that there are so many women’s organizations and associations here (in the thousands I think) and they don’t try to pool their efforts and funds together to achieve change. The day itself was wonderful and the energy was moving. What I saw on March 8th was unique. Women were together celebrating each other and asking for change.
Our Malian friend Abdoulaye was still with us in Montana on Int'l Women's Day, and was shocked that women in the States were going to work as usual. I, in turn, was startled to learn that this was a holiday--just for women!--in a so-called third-world country. (And even there, my guess is that it's a holiday only for middle and upper class women.)
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that Malian women don't work on Women's Day, but only in passing. To me this feels like a big deal. But then, I'm not dealing with all the other things (the closed office, fractured women's movement, and so on) that you are.
--Kate