Working title - African women belong in the kitchen

Hello - Everyone...through many trials and personal events over this past few weeks...here is my draft!!! It's a lot on the long side, so trimming suggestions are great! I have hit a writing block and would appreciate any input. Thanks and hang in there, we are almost at the end! It has been a grueling yet learning experience. I will take advantage of the repose to read and provide feedback to your drafts over the next couple of days. Hugz!!!

When the African woman fulfills her natural duties in the kitchen, families are well fed, healthy, and prosperous. Most importantly, discord ebbs and harmony flourishes in the home. Why undermine the value and benefit of such altruism to society? Why encourage her with grand lofty ideals of education, gender equality, or economic power, when she has a naturally limited capacity to understand or process complex information? It is also personally financially costly! The money could be better spent on ensuring one’s own family legacy instead of another’s since a girl departs upon marriage. In order to guarantee importance in society, it is imperative to employ a diversified investment strategy of accumulating property, educating one’s heirs, and acquiring more women of birthing age. Such troubling reasons are cyclically repeated over the ages as fundamental arguments for the resigned status of a significant proportion of Africa’s women and girls.

Fundamentally, beliefs and attitudes summarize the enduring propagating stance of supporters of the African woman’s servitude position. Men are by no means the sole bearers of blame and responsibility for a portion of African’s women being dispensable. At times, women also transfer these attitudes by their acceptance of the stereotypical meek, gentle, agreeable, and sadly voiceless attributes to younger girls. There is a fine line between teaching wonderful important cultural values and promoting ideals that further stifle the voices of young women. Overall, intergenerational transmission of existing societal values, customs, and traditions has had a strong influence on maintaining the status quo in parts of Africa. Some are beautiful, powerful, and unique, whereas others can be self-detrimental and undermine the significance of gender equality to society.

Most of my childhood memories in the village are on converging around “Letimoi” – traditional cooking fireplace – with friends and family. We played games, regaled in stories and riddles galore that spoke of our values and traditions. As a young girl, I was not always subjected to the same requirement to be with the women in the kitchen. I enjoyed going off on discovery adventures with my brothers in the forest or for a refreshing dip in nearby streams. Once, I got into an argument with my age-mate cousin. He threatened to beat me and I was quite certain that he would follow through since we were always often at loggerheads. I ran as quickly as my little feet could carry me straight into the kitchen – my sanctuary. There, I knew he would not dare touch me. In the kitchen, I knew I was safe and would be protected by the strong women present. As I grew older, I would spend many years in the kitchen with female relatives – mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and cousins. Each encounter, though different, still communicated the collective feminine strength of sisterhood in the kitchen. The kitchen now represents a much broader and important personal connotation of culture, life, and strength.

In Africa, many women development programs have been implemented but there are present challenges in scaling-up. The impact is often regional at best. However, a significant proportion of Africa’s women and girls have not yet been emancipated. Approximately 24 million girls residing in sub-Saharan Africa still cannot afford to go to school, which is a conservative number since there is a dearth of data on women who are often invisible in a number of areas. According to the World Bank, men hold 82% of seats in sub-Saharan African national parliaments (tradingeconomics.com) and “The face of poverty is female” (Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region). Greater attention needs to be made in the implementation of training and empowerment programs for women especially in rural areas. It would be wonderful to harness the sisterhood life-force found within the walls of the kitchen experience and use it as stimulus for bigger gains in liberating Africa’s women.

African women’s rights and issues are gradually entering the limelight of global and national affairs. There have been laudable recent initiatives towards addressing the prolong neglect of an important contributing yet heavily marginalized group of the continent’s population. During the ushering in of the new African Woman’s Decade (2010-2020), President Mwai Kibaki (Kenya) emphatically stated that "We have learnt that education holds the key to unlocking obstacles to women's empowerment". Studies have shown that the most under-served African female population resides in rural areas that often face many severe obstacles simply to obtain an education, start a business, or seek maternal healthcare. Perhaps greater investment into technology can leverage the creation of virtual supported networks of rural women. Providing a platform for idea exchange, personal support, information transfer, cooperative agricultural price management, between rural communities regionally.

As new methods are sought that target women and girl development, fostering the kitchen experience of sisterhood, safety, and sanctuary might be overlooked concepts that are conducive for empowering and protecting Africa’s rural women. Capitalizing on the power of sisterhood and using that as a catalytic core element for virtual network development programs. As Africa continues to invest in the naturally demonstrated entrepreneurship abilities of local women, technological processes need to be implemented that strengthen these local networks. When women operate within the bonds of sisterhood and in the power of our feminine abilities, the outcome is always phenomenal. For example, Dr. Hawa Abdi and her daughters also known as Glamour’s “Women of the year”, who fought to preserve and nurture life on their family’s farm. Together as women, stood against threats from rebel militia to give-up the safe haven for 90,000+ people displaced due to civil war.

Studies have shown that when women have more economic power, families flourish. In situations of sudden boost in finances, men have been found to typically increase spending on alcohol and tobacco compared to women, who are more likely to spend on nutrition, education, and re-invest into the family through business ventures. Gathering the strength of the feminine in the kitchen can bolster Africa’s women into leadership positions. Maybe, in no time we will be celebrating more amazing strides and advances with respect to Africa’s Women rights and issues across geographical bounds.