For Our Daughters: From Ghana to Granville Street (guest post by @loisrp)
Lois Paterson was the lucky winner of one set of my tickets to For Our Daughters: From Ghana to Granville Street and I asked her if she would be willing to write a post on her experiences at the event. This is her write up. You can follow Lois on her Twitter @loisrp
I attended For Our Daughters: From Ghana to Granville Street at the Vogue Theatre. Thanks to Raul and to Create Change Now for the tickets.
A few years ago, I saw a African journalist ask why all of the positive things happening in Africa are never portrayed in the news, and the focus is always on Africa’s problems.
Thus, in this writeup, I want to make sure I focus on the hugely positive changes that can and are happening in Ghana, and I want to emphasize how much of an inspiration the four young women were. Fayuda, Gladys, Beatrice and Faiza came from Ghana to Granville Street to talk to us about girls’ education in Ghana. Their pride and triumph at having overcome a variety of life tragedies and hurdles in order to graduate from secondary school shone through. The fact that they so clearly love learning, and so value the opportunities that education provides, was incredibly touching. One girl mentioned how her mother had lost 4 of 9 children, and she was planning to become a nurse so as to help prevent such tragedies.
Girls in Ghana face several significant obstacles to obtaining education.
* Educating girls is widely considered a waste of time and effort, as women are expected to remain in the home after marriage, which typically occurs around ages 16-17. Girls leave the family home upon marriage, so any money spent on their education is seen as simply wasted, as it will not benefit their birth families.
* For the vast majority of Ghanaians, wages are so low, and education fees are so high, relatively speaking, that obtaining the amounts required can be impossible. At least two of the girls described begging an assortment of extended relatives to give them money for their school fees. If the full year’s fees are required in advance, that is simply impossible for many families. At least two of the girls had single mothers.
* In a typical Ghanaian village without easy access to clean water and fuel, girls’ labour is seen as essential. A girl may have to walk 2 hours each way to bring back one bucket of water.
* If girls can scrape together their school fees, they face an incredibly sexist educational environment. Based on the girls’ experiences, perhaps 10-15% of secondary students are girls. One girl, with her fellow female students, was told she could not attend class one afternoon, because they would have to do laundry for the male students. This, despite having paid their fees like everyone else. This girl refused, and was punished. Another girl was accused of cheating when she received an excellent mark in chemistry, because women are seen as unable to understand science.
Create Change Now is a Vancouver organization which takes a multi-pronged approach to providing education for girls and women in Ghana. Shannen O’Brian, the founder of Create Change Now, has a background in international development. She is passionate about girls’ education and improving the lives of people in the developing world. Simply paying school fees is not sufficient. If the village is provided with a source of clean water, the perceived need to keep girls out of school to get water is alleviated. Girls also need decent clothes and shoes. One girl spoke of how she had to hobble around with broken shoes until Create Change Now assisted her.
How can this important work be funded? Shannen was naturally frustrated by how Vancouverites can so casually spend money on small luxuries like lattes and dog spas. But with her formation of Karma Exchange, she has found a way to leverage consumer buying power to fund the work that Create Change Now does. Businesses sign up to donate set amounts based on various purchases. Thus, your indulgent massage or one-month yoga pass can directly fund a clean water project or a month of school fees.
The evening also included enjoyable musical entertainment by The Reckoners, an indie folk duo, and The Boom Booms, a “Latin-soul-funk-rock-reggae band”.
Note: Special thanks to my friend James Leong, who did not attend this evening, but has given me some background about Ghana based on his work there in respect to Ghana’s recently instituted law to protect women from domestic violence. To learn more about the legal work being done in Ghana to promote equality, check out www.wildaf.org – Women in Law and Development in Africa.
The official video for the speaking tour is here
For Our Daughters – Official Trailer from Daniel J. Pierce on Vimeo.
Related posts:
- Twice and Twice: The Tennessee Williams Project (guest review by @loisrp)
- For Our Daughters: From Ghana to Granville Street (Nov 23rd)
- Tuesdays with Morrie at @PacificTheatre (guest review by @loisrp)
- Carole James guest post – Leader of the NDP
- A personal story on experiencing bullying first-hand (Guest post by Lois)
Thanks again, Raul. One point that I did not really mention is how beneficial girls’ education is to their families and to the nation as a whole. Their families’ income, health, and welfare directly improve. When you educate a girl, you educate a nation.