If you educate a man
you educate an individual,
but if you educate a woman
you educate a family (nation).
Rebecca Lolosoli is great female African role model and Vital Example of this african proverb by Ghanaian scholar Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir-Aggrey (1875-1927)
Rebecca Lolosoli born 1962 in a village at Wamba, Samburu District in Kenya is fourth child in a family of six, three brothers and three sisters, her father was polygamous, with three wives. She attended Wamba girls’ primary school in 1971. Then joined the Catholic nursing training center in Wamba but dropped out only six months to completion due to lack of fees. She have been very aware of the problems for women for a long time.
The Rights we want :
We want to choose our husband
we want to own the land
we want to go to school
we dont want to be cut anymore,
we want also make decisions,
we want respect in politics,
To be leaders
we want to be Equal.
Rebecca Lolosoli Quote
-------------We want to choose our husband
we want to own the land
we want to go to school
we dont want to be cut anymore,
we want also make decisions,
we want respect in politics,
To be leaders
we want to be Equal.
Rebecca Lolosoli Quote
video bellow : Rebecca Lolosoli was the recipient of the Vital Voices 2010 Fern Holland Global Leadership Award. The Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honor and celebrate women leaders who are working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity and protect human rights around the world.
-------
bellow more to read scroll it
more than 50 years, British soldiers trained in area at Archer’s Post in Samburu. Wearing green uniforms they blended with the trees and when women collected firewood, the soldiers would jump out and rape them, laughing like it was a game. Women, fearing their husbands would find out and beat or try to kill them, were afraid to talk about it. The men made their wives leave, taking the children with them. Then they had nothing and many would resort to brewing changaa (Local Beer) to earn money, but it is illegal to sell this, and the women were jailed, leaving their children without caregivers and some were eaten by hyenas.
She started going to local government meetings to speak for these women. Rebecca formed a village with other womens so they could protect one another. The problem was and still is Samburu womens have no rights—no right to own livestock or land, to go to school, even to choose a husband. If a Samburu man kills his wife, no one cares—he paid the dowry, so he owns her.
In 1990, 15 women,allegedly raped by local British soldiers, and led by Rebecca Lolosoli, formed and registered the Umoja Uaso Women's Group with the then Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Social Services. They started by selling beadwork and other goods. After facing threats from men jealous of their success, the members decided to found a women-only village and reside together, thus providing collective security and cooperation.
As Umoja Village grows
The village supports women who have been tortured, beaten and raped. They also help to raise children who have been abandoned, orphaned or suffer from AIDS. Women become liberated, empowered and their capacities build. They become socially and economically independent and make decisions on matters that affect them directly. They learn how to appreciate their womanhood and respect their bodies.
Actual: There is pre-school at Umoja currently enrolls about 60 children, ages 3-6, from the surrounding villages. The head teacher is currently accredited and supported by the District Dept. of Education. Two assistant teachers for the younger children receive their salaries from the Umoja Women’s Fund, which also supplies the funds for all the uniforms and for the two hot meals served daily.
In addition, in partnership with the Samburu Youth Education Fund, qualified primary and secondary students are given scholarships to attend boarding school, they currently support 2 primary and 2 secondary students.
they are fortunate to have the funds to provide a college education to a young women raised in Umoja and whose mother still lives there. She is studying business management and hopes to use her skills to give back to Umoja.
Rebecca have remained the Umoja group’s chairperson to date. With the confidence she built in the group, they have continued electing her to the chair consecutively. In 1995, she was again recognized and honored by the district women when they elected her unanimously to chair the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO), a post she retained for 10 years—till her retirement! The MYWO is a national organization for the enhancement of women, in terms of development and gender. It undertakes fighting female genital mutilation, child marriages and pregnancies, school dropouts by girls and HIV/AIDS.
source : Umoja Women and Satya
Re- edit : by dumbanenguebyceleste
02-feb-016
No comments:
Post a Comment