So I'm going to deviate from my usual posting MO and focus on one particular facet of Senegalese culture: namely the struggle for girls' education. This isn't unique to Senegal by any stretch of the imagination. I'm sure all of you have read, watched or listened to reports on the push to increase girls in schools around the developing world. I know there has been an emphasis on Muslim countries in recent years, but this is a big issue in all poorer countries with predominantly rural communities.
Senegal just happens to fall under all of those categories.
I should start by explaining that the education system here in Senegal is not funded by taxes or supported by a well equipped/funded national department. For kids to go to school their parents have to pay an 'inscription' fee each year, for each child. The price of which varies by grade level. For example, it costs about $8 for a kid to go to the equivalent of 6th thru 8th grade, and $10 for the equivalent of 9th grade. This may not seem like a lot, but when you have four or five or maybe say fourteen kids in school (as my host dad has) the cost becomes huge.
So obstacle number one to girls' continued education, if you hadn't guessed it yet, is an economic one.
Another lies in the basic cultural practices with regard to girls/women. Men rule in this country (as they do in most and used to overwhelmingly in all). Girls 'belong' to their fathers and are utterly at the mercy of their whims. Early [forced] marriage (pre-16) is still very common here in the rural parts of Senegal, despite the fact that it is actually illegal. Enforcement of such laws, unfortunately, is nearly impossible because of the egregious under-funding of the police force, lack of basic roads and communication lines to 'middle of nowhere' rural villages, and the huge disparity in deployment of forces. So if a father wants to marry off their daughter, there is little that can be done.
Further, the role of women in the larger cities is much more 'western' than their rural counterparts. Working for NGOs, the regional government, in stores and boutiques is way more common and possible. In a farm village (like all communities outside of regional capitols and the few large cities that are not capitols) the opportunity to make a living on your own is pretty much non-existent. You either get married and live with your husband or you live with your parents. There are a few exceptions of those girls who can go live with wealthier relatives in larger cities, but it is extremely rare.
Women raise children. That is their purpose. As I have been told far too many times by far too many men, if I do not have children I am not fulfilling my role as a woman and will bring shame to my father and God. (These are the same men, by the way, who want me to find them American wives...*eye roll*)
So, how does all of this apply to girls' education? Let's add up the issues.
Education is expensive. Girls belong to their fathers and their purpose in life is to have children. Enforcing current law is nearly impossible in rural communities where men typically have more children than those in cities (and more wives, which helps increase the child count).
Now, with these issues in mind, let's set up a scenario:
A man, whose only source of income is the peanuts, corn, millet and cotton he plants and harvests, has six children by two wives. The oldest is a girl of 14, followed by a 13 year old boy, a 10 year old girl and three younger boys of 9, 8 and 7. School year is coming up and his last harvest wasn't so great. His oldest kids are both going into sixieme (basically 6th grade). He cant afford to pay for both. The daughter (we'll call her Mata) is extremely smart and has been first in her class for the last three years. The son, on the other hand, is a lazy lout who has only barely managed to scrape by a pass each year.
There is a young man in the village who has expressed interest in Mata. She can cook well and is obedient. She's also physically well developed for her age. In the viewpoint of the father, Mata's greatest contribution would be to get married and start producing children. The boy, no matter how lazy he might be academically, can at least become a farmer in his own right, or perhaps move to a city and be a driver in the 'public transportation' system and support the family that way. Neither of which requires any more education than 'the school of life'.
What do you think the outcome of this scenario is?
How do we prevent Mata from being married off (illegally, I will add) and keep her in school?
Enter the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship run by the Peace Corps Senegal Gender Development program. This is one of the few projects in Peace Corps that has immediate, quantifiable results that has the real potential for 100% success rate. Nine of the top girl students in middle schools across the country (basically every single one that has a volunteer and any other that a volunteer can get to) are picked to have their inscription fees paid for the following school year, three of whom (one from each candidate grade of sixth, seventh and eighth) will be chosen for additional funds to buy supplies like notebooks, pens, pencils and erasers.
Since I returned from my sister's wedding in May I've been working with some amazing teachers and a great principal at my middle school to get this project done. It's been one of the most rewarding (if not the most) things I've done since I arrived in this country. The girls are all amazing, driven, incredibly smart and personable. Two of whom have recently (as in one as recent as two weeks ago) barely escaped forced marriage, only stopped by the fierce interventions by the principal and Sous Prefect (local official with the most power in the 'county' my village is in) who openly threatened the father with arrest if the marriages continued.
I was present at the recent 'intervention' meeting for this particular girl and I felt physically sick with rage and disgust at the attitude of her father. His entire reason for desiring the marriage was that he married his own wife when she was 15, so it was good enough for his daughter. This girl, who is first in her class and wants to be a math teacher, is terrified of her father and I couldn't find a single reason for her not to be. He was insulted and acted indignant at the mere idea that anyone had any right to 'barge in' on his family. She is his daughter after all. No one else had any say in the matter. When at last she had the opportunity to voice her opinion - that she did NOT want to get married - and the principal declared the matter over, he stood up in a rage, stormed from the meeting and left his wife and daughter behind as he rode his bike back to his own village.
[It should also be mentioned that this girl did not want to be married so much that she herself instigated the intervention meeting: she called her math teacher and asked him to take her to Mampatime - the nearest road town at 25km away - so she could talk to the police and find out her options. 99.9% of the time, this does not happen.]
For this next school year, at least, she will not be a financial burden to her father. Her inscription fee will be paid for and I've recommended her for the additional award to pay for supplies as well. Anything to keep her father from having an excuse to keep her out of school.
It costs about $180 to fund the 9 girls for each school. If you are interested in helping out, please go to this link: https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-CFD and put in the comments section of the donation page 'This donation is to support MSS scholarships in PCV Christine Smith's village of Badion”.
Any money over the needed $180 received will be spread out to all other MSS scholarship projects that are still in need of funds, so the more people who donate the better chance a couple hundred girls will be able to go to school when they may not otherwise have been able/likely to.
I've learned a lot about myself in the last 16 months, including all those things I took for granted. Our American education system is far, far from perfect, but I didn't have to walk/ride my bike 4 - 8 miles to get to school and there was never a question of if I would be able to go to school the next year. None of my girl friends in school had to compete with their brothers on who would get to go to school. As I look ahead to my return home and plans to take the GRE's (this November) and LSAT's (next June) so I might go to law school, all I can do is count my blessings that I was fortunate enough to be born in a society that makes my goals within my grasp rather than a pipe dream.
Cheers to all and a very Happy Fourth Of July!
-Christine
