Today as I was enjoying my morning cup of java and reading the newspaper. As I pages through, the headline for the article above caught my attention. I thought, ‘what could this article be about; hmm drumming? Maybe schoolgirls want to take drumming lessons but they aren’t allowed to like the boys. Or maybe, let the girls keep moving up in the world so let’s cut them some slack. What do you think?
Oh, by the way, I read The Gaurdian which is a Tanzanian newspaper written purely in English. Yeah!!! I do enjoy reading the paper and being that I don’t have a TV that can get any TV stations on and can olnlay watch movies, which is actually a good thing, I can get my news fill from the paper. I am quite intrigued at the way the global news is not only translated, I like hearing about the news around the world through the eyes of Tanzanians. We don’t get a skewed perspective of the American media here, yet I do notice slanted messages and or stories that are clearly “tip-toeing” around political, social, religious, racial and or gender issues. Of course, it happens in every country around the world.
I found myself noticing while reading through this story how the writer, who is a woman, would take mental pauses, staying tactful and poised, and on par with the content of this story without getting to reactive and anger-ridden. If you read between the lines you totally get the message being conveyed. And, it makes one feel disgusted, saddened, outraged, and surprised, all in one.
It brings into perspective the many things I was wondering about the beautiful female children, soon-to-be women, in Africa. My heart goes out to many of them. And I am grateful and happy for the ones that break through to become the women they so CHOOSE to be.
As I read past the headline to the subhead I started to grasp the meaning of the article. And when I took in the image of two young girls, the age of my niece, who is 13, my heart paused and I took a deep breath.
I want to share a “paired-down version” of the story, paragraph by paragraph with you because it has affected me. It has answered a few unanswered questions about the young girls I see, talk to, share glances with and or just walk by each day. I want to be clear that this is not in regard to every young girl in Tanzania, but the unfortunate ones.
Parents should do whatever it takes to protect their children. The children’s security – and their future – lies in the parents’ hands. That is the first responsibility of parents and they should not be compromised over it by anybody with moneybags or a zipper they can’t control…
‘Parents should never negotiate with men who make school “children” pregnant. It should be every parent’s wish to see that the “men” who cannot keep their hands off of schoolgirls should get what they deserve.’
Basically there is a region in Tanzania, called Morogoro, which is about a four hour bus ride from Bagamoyo and this is where they brought into the light this dark situation. A total of 218 girls dropped out of schools, and 130 left school due in last two years because of pregnancy. Mind you, these girls are as young as 12-16. Baby girls, shining with light and they are in school for goodness sake. A pure insult to these young girls who are taken advantage of by men who are much older than them, their teachers, TEACHERS!!!!, who hasten to offer money and other items to girl’s parents so that the scandal can be “hushed up.”
These poor girls suffer the consequences for the rest of their precious lives. Not only have they been forced into sexual abuse, which is just saddening and unacceptable, but also they will miss out on their education and job opportunities, which will be very limited, or non-existent. What type of future does this hold for our beautiful young girls! This is now a young girls who has to become a mother and how long can she depend on her family for support. Many of these girls parents have a difficult time even sending their children to school in the first place.
These men completely turn their backs on the situation. “These men should face the full force of the law and this should be done transparently. Here is where the media should step in.” Hell yes they should. They are raping young women for gawd sake and these men are getting away with it. And they are doing so by negotiating with the child’s PARENTS.
Ok I am taking a few deep breaths… “actually the more important or highly placed in his community the man is, the more important it is for him to be exposed for having ruined a child’s life. It would send a powerful message to the same ilk if communities make concerted efforts to ensure justice.”
“Furthermore, parents who agree to take money from these men and then forget about the whole matter should remember that they are putting greed firmly in front of their daughters’ lives. And if the daughters never forgive them, it would be totally understandable.” We look to our parents for absolute protection, without them whom do we have as young children to look to? These p arents are ones who chose to bring a child into this life in the first place. They are abandoning her choice on what she wants to create for her future in this life.
“Schools can also do a lot to protect girls from these type of men. Teachers can talk about how important it is to keep away from men who are suspicious even when they are relatives. The world has changed totally and even relatives and family friends can no longer be trusted.
Parents too, especially mothers can help steer their children in the right direction by warning them of the pitfalls they are likely to encounter on their way to adulthood. What is annoying to almost every right-thinking person is that the men, who should now better than to go after schoolgirls, do this and actually continue to get away with this behavior.
Parents should do whatever it takes to protect their children. The children’s security and their future lie in their parent’s hands. That is the first responsibility of parents and they should not be compromised over it by anybody with moneybags or a zipper they can’t control.”
I find this article is the first step at shedding some light on situation that affects the young women of our and Africa's future. I chose to share this article with you today because I felt compelled to bring this issue and the innocents who become exposed to such a shadow, as far into the light as possible.
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