Chapter 7: Stereotypes and Education

One of the solutions that is continually suggested throughout this book is giving these women an education. Education is not the only solution but it is one that can fix a lot of the issues these women are facing. Even a small amount of schooling can change these women’s life forever. One women, Mamitu Gashe, suffer a fistula during her first pregnancy. After making her way to Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and receiving treatment she began to work there. She started out as an assistant. She would make beds and help during fistula surgeries. Soon Mamitu was entrusted with small surgical procedures such as suturing wounds closed. Eventually she learned how to do fistula repairs and was allowed to do them on her own.  Addis Ababa Fistula hospital does the most fistula repairs in the world and a woman with absolutely no prior knowledge of biology was able to learn and became a master surgeon. This women who was denied a basic elementary school education was a master surgeon who eventually taught other to do fistula repairs. She took charge of the training program at the hospital and even began taking classes to learn how to read. Mamitu should not only be a role model to women in these circumstances but she should be to every women. She picked herself up and made something of herself in a world that believed women were to weak or incapable of accomplishing such a task.

Our society had its civil right issues supposedly fixed in the 60s with an amendment being placed in the constitution. Unfortunately a piece of paper has lacked the power to change some people’s points of view. American women are still looked down on in many aspects of our society. Women’s wages are less than that of a man because we may not be able to handle the work load or because one day we may become pregnant and they have to pay for maternity leave. In sports, occupations, and marriage all have traditions. These roles, however, are not traditions they are stereotypes. There should never be assigned roles or specific jobs that only one gender can do.  Not only are women facing this stigma today but the next generation of children are being raised with the same gender discrimination.

 

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Phoenix-school-refuses-to-play-baseball-against-a-girl-151049865.html

 

This video hit me especially hard because I play softball and there is a stigma that it is not really a sport. Even when it was proven it is harder to hit a softball then it is a baseball men still believe there sport is harder. We have come a long ways in our thinking by allowing there to be female sports but there is still the sigma that male athletes are stronger then female athletes. This girl broke out of the social taboo just like Mamitu. With a little education and self-respect both of these females have become role models. It is really amazing what a little education a can do for self-esteem. It may even push you to learn to read like Mamitu or play a sport that is male dominate. Everyone believes our education system is broken and in some ways I believe it is but I challenge you to find something positive education has given you.

 

Chapter 7- Childbirth & Death...It Doesn't Really Have To Be This Way

     I continue to be both troubled and inspired as I progress through Half the Sky. Chapter 7 looks at women's mortality during childbirth, the major factors involved in these alarming rates and the success that Sri Lanka and Edna Adan have had in increasing health care to this population. The story of Prudence and the circumstances surrounding her death are heart wrenching. It's troubling enough that she received no prenatal care throughout the course of her pregnancy but the callousness with which she is treated by the doctors and nurses was too much. These women already have so much working against them...poverty, lack of education, basic health care... but to be treated with such disregard in their time of most need left me with a sick feeling. It seems that the medical staff has literally grown numb to what they see around them and that is troubling to me. If they, the very people who live and breathe this and have been entrusted to care for the least of their brothers (and sisters), can so easily look the other way and leave a woman to die a preventable, painful death, why then would the rest of the world care to make a difference?
     Fortunately there are people that have made it a priority. Sri Lanka has made a concerted effort towards improving health care and education to women. The combination has drastically reduced the number of deaths during childbirth. Edna Adan refused to be deterred in creating a maternity hospital that bears her name. The lives that have been saved between these two efforts are literally life changing. But this is because Sri Lanka and Edna Adan WANTED to make deaths during childbirth a priority. How can we make it a world wide issue that calls more people to action?
     Circumstances surrounding women's mortality can bring out the best and worst of humanity. I choose to believe that the best will win out and more Edna Adans can make the difference that these women so urgently need.

chapter 7

After reading the chapter, I feel that I don’t agree with the opinion that the world stand by if there were men who died just for completing their reproductive functions. Women need not die in childbirth. We need to give young woman information to support her needs to control her reproductive health, to help her through a pregnancy, and also take care of her and her newborn well into childhood. The vast majority of maternal deaths could be prevented, if women have access to quality family planning services and skilled care during childbirth. The working health system is a key to save these women's lives. On the other hand, the lack of education also directly improved the chances of women’s death in childbirth. And in today's society, there are still many people disregard for women. One reason for women’s death is because they are not thought as matter. There is a strong correlation between the countries where women are marginalized and the countries with high maternal mortality. I think this is not a necessarily truth, because the second element may due to medical issues. Only a few women know their own specific conditions, so they can take care of them. We should change this condition to help more women realize that the importance of understanding their own situation. I know one reason women die in childbirth has to do with anatomy, arising from two basic evolutionary trade-offs. When I was reading this chapter, I was reminded of my mom in the pain of childbirth. I just want to say thank you to her, and take care of her during her rest of life.

My question is “why can't women die in childbirth?”

Chapter 6 Im/Press/Her

I'm going to blog about this chapter from the context of helping the oppressor, based on the actions of the oppressed young girl. Mahabouba is an example of someone that can survive anything. Her acts are something that an oppressor should identify and become encouraged. In the world of survival, people tend to do whatever it takes to live, such as gaining wealth and power from abusing another person.

I want to share a few points of survival that Mahabouba overcame. She first had to deal with not being educated and given to an aunt that treated her like a servant, as a young girl. Then she was deceived into thinking she could find better work but was sold for money, she got no part of. She was beaten and raped by the man she was sold to to also suffer additional abuse from another woman. Mahabouba. Now, facing all of this oppression, abuse, and despair, things got worse before they got better for her. She was now a pregnant girl that had to run away from the abuse to protect herself and her unborn child. As she was running she even went back to her native village to have backs turned on her for being a pregnant runaway. Because of complications and not having proper medical treatment she lost her baby and caused crippling nerve damage to her body. Her only hope left seemingly was her uncle, to only be denounced and literally thrown to wild animals. While Mahabouba was crippled and in serious pain she was able to fight off hyenas from attacking her and possible devouring her.  Once again she was only a fourteen year old girl. She later got the help she needed to continue to live while still suffering from bodily injuries.

I'm speaking to the man or woman that feels to choose to commit an act of slavery or abuse towards another human is not the only option you have to survive. No matter how hard things are for you we have the ability to survive if we choose to fight to live like Mahabouba. For the last time she was only fourteen years old at the time.  1Love!1Life!

The Power of Educational Voices

While reading chapter six and previous chapters in Half The Sky, I noticed education has a huge impact on so much in many countries. On Christy Turlington Burns website there is a International Day of the Girl Child Day in India where their main focus is young girls to get the education they want and deserve instead of being forced into a marriage they aren't physically and psychologically ready for. Having an education can prevent many things from happening not only with women, but young girls as well. Being educated can help prevent women and girls from prostitution, trafficking, being sold by family or friends, maternal issues, sexually transmitted diseases and physical injuries such as fistula. 

"I raise up my voice - not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard"- Malala Yousafzai

This quote means so much to me! This can be directed towards us! Yes you reading this! One person can make a difference just by speaking up and letting your voice be heard because there are many children, girls, and women who have no voice and need us to do something to be the change and difference that is needed. After I read a chapter in the book I want to do something then after awhile I get sad because I feel like it's not much I can do other than donate and host events to educated people. I'm a poor college student with a loud voice, but at times I hope and believe me hosting events and educating people will inspire someone with more power to make a change or do something bigger than I do. That's in my dreams and one day it will be a reality. So I ask these questions.... What can we do to help educate? Individually? As a class? 

Reading this chapter in Half the Sky I realized how far medical science has come in America. Today when women become pregnant there is very rarely a fear that a woman will die in pregnancy unless there are serious complications. My aunt is a nurse in a maternity ward and has never taken care of a woman who hasn't lived through her pregnancy. Unfortunately for Mahabouba, a young woman from Western Ethiopia a pregnancy is not a risk free part of life. As a thirteen year old girl she was sold into a marriage with a sixty year old man. The man beat her, raped her and controlled her until she finally escaped his clutches. Reading this I tried to put myself in Mahabouba's place and I couldn't imagine being abused and forced into marrying at thirteen. At thirteen I was still a child and I can't concieve how Mahabouba must have felt. (Do many of you ever wonder how strong the human spirit is to survive through these terrible hardships these women in Half the Sky have had to endure?)
 Before reading this section of the book I didn't know what fistulas were. After reading about Mahabouba's experience I felt her pain. How she was excluded from the other members of her village, she couldn't use the restroom of her own accord, she had to defend herself against hyenas. Later on Mahabouba rises out of her situation and becomes a head nurse. It really shocks me she was able to overcome her hardships. Most people would not have gone on, they would have given up. I really admire her for making the very most of her situation.
I was left wondering if Jiad, the man who had forced Mahabouba to marry him, had faced any punishment for the cruel way he treated her. I also wondered if Simeesh, the woman who couldn't move her legs, had progressed further in her physical wellness. Most of all after reading this chapter I realized how strong people are to live and thrive even through horrible situations.

Chapter 6: Maternal Mortality - One Woman a Minute

After watching the videos and reading the chapter for this week, the most profound point that stood out to me was Mahabouba’s story. This woman is truly remarkable, in my opinion. As a thirteen-year-old girl she was sold to be a second wife, then was impregnated by her owner, and eventually suffered fistula due to her lack of medical care during her delivery process is a horrific situation to go through. All of these terrible things happened to her completely out of her control, and I think that’s what makes this so upsetting to me. She thought she was choosing a better life for herself by working for a man and earning more money, but instead he put her through agony. What really stands out about Mahabouba is what she makes of herself after everything she had gone through. After being unable to walk and fighting for her life against hyenas, she makes a significant turn around and works her way to the position of senior nurse’s aide. Mahabouba’s story is so inspiring and empowering. To be able to make such a huge improvement in her life is something that I think everyone can admire.

            When Nick Kristof says that statistics have more of a dulling effect but hearing individual stories is what really urges people to do something about what they’ve heard: I completely agree. While reading the chapter I found that the parts when statistics were being listed off and large numbers were written on the page, I had no real emotion or feelings towards the situation or the number of people in that situation. On the other hand, reading the stories of Mahabouba and Simeesh I was better able to understand to their circumstances and get a more realistic feel for what they went through. (Note: Obviously not being able to fully understand or feel what they actually went through.) Does anyone else feel this way? Are there ways that you are able to get more knowledge just from reading statistics?

            Another point I thought was interesting from this chapter was towards the end when it talked about some of the most effective approaches to improving mortality rates were not medical related. The statistic stated that a way to reduce pregnancies in young girls was to subsidize school uniforms for them, thus keeping them in school longer which then means that they would delay marriage and pregnancy until they are more suitable to do so. I think this is a valid point and has the potential to really work in many places, but there are several areas that would not be able to afford a uniform even if it was only $6. Does anyone else agree or disagree with what the book said? Any other comments on school uniforms potentially effecting girl’s later lives?

All references from Half the Sky, by Nicholas D. Krisof and Sheryl WuDunn, Chapter 6: Maternal Mortality – One Woman a Minute (p. 93-107)