Another day

Girls don't have much hope
for their future.

Journal Entry 6-24-10

I did not feel like working today-I had a terrible attitude! I had a quiet time and made sure to say a prayer before heading off this morning, otherwise I wouldn't have made it through. I didn't want my attitude to rob me of what God was trying to show me. Me and MB headed over to the clinic around 9:15am. We helped Jake (the water guy) test a few more tanks and the nearby river. In the afternoon we were able to sit in on an HIV counseling session. They really wanted me and MB to lead it but I was too nervous-what could I say to a group of individuals who just found out they have such a deadly disease? We sat in the group and just listened. While I was sitting there I noticed a young mother who had a 4 month old little girl-as she was listening she started to nurse her child. If a woman has HIV while she is pregnant it does not mean her infant will contract the disease but if the mother breast feeds her baby the percentage of the child getting the disease increases significantly. As I watched this young woman nourish her baby my instinct was to grab the child away. I asked one of the staff members as to why the mother was nursing instead of using formula, the individual gave this response: "Mothers are informed of how easily HIV can be passed to their babies, the reasons why they continue to breastfeed: a) Formula is expensive and they don't have the funds b) Breastfeeding is so much part of the culture that women feel guilty not personally nourishing their child or c) Because the woman is not breastfeeding the surrounding people will come to the conclusion that she has HIV and could be ostracized. What a heart wrenching response! How could a mother know about the disease and yet be willing to inflict it on her baby? I don't understand. I can't imagine the dilemma that mother is put in.

Women are caged beings to the oppression they face each day-
but the forgotten will become free one day!

I ended up talking with Jake about FGM over chai and cake after our work day. Jake works for CMF helping with water testing and treatment and also works with HIV patients. Jake is married with 5 little kids. He loves God, his family and the work he does. Jake also started an organization to keep girls in school. In the Maasai culture it is very common for girls to be taken out of school at around 14 and be married off to an older man. This is mainly due to lack of money to pay for school-uniform, textbooks and boarding. He said that if girls were kept in school and educated past secondary school they had a better chance of getting a job and working and maybe pursuing a college degree. Education is key. It reduces the rate of FGM, HIV transmission, early marriages, and many early pregnancies. "Conservatives, who have presumed that the key to preventing AIDS is abstinence-only education, and liberals, who have focused on distribution of condoms should both note that the intervention that has tested most cost-effective in Africa is neither." (Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide). This organization finds girls whose parents can't afford school fees and intercede before the parents marry their child off-it costs $500 per year to keep the child in school. Jake had me meet 14 year old girl, Ester, who needs someone to pay for her schooling otherwise her father will have her married off. The girl is too much of a burden on the family. While talking to Ester I found out that her favorite classes are chemistry and physics-she hopes to become a doctor. She also loves playing football. She is such a sweet girl. It would be a 4yr commitment. A commitment that would change this girls life forever.