Women Only!

I always say to Paster James and Robinah that I am certainly NOT a preacher. 

They have all types of people wander through their community at certain stages and many of these are preachers/pastors. 

 

This is not me!

 

I am always clear that I will do whatever I can to educate the community but preaching is really not my thing.

 

This time Robinah asked if I would do something for the women of the village. 

 

Previously we have covered topics such as malaria, hand washing and child protection.  So this was a different topic but one I could get to grips with.  It was also lovely to share this opportunity with the two most important ladies in my life, my Mum and my daughter.

 

So I quickly planned a workshop for the ladies of the community.  I thought about safety and relationships, as well as parenting.  I included some games and activities.  After all my training is in youth work, and not preaching.  I love activities that get people thinking, and cause them to go home and come to their own conclusions.  It’s a different concept for people who are normally just told to sit and listen.

 

So we arrived at church to be greeted by approximately 15 women.  All the woman had eagerly turned up for a ‘Women’s Conference.’  I noticed none of the younger girls were present so asked if we could invite those along too.  This caused a delay but gave Robinah a chance to talk to the ladies on any issues concerning them.

 

Then we began……

 

Our notice went up on the door and we caused chaos!  What woman has ever banned the men from the building!  Yep that’s right – this one!

 

We had agreement line games, discussions, scenarios.  We had the whole room up and moving about.  As the workshops began, more and more women and girls joined us.  Eventually we ended up with around 50 women joining us for the acticities and discussions.  We listened to everyone’s views and then educated to the best of our ability.

 

There were a.m.a.z.i.n.g. discussions raised.

 

We learned how most Ugandan women feel the weaker part in a marriage.  We learned how men can be violent towards women and how the community deal with this situation.  We learned how difficult it is for a women to leave a violent relationship and how stigmatised a woman can become if she stands up to a man.  We learned how much these women do to keep these families and communities alive.  We learned how education is important for women and how no man would stop them if they wanted to go back to school/college.  We learned that these women all know they have equal rights to men, and in theory they accept and believe this, but in reality, in the heart of Africa, this is simply just a theory and rarely gets put into practice. 

 

It was a reality check for all of us attending. 

 

We were able to share from each others cultures. 

 

The main thing was, we got women talking about issues that are normally off bounds.  We created a safe environment in which women could talk and share.  We had girls as young as 14 and elderly woman all in the same room, all sharing openly of their views and concepts of being a woman, being married, being a mother. 

 

We threw in some hot topic scenarios like the baby boom adoption industry.  Thankfully this is a concept unheard of in this village, but by highlighting it now, these women can foresee this and look out for the signs.  We encouraged the sense of community you see here.  When community feels and looks like family, it is difficult for a baby to simply ‘disappear’.  People ask questions here and when someone is struggling, the whole community try to help.  These women know their babies are precious and we told them to never forget that. 

 

The funniest thing was seeing Pastor James and some other men, creeping around the church building.  Banished to the outside, we sent them away with a task – prepare the food.  Now that’s role reversal for you! 

 

The women had a meal before heading home.  Pastor James says he prepared the food, but I am a little suspicious as one of his older daughters remained home?!?! 

 

 

 

Days later the women were still talking about the women’s conference.  Robinah admitted it had made her re-evaluate her life and morals.  If we caused women to question a negative situation they are in and make a positive change in their life, then we did all we needed to do during our time in Uganda.  If we helped a young girl avoid early marriage and motherhood, then again our time in the village can only be viewed as a success.