I'd like to introduce a poem to you that I heard recently on a trip to Kenya. Oxfam works on education and with young people in Kibera, a vast and densely-populated Nairobi slum, home to an estimated one million people. It was during a trip there in January that I had the good fortune to be entertained by Shaddes Classic, a group of performers who promote strong messages on HIV and AIDS, violence and other important issues through song, dance and poetry. Oxfam works to promote equality for women and freedom from all forms of violence, and the incredibly evocative words of one of the songs I heard that day speak volumes...
Woman of Africa
The beautiful woman of Africa with strong white healthy teeth
Which glitters in the sun as she smiles.
Singing a lullaby to the young one as she watches over the cooking pot on fire
Getting ready to provide for her family,
Woman of Africa are you not a special being?
Woman of Africa, mother of our homeland, before the cock crows she is already up with the pot on her head, ready to begin the daily chores of tilling the land ready to plant
Woman of Africa are you not a special being?
The woman of Africa has endured many problems, child bearing - a duty not a choice, like a beast of burden with baby on the back and luggage on the head, subjected to rape, and the offender walks free, forced to marry, for she is there to be seen and not to be heard. Education for a woman? A luxury not a necessity, but, educate a woman, and you educate the nation
Woman of Africa are you not a special being?
Woman of Africa, special yet rejected, with the death of her husband, she is inherited and if the inheritor has AIDS she inherits it too. Circumcision for women, another killer disease. Wife beating, almost a right and not inhuman
Woman of Africa are you not a special being?
The wars in Africa have not spared the women. Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia have all been torn by civil war. When her husband goes to where fate takes men, she bears full responsibility to educate feed and cloth. Ooh! Woman of Africa are you not a special being?
The woman of Africa is no longer in the dark
In education, she shines like any other man
In marriage, she has a choice to marry or not
Wife molesting is now counted as law breaking
For no one is safe until all women are safe
For woman, woman! You are a special being.
© Shadesclassics 2002
Choose Fairtrade, fight poverty
I just wanted to give a quick plug before I finish my blog to encourage anyone in the UK to get involved in this year's Fairtrade Fortnight (26 February - 11 March). It's an invaluable opportunity to spread the word that buying Fairtrade can guarantee poor communities a decent price for their produce. This is something close to Oxfam's heart and links directly to our Make Trade Fair campaign. Fairer trade rules would allow developing countries to claim more of the world trade market and lift millions of people out of poverty. We will continue to hold the governments of rich countries to account, and at the same time promote Fairtrade products as a practical way to help families and workers in poor communities. There are loads of ways to get involved in Fairtrade Fortnight now on this website.
Until next month.
Barbara.
