Back in November or December, I organized the first Soccer Saturday: girls only. I had a hard time explaining to the boys, over and over again, why they couldn’t play (a literal translation: “if boys play you will only play with other boys and the girls need to learn”). Eventually, we had a highly successful girls-only game, with perhaps 50 spectators (mostly small children and jealous boys). Afterwards, the boys begged for the ball in the dwindling daylight, and the girls asked to do it again the next week.
We’ve now had four or five soccer Saturdays: some with only a few girls, where I was compelled to include the boys and then reclaim the ball and kick the boys out as timid girls crept up to the sideline to watch. On this latest Soccer Saturday, I allowed one boy to play on each team (so that they couldn’t pass exclusively between each other), as well as the goal keeper. The girls ranged in age from 6 to 23, and even the youngest participated fully in the game.
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Monday, March 8, 2010
International Women's Day
We marked international women’s day by attending a ceremony in Nyanza’s stadium. We arrived at the designated time of 9am. One school group was there, and by 9:30 we were out of the stands and dancing with them in the field to the music of their voices as the stadium filled up. Eventually loudspeakers and a generator appeared and at maybe 10:15 or 10:30 the performances and speeches began. They were excellent. Several dance troops of children and adolescents performed, giving us our first look at Rwandan traditional dance.
An LCF later translated the cell representative’s speech – she said that for many years after she became a village and then cell representative, her husband beat her and her kids on international women’s day to prevent her from attending events such as this. Eventually she got a divorce from the government and moved back to her family, and she’s successfully putting her kids through school on her own.
The problem of domestic violence is daunting in Rwanda, and divorces are difficult to obtain. This women’s problem is still common, despite Rwanda’s provisions for gender equality and international renown as the country with the highest percentage of women in parliament. Sadly, Rwandan women share the plight of domestic violence with women around the world and in the United States.
In the evening, I was in a small group that organized the trainees in a discussion about women’s roles, achievements and challenges around the world. Our Rwandan dance lesson that followed soon transformed into a dance party.
An LCF later translated the cell representative’s speech – she said that for many years after she became a village and then cell representative, her husband beat her and her kids on international women’s day to prevent her from attending events such as this. Eventually she got a divorce from the government and moved back to her family, and she’s successfully putting her kids through school on her own.
The problem of domestic violence is daunting in Rwanda, and divorces are difficult to obtain. This women’s problem is still common, despite Rwanda’s provisions for gender equality and international renown as the country with the highest percentage of women in parliament. Sadly, Rwandan women share the plight of domestic violence with women around the world and in the United States.
In the evening, I was in a small group that organized the trainees in a discussion about women’s roles, achievements and challenges around the world. Our Rwandan dance lesson that followed soon transformed into a dance party.
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