By Robert Foote
The Cameroon Association of Unviersity Women organized a workshop in Bamenda, on the counseling of girl street vendors, which the Global Fund sponsored. This is the story of one woman, and how her real education began the moment she set out to travel the world.
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Sarah Vaill is a program officer for the Global Fund for Women,
a Palo Alto, California-based organization -- run by women, for
women -- that grants money to groups around the world that "demonstrate
a commitment to the promotion of women's full participation in society,
a commitment to women's empowerment, or the promotion or defense
of female human rights." It's the only such organization in the
United States, and one of only four in the world, providing flexible
and timely grants "on the basis of principles -- and feminist values."
This is Tecla David, an AMRU bee-keeping trainer in Sussundenga, central Mozambique. AMRU focuses on development for rural women, operating several micro-credit and technical assistance programs.
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Vaill recently traveled to Mozambique, a country that she honestly
describes as "in transition," and recollects some of the striking
images and remarkable people she encountered. When she first landed
in Maputo, the capital, she noticed that all of the important buildings
were constructed in the 1970s, when Mozambique was still a Portuguese
colony. In the two-plus decades since independence, virtually nothing
new has been built. She calls it "the stamp of time." When she crossed
over into Zimbabwe, she says, the capital has sidewalks, paved roads,
and modern bank buildings. And when she visited Nairobi, she saw
an even more modern city.
Women
served by the Medical Foundation which provides support to women
victims of torture that occurred during the civil violence in
Uganda in the 1980s. |
For Vaill, the most striking aspect of her journey was the transition
from Maputo to the shattered northern countryside. There is an "incredible
disconnect" in the country, she says. But one constant she found
was the hope and optimism and faith in the women of this nation.
For example, women's organizations in places like Beira persevere.
One group named Amai Amumsanye, which means "one woman helps another,"
has spent years helping women in the impoverished, war-ravaged northern
corridor between Beira and Chimoio, helping other women make bricks,
weave cane furniture, and craft pottery. Their philosophy is rooted
in African tradition: "when one gives, one also receives" -- a motto
which the Fund itself could easily use.
Participants
in the Global Fund for Women's forum in Kindia, Guinea, hosted
by the Association Guinénne des Femmes Volontaires du
Progrés (AGFVP). This women's group assists women in
rural areas in drying produce, building storage facilities,
and bringing produce to market, in a country where abundant
crops are lost due to lack of facilities. |
They met the largest number of women in rural Chamoio, including
a group of single mothers who had become prostitutes in order to
support their families. Most of them becoming infected with HIV.
The women's group subsequently launched an education campaign for
other women so that they would know how to say "no," how to use
condoms, how to find other resources. Vaill will never forget these
women. "That was so inspiring for me to see," she says, "because
that's exactly the kind of education and resources that needs to
be out there in the northern provinces that is not going to be conceived
of, in the correct way, in the capital."
To
improve economic conditions, Association Féminine pour
l'Entraide au Developpement Durable (AFFED) trains women in
farming, proven successful by this harvest of peanuts. |
Vaill sees a real solidarity between these women and says that
she "couldn't have felt and learned what I've learned... without
having come to Mozambique." Such trips have given her an entirely
different take on world hierarchies, the effects of colonialism,
and the resultant subjugation of nations -- and women.
Vaill has a saying that has guided her for a long time: "The eyes
that don't see is the heart that doesn't feel." Her solid feminist
education at Duke made her aware of places like Mozambique. But
she had to take the actual journey and see the reality in order
to feel it. True to the Fund's motto, Vaill traveled to the end
of the road and then she began walking. And it was quite a walk
indeed. |
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