WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Thank you for the opportunity given to me at World pulse so that women around the world can know what is happening to their fellow women in various communities. Education is like given a girl money to buy something from a shop, it is very important for everybody in the community to be educated as I will say among the big 5 five factors of poverty education is the first. I come from a community where many people needs to travel 5 miles a day before attending school and five miles back from school. It is also where the main activity is farming. Many women wish to go to school but are always face with one barrier or the other.
In my community, some girls at do attend primary school because of the distance and the narrow road. Some parents do not want their girl children to attend school because they will say when they get married the will become the property of their husbands and all the money that they will be working will be spend in the family of their husbands. Some fathers say it’s a waste of money to educate a girl child so they prefer to marry more women, drink palm wine etc. Some fathers as they go for young girls to marry they also keep their children for other men and its like an exchange “you give me your daughter and I give you mine” In some cases the death of a parent may cause a girl child to drop out of school as family members will prefer the boy to attend school. When some girls manage to complete primary school, they are taken to other towns to work as house helps and baby sitters at times are been raped by older boys in the house or their mistress’ husbands. Generally girls face the problem of sexual harassment, rape, under supply of school needs, peer pressure etc.
All these have made young girls to drop out of school, those who did not even had the opportunity to attend school couple to their are ignorant about a lot of things. Some women are timid amongst their folk. Some when they get married and are not well treated the run and move to big towns and end up being prostitutes. Those who get married to very older people after a short time are widows. Some women as young as 13years at times die during child birth. Most often some end up into criminal acts that they might end up in jail. Some do not know basic hygiene how to take care of their selves , homes, babies etc. some do not even have a trade or any thing to sell or make money.
We have been talking to parents through workshops about the importance of education for both sexes and campaigning again early marriages giving them the disadvantages. We have organize radio programs, visit social groups and talk to parents at times even talk to the young girls.