Education sans Excision Tour 2012 Blog part 1

Education sans Excision Blog part 2

Education sans Excision Blog part 4

Education sans Excision Blog part 5

http://www.sisterfa.com/blog/educations-sans-excision-tour-blog-2012-part-4/

With Tostan Volunteers Kyrra and Kaela and Empowered Communities Network Co-Ordinator Dame Gueye we set off for Soudiane, a village which participated in Tostan’s Community Empowerment from 1998 and where the people declared their abandonment of female genital cutting in 2000. In a barren landscape, complete with palm trees, baobabs and many donkeys and goats, we stepped out into heat that felt like an oven and were met by a horse and cart and Marieme Bamba, a member of the Community Management Committee, Social Mobilisation Agent, graduate of the Barefoot College in India and all-round inspirational woman. We were driven into the village on horse and cart and met by the community with singing and dancing – which, of course, we wholeheartedly participated in!

Soudiane welcomes Orchid Project (c) Alicia Field

It was time for lunch, which had been prepared by members of the village, and was a delicious Senegalese ‘poulet yasser’ of chicken with rice and spicy, peppery sauce with onions and carrots. We ate until we could eat no more, and then spent some time speaking with Marieme Bamba, Khady Ndiae (Tostan facilitator for Soudiane), Fatou Coulibaly, Lalla Coulibaly and Oume Sa Noho. It was wonderful to hear stories about the work they have done – Marieme and Fatou having visited 197 villages between Thies and Kaolack in their social mobilisation efforts – and now there’s a declaration just waiting to happen in Kaolack, purely as a result of their work, in communities which haven’t participated in Tostan’s programme. With mangoes, pear juice and plenty of water we could have all sat speaking with them for the whole afternoon!

Marieme Bamba (c) Alicia Field

Next, after much drumming and dancing, we sat under a shady tent and Tostan facilitator Khady Ndiaye took the lead following a welcome from the chief of the village – who asked if we’d ever seen a drumming chief before! We watched a fantastic skit by members of the community management committee, which is used by the social mobilisation team to raise awareness in neighbouring communities about the dangers of FGC.

Performers in the skit, Soudiane (c) Alicia Field

Next we heard a song about discrimination, and how it isn’t good for the community, and presentations followed, from Marieme Bamba about her learning to become a solar engineer at the Barefoot College in India, from Fatou Coulibaly about the work of the social mobilisation team, and from Oumou Ndiaye about the health hut and the treatments provided there. Vieux Traore, Marieme’s husband, rounded off Soudiane’s presentations by telling us about how the Tostan programme has benefited and improved the relationships between men and women in the village. Following that, Orchid Project and Tostan Dakar made our thank yous (in a little Wolof and rusty French!) and then we received our Senegalese names – all Bambara, which is the ethnic group of Soudiane.

Truly inspired, we were taken on a walk around the village where we saw all of the project sites, and made friends with most of the children. The sun was going down and we’d been up since before 6am so shortly after 6 in the evening we made our long goodbyes and headed back to Thies – for meetings this morning! This evening we take the overnight ferry from Dakar to Ziginchour in the south, where we’re promised it will be even hotter, more tropical, for Sister Fa’s Education without Cutting tour to commence.

Girl in Soudiane (c) Alicia Field

The next day, meetings with the newly-created grants team, the director of monitoring, evaluation, research and learning as well as a presentation about Tostan’s new Peace and Security programme, we felt even more clued up about the excellent work our partner is doing in the field – and had eaten truly delicious, typically Senegalese food on the rooftop.

Sister Fa recording an interview on the roof of Tostan, Dakar

On Friday we met up with Sister Fa, Orchid Project partner and Senegalese superstar, here for the third round of her Education sans Excision (education without cutting) tour, which Orchid is proud to support. After meeting band members, brothers, DJs and photographers we headed down to the studios of WalfTV, where Sister Fa was interviewed by DJ Sega to talk about the tour, her music and to promote tonight’s concert in Ouakam, a suburb of Dakar.

Sister Fa talks to a ‘Dakar flyboy’ on WalfTV

In the interview Sister Fa explained to DJ Sega that her sound has moved on a bit, and while she is still a hip-hop star at heart the music she plays these days is a little more melodic, infused with Jazz. She talked about the different types of music in Senegal and Europe, and explained about the project. Sister Fa’s message? It starts with the music, one of the best ways to spread the message of human rights.

Sister Fa also talked about the work she’s doing with other musicians and artists in this region, referencing the Day of Reflection she organised and held in Dakar in January of this year – also supported by Orchid Project. She finished off the interview with an ad-libbed rap!

Filming at WalfTV with DJ Sega

Sister Fa and DJ Sega

Saturday morning television

This morning Sister Fa was appearing on ‘Ca me-di Mag’ a Saturday morning debate show, filmed in Dakar and watched very widely, both in Senegal, and West Africa, and around the world on satellite and internet TV. We were lucky enough to go along and watch the filming. It was a real success for Sister Fa to be on the show, given its wide audience, and a great chance for her to raise awareness here in Senegal about the project she’s undertaking.

Sister Fa on 2STV

Sister Fa appeared alongside another guest, Ndioua Dieng, a very famous singer with the band Baobab, and the discussion between the two guests and their host centred around the us of music as a tool for communication, something which both artists hold dear. In Senegal, music has traditionally been used for spreading messages and telling stories, but both guests felt that this has been lost recently, especially in the hip-hop tradition. Both the other host and his guest agreed that Sister Fa’s project is vital, and that human rights and female genital cutting in particular are issues that need to be addressed. Sister Fa said: “I am just adding my voice to what other people are doing”

Sister Fa with Ndioua Dieng

International Women’s Day 2012

Indonesia

To mark International Women’s Day and the abuses of women’s rights that continue across the globe, Amnesty International utilised the attention on women’s empowerment to speak out against FGC in Indonesia. On 8^th March, Amnesty called on the Indonesian government to repeal a 2010 regulation permitting a medicalised version of FGC, reports the Jakarta Post.

Uganda

From Uganda, The Daily Monitor marked International Women’s Day by reporting on some of the achievements to end FGC made by women’s rights advocates across the globe. The article highlighted some of the progress made on at national and international level:

• 20 African countries have banned FGC
• The African Union has taken a strong position condemning the practice through its Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which bans FGC as a violation of human rights
• Many governments in Africa are implementing national action plans that, in conjunction with the law, provide information and awareness campaigns, especially in rural areas where the practice is more widespread.

The article does however recognise the many challenges that still remain. One of the key targets it sets out is a UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution that would universally ban FGC across the African continent. According to the Daily Monitor, a resolution would

“be a pivotal instrument to spur greater and more cohesive political mobilisation worldwide. Critically, a UNGA ban would express political will at the highest level to recognise– and ensure the adoption of all measures to bring an end to–FGM as a human rights violation against millions of women and girls around the world.”

Nigeria

Celebrations and progress were reported from Nigeria in an article from the excellent website MakeWomenCount.org, looking at the exponential rate of abandonment of FGC in Senegal as a model of social change.

Geneva

To mark International Women’s Day, the UN in Geneva launched an art exhibition called “Soul Gazers”, reports the Global Journal. The series of paintings which engage men with FGC abandonment, were mostly contributed by male artists. Godfrey Willimas-Okorodus, one of the contributors from Nigeria, explained his motivation for submitting his artwork: “I am using my talent to let the world know that as long as I have breath in my body I will not let any form of injustice and victimization pass by me without protesting loudly and constantly [...] Even after I die my works will still be there to fight on.”

Take a look at some of his artwork.

News from Africa

Several articles in March expressed the voices of men and women from practising communities, allowing the real stories from FGC practising communities to be articulated in public spaces.

AllAfrica.com published interviews from the Gambia including a number of participants expressing their experiences and views around FGC.Here is one that really stood out, revealing the very real harmful consequences of FGC experienced by women:

An old woman: “It is our culture but not in the Quran. Even the doctors are against it. It should be stopped because a lot of women have bled to death without knowing it was the cause of it. For me I did not allow my children to go through it.”

A report from a Ugandan paper, New Vision looks at the varying responses of men, women and cutters from Amudat, Uganda, expressing a variety of opinions in regards to FGC. Two of these that we’ve selected reveal how FGC is deeply rooted and cultural embedded in the lives of women, and the obstacles facing work to shifting opinions

New, multi-agency practice guidelines on tackling and preventing female genital mutilation are now published. Awareness among healthcare practitioners across all sectors, but particularly in GP practices, and midwifery, gynaecology, neo-natal and anti-natal services, is crucial to creating the joined-up approach needed to safeguard girls and women from harm; and ensuring those affected receive the physical and mental health care they need.

The Sunday Times states the findings of the investigation uncovered:

• A respected dentist prepared to circumcise two girls aged 10 and 12
• A GP who referred a reporter to the dentist, suggesting taking girls to Africa for the procedure and offering to prescribe medication for them
• A supplier of alternative medicines agreeing to circumcise a 10 year old girl for £750
• The Met Police having received 166 reports of FGM since 2008 but, as with all forces across England and Wales, having secured no convictions.
• The GMC having struck off only two doctors since 1980
• A midwife in Birmingham having seen a trebling of mutilations since 2002.

However, what the article and the leader falls short of is any real comment or thoughts about what can be done about the situation. It offers little analysis about if young girls are going through FGM in the UK, how are they meant to give voice to their abuse and how they are meant to stand witness in order to see their parents prosecuted.  However, this is what must be grasped with issues of incest and other child abuse, so why not FGM?

Much, much more does need to be done and we do need greater resources to do this and, as ever, a top-down approach with strong guidance and legislation from government and statutory agencies, but also action from the grassroots up. As Naana Ooto-Oyortey from Forward, comments in the article:

“FGM continues to be a hidden issue in the UK…. There is a need to engage key communities.”

This article covers what so-called health practitioners are doing. It goes against every single code of medical ethics.  I’m just writing a report on a trip to Somalia – little did I think I would have to use the same UN agency language for a blogpost about the UK:

“Health professionals who perform female genital mutilation (FGM) are violating girls’ and women’s right to life, right to physical integrity, and right to health. They are also violating the fundamental ethical principle: “do no harm.” WHO Global Strategy to stop healthcare providers practising FGM, 2009

Equally, we know this is the tip of the iceberg, as anecdotal conversations tell us that the majority of UK based FGM is practised within communities and not by medical personnel. It will therefore be interesting, given we know the names of the three people involved, if anything happens in legislative or enforcement terms. As well as practitioners like these named in the Sunday Times article, people are sometimes flown in to practise FGC. Of course, many girls are sent to their country of origin too.

We will be attending the FGM Forum on Tuesday with the Home Office, the Met Police, other medical representatives and other NGOs. It will be an interesting discussion about what next in the UK.

In a typically Orchid aside, I would say that the more communities in Africa and overseas abandon, the more the diaspora communities will see that abandonment and if they are brought in on the process, they too can abandon. Although, we also know that in spite of footbinding ending in the Han ethnic group in around 1907 in China, the last footbound woman was in LA in the 1940′s, showing how diaspora communities also hold on to their traditions more than others.

We’ve got a long way to go…..

This was the third ‘Girls Girls Girls’ of the series.  Each event has taken place in a unique and special location, and this was no exception. The Wilmington Arms was our location, an intimate pub in the heart of Clerkenwell, situated right by the delicious temptations of the Exmouth Market.

Orchid was there with our very own work of art, the Big Picture, spreading the word about FGC abandonment and having had some fantastic conversations about how FGC in being abandoned in West Africa and beyond.

Eliza was first to perform, celebrating her new EP, ‘January-March’, which she released last month. Samantha followed, accompanied by her guitarist James, launching the release of her new exciting EP, ‘The Rush, The Light’. The music created by both girls was gorgeous, and a highlight was hearing the two of them join their unique styles and sounds together for Eliza’s final song.

The crowd, sipping away at their pints of ale and glasses of wine, was left with a happy buzzing feeling; the kind that can only be achieved from listening to live music in an intimate setting. A big thanks to both the girls for their hard work behind the scenes and for performing and then donating the proceeds to Orchid!

Watch this space –another Girls Girls Girls is set for June in St Leonards Church, Shoreditch.