LETS CHANGE THE MIND SET OF OUR FELLOW WOMEN

Information is power. Information can and changes the mindset of an individual. Having mingled with different women in my country, I have come to realize that women are still lacking knowledge and information on issues that are affecting them. Although our nation is slowly been modernized, certain traditional norms still hinder the progress of women and development.

It is actually elderly women, mothers who believe in the traditions that inferiority them. Here women are abused and even their own daughters are sexually abused by their husbands, their brothers but tradition tells them, they have to keep silent on what is happening in their homes and bedroom. When a girl becomes of age and when she is about to get married, she is taught a culture of silence to keep her marriage.

A taboo it has remained in most parts of the world, including my country for women to speak up. A woman is considered an embarrassment if she speaks out on the ill treatment she is been subjected to by her husband or her own father. Most HIV positive women I have met and worked with were infected by their own husbands because their voices were not lifted up. Babies are been raped as little as two months old and infected with STDs but women remain silent because this is what is expected of them. They have been taught by the elders to believe and it is in their minds that a man can do anything to them despite the consequences, and men know that what they women have been taught and take advantage of them. And even those who have already been infected with the virus remain silent and it is still a taboo to many women negotiate safer sex.

Women have the high levels of HIV and AIDS, other suffer high blood pressure and several other serious diseases. There is need to change the negative mindset of women and not only that but to empower them. Some women fear to lose the support of their husband and family and fail to open up. But by empowering such women with livelihood skills with a change of mind which is able to denial the evils of certain tradition norms, more women will stand firmly and speak for themselves.

Being part of the world pulse board of directors would be a way of creating awareness of the inferiority our fellow women are facing not only in my country but the world at large. It is also a platforms that will be used to network with already existing organizations working and dedicating to change the mindset of these elderly women and young women who continue to uplift the traditional norms which has subjected women to sink so low. By being on the board of directors, it is a chance to find new strategies we can use to identify common issues women in our countries are facing, developing campaign strategies, not only on the internet but also through our local media and communities. Mindset can be change through education; world pulse is the platform where if many women were to be members, they can have a positive change of mind. It is thus as a board member I would encourage more women to join world pulse.