AGAINST ALL ODDS

Leadership and decision making all over the world has its own particular characteristics, one feature remains common to all: it is uneven and not conducive for women’s participation. As a result, the most vulnerable in our communities (women and children) have been forced to swallow the ills of their societies without effecting a change that will positively influence their lives.
Sierra Leone (where I live) has a cultural structure that I believe is common to many other African countries. Our culture has so much structured the roles to be played to an extent that the position of the woman has been limited to the kitchen and the man’s bed as a tool for pleasure. It is believed that a woman is fragile and emotionally weak and as a result cannot be firm and assertive in decision making. It is quite a pity that today in Sierra Leone, it is not only the men that share this view. Yes even the women do share this view. The society has molded us in a way that we don’t take our fellow women seriously when it comes to decision making. We always look up to the men for our leadership. This has been a major challenge for us; the very few, that seek to make a change in Sierra Leone. Just how do we speak out? When our male counterparts don’t encourage us to, and our female colleagues give us cold shoulders. Jus how????
Poverty, which has become the tune of the day in Sierra Leone is also a major barrier to our creating change in this country. The average Sierra Leonean Lives on a dollar or less a day. And with the little we earn, we rather focus on barely surviving than “live and make others live”.
The very few of us Sierra Leoneans that are part of this forum and other social net works, are not part because we can afford internet services ( which cost about two dollars/hour), but because we work in offices in which we can take one or two hours off working hours. Having known that I can make my voice heard globally through World Pulse, I will make sure I don’t only speak out, but have others who cannot speak out speak through me. I’ll talk to them, know their concerns, know their plight and get their stories. I’ll publish these on the various social networks that am part of and ask for other friends’ views and contributions which I believe will in turn make a change in my community.