A Whole New World

There are several challenges and barriers in creating change in my community in Nigeria where I grew up. Rights of the girl child are trampled upon in Delta state. The people are resistant to change, a lot of women are illiterate and poverty level is high. Women are believed not to have a say even in their homes. Women for instance would allow the circumcision of their daughters either because the men say so and they want to save their marriages and family names or they think it is one way to reduce promiscuity.

Even though the girl child education is beginning to gain grounds there are still lots of ignorant people. Many still believe that the woman’s place is in the kitchen so no matter how read and competent a woman is she cannot attain certain positions in some organizations. A woman for instance is mostly given job opportunities in the sales and marketing department of a bank with an unrealistic target and expects that she trades her body to enrich the bank. Single female staff are not to get married until after 2 years because they believe marriage is a distraction. A lot of privately owned organizations do not pay women on maternity leave.

Issues of domestic violence and women’s rights are usually swept under the carpet. There was recently an hour rape video of a girl being raped by five male students of a University and all the university authority, the state government and the local police could say was that the incident didn’t happen in the said locality without details of any investigation, until some individuals took up the case, the girl was identified and two of the guys arrested.

I believe that when people get information and are aware of issues around them2011 and their consequences, life takes on a new meaning, issues gets attention and they are resolved, lives are saved properties are restored, like the rape case which is one of many other examples. The place of education cannot be over emphasized either through training, awareness campaigns, counseling, the media etc as these are some of the several ways to overcome these challenges and barriers and Pulse Wire is indeed a great tool as community issues gets global attention with global solutions through contributions and actions from the global community.