Article on Women's Day

“Rôle et place de la femme dans la lutte contre la pauvreté au Mali.” Goes the theme of the pagne of the July 31st Pan-African Women’s Day. According to the advocate of women in the town of Ansongo, Gao region, Mme. Hamsa Maiga, women need to first be educated to understand the importance of development; they need to be involved in the education of children, the improvement of community health, credit and savings schemes, and income generating agricultural or artisana projects.
In Ansongo, the day began with a conference of many responsables of town: two village chiefs, the Commandant de Cercle, Mme. Maiga, presidents of women associations in town, and the High School English teacher, M. Haidara, who is actively involved in awareness campaigns and radio shows. Attendence was high—women from all over the circle came into town to listen. Mme. Maiga was encouraged many young women of town attended, for she believes youth need to listen and understand what they can specifically apply to better the position of women in the future.
But is simply listening sufficient? I was struck by the lack of input from the women seated on mats in the very crowded room where the men sat in front on slightly more comfortable chairs. The Commandant’s address, much like Mme. Maiga’s opinion on the role of women in the fight against poverty, was largely rhetorical. The question immediately came to mind, ‘What can we concretely do to improve the position of women?’ After the conference, Mme. Maiga told me if we want women to be able to lift themselves up out of poverty (literally the Sonrai phrase she used was to ‘pick themselves up’), we need to facilitate them taking their kids to the doctor when they are sick, we need to tell young women about STIs and HIV/AIDS, we should give youth apprenticeships with skilled workers, we need to give them opportunities to make money like soap making, tailoring, or gardens, and we need to be advocates for women who do not readily speak up for themselves.
On the day of the fête, Mme. Maiga mobilized the women to plant trees in Ansongo in order to show how women contribute to their community and environment. With USAID’s program “Sewing for Development,” I’ve been able to put tools in the hands of a collective of women in town to sew baby clothes. Peace Corps Partnership is enabling a curriculum targeted at 6th grade girls to have them be more knowledgeable of good health and hygiene as well as be encouraged in school. Up in Gao, Sarah Peters works with women entrepreneurs on numerancy in hopes they can soon learn bookkeeping. This is work which has direct results, work that will allow the women to have a stake in their own development.
Mme. Maiga expressed the desire to have the women themselves organize the day next year. With increased responsibility, there is ownership and motivation. “If they could only realize the role they play, [the women] will be able to prevent further deterioration of their place in society,” said Mme. Maiga. She hopes in the future women will be more involved in lowering illnesses which frequent their homes and adopt family planning practices. The most important thing for them to be is organized. To receive help to make the community aware of the fight against poverty—to make the whole community understand their needs.
It is easy to get discouraged in such endeavors. Later in the day, when I was at the hospital chatting with the staff of the maternity, a women complimented my outfit made out of the July 31st pagne. She wished she had the money to spend on clothes to celebrate. In fact, after the men had left the conference room at the Conseil de Cercle, the only topic Mme. Maiga discussed with the women was the failure of them to organize pagne distribution. No one had saved up enough to afford the fabric. Though it is clear priorities on getting fabric may be misplaced, it clearly shows the need to work with women on how to save money and use credit responsibly. When I was ready to go to the dance party in the community square, I asked two women I chat with from time to time, “Come, let’s go dance and celebrate your day.” One responded, “We’re hungry. People can’t celebrate if they are hungry.”
So, what is the role of women in the fight against poverty in Mali? Currently, it is to sit silent, be told by well-meaning men what they need to do to ‘pick themselves up,’ when they don’t even have the means celebrate a day meant for them. Nevertheless, I hope PCVs throughout the country had a good Women’s Day this July 31st. I hope this day next year especially, and every day in between, we can all do more to promote the work of women in the march towards a more developed Mali.