d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6

More documents

Recommendations

Info

“We still, still, still have plenty of areas [in which] the girl is really, really suffering.” -IHSA Nuns of Tanzania Above: Sister Susanna Musabi is the spiritual leader and Director of Education for the Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa. Described as “firm but fair,” she also serves as the logistical coordinator/ government liaison for the planned Mara Centre. Middle: A diocesan primary school is a teacher-training site for the IHSA community. These sisters will go on to teach at the new Mara Education Centre for Girls. Bottom: Sister Philomena (in blue) works with village women, weaving baskets and teaching the marketing of crafts through workers’ cooperatives. In the background, fathers–who have absolute control of the women and their incomes–relax while the mothers eke out a bare living as the family breadwinner. 16
get married as soon as possible so that you get cows for your family. Whoever marries her will give you money for the family. So in that sense, the girl is actually a property, not a human being. “Or, let’s say I have a girl who is maybe five years old and you have cows and I need cows right now so I can sell them for money, what I’ll do is sell you this baby girl and that is how it works. This is life. “This baby girl, she is yours once she is grown up, but you give me cows now or the money I need now, so then the relationship between you and me will be because of your property that I am keeping in my house. So, after this property of yours grows up, you take it, it’s yours. Then this girl will go with you: that is what is called marriage. Maybe you mistreat her, but she can’t leave because she has no means to live on her own. She can’t come back to me because I have nothing: the money you gave me is gone a long time ago; your cows are gone. Since I have nothing to give back to you, you can do anything you want to that property.” Sr. Suzanna then described another tragic example. “It goes so far as some older women, beyond childbearing age, ‘marrying’ young girls in order to bear children in their name. In this practice they are exchanged for cows/cash and remain under the power of the woman, serving in the household and bearing children for the woman by a man, or men, of their choice or that of the woman. There are many young women who have run away from these situations into towns to try to find some kind of freedom. A good number of them turn to prostitution as a means of supporting themselves. As a consequence, HIV/AIDS infections have crept in since the seventies and now have damaged the health environment very heavily around the area.” In exasperation, Dr. Paulino blurted out, “Now you can see the HIV/AIDS colony throughout that area. If we do not address the essence of the problem we will give a Band Aid solution. The girl doesn’t have a right, a human right, and that’s the essence behind all this. This school is supposed to free these girls who are no human being because they have no human rights. They are the property of somebody else, so we are talking, on a legal level, about property law in a market economy; we are talking about exchange of a product that happens to be similar to a human being, but is not a human being.” The following week, Dr. Paulino started working with the sisters, teaching them how they can deal with their society, how they can open their eyes, how they can see the world and how they can change it. “It was amazing,” Sr. Theresina recalled. “It was six hours and this was October last year. It On the brink of womanhood, this mature girl appears pensive about her future. For her, education is the sole route to gender equity. She is one of a handful whose secondaryschool tuition is being subsidized by a DYC faculty. 17
Page 1 and 2: D ’ D’Mensions /The D’Youvill
Page 3 and 4: D ’ D’Mensions is published by
Page 5 and 6: Honorary degrees were awarded to La
Page 7 and 8: Following the ceremony, it was all
Page 9 and 10: “America’s Least Wanted: Urban
Page 11 and 12: Faculty Post Accomplishments, Publi
Page 13 and 14: President Announces New Vice Presid
Page 15: “Lucky enough,” she said, “Dr
Page 19 and 20: Already nearing completion, compreh
Page 21 and 22: Recent alums. Or current “non-tra
Page 23 and 24: ’06 Vivacious, enthusiastic, bubb
Page 25 and 26: Fleeing from his native country, Ni
Page 27 and 28: one’04 At age 27 one does not usu
Page 29 and 30: “I am the first person in my fami
Page 31 and 32: flaws of the online survey method.
Page 33 and 34: & MELLOW MEMORIES: fort lauderdale
Page 35 and 36: Delta Sigma Marguerite d’Youville
Page 37 and 38: on that in the fall and am very exc
Page 39 and 40: class ’65 memories of her, includ
Page 41 and 42: GET YOUR RUNNING SHOES READY fabulo
Page 43 and 44: make a gift to your ß college and

d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?