Today was our second day of teaching at Daughter’s Vision. My group of 4 students is teaching the arts in a small cramped room with limited space and chairs for the children. This made today especially stressful because the classrooms became very overcrowded with as many as 30 children in a single room. However, even through all the stress, the children are still amazing to work with. It is so evident in their faces that they are so excited and motivated to learn and I think that is very inspirational. We introduced the kids to finger painting, puzzles and coloring books which they really seemed to like. I think the attitude here of the kids is very different from many American children who often take their education and opportunities for granted.
Some of the other groups are teaching math and English. Brianna and Anisa, who are teaching the kids how to read, talked about how good it felt when one of the girls named Beauty was able to read and pronounce her name for the first time! The boys have been concentrating on outdoor games and although at one point they expressed the sense that even though they were not necessarily teaching kids a tangible academic skill, they feel good about providing the kids with fun and relief from some of the difficult lives we know they are leading.
After half a day of teaching we went to an organization named Zoona that allows people in rural areas or people without bank accounts to have access to a safe and approachable way to give and receive money. It also boosts the economy by providing jobs for tellers, the people working at the kiosks or Zoona booths. Although Zoona is a for-profit company, it has a social justice arm to it in that it works to provide jobs specifically for women (although they do employ men as well) with a particular focus on women in very underprivileged areas who might not have access to the resources or opportunities necessary to rise above the life into which they were born. Zoona works in partnership with The Girl Effect and provides these women with an 18-month training program in which they are taught life skills with a focus on undoing or “unlearning” all of the messages they have been taught by their culture and society. That is, these women have been told that they are beneath men and don’t necessarily deserve all the opportunities provided to men. For example, many of these women come from areas where educating females is just not a priority so many are illiterate.
Today we had a chance to tour the Zoona office, which was very nice and could easily have been an office in America, and meet one of the agents, Mercy, who owns multiple kiosks in the Mtendere township, very similar to N’gombe. Despite her success, she explained that she is given a lot of pressure from her family who wants to know how much she makes and what she is doing with the money. She explained how many assume that a woman in her position must have slept with someone in order to get her job which is hurtful and often knocks a woman’s confidence. If a woman is not able to get to the bank in time to deposit her money on payday, she must go home with it and sometimes risk their boyfriend of husband stealing it. When asked if they stay with these men who steal their money, Mercy laughed and responded, “Of course they do.”
Although it’s clear to see what a long way women have in struggling to gain equality with men, I thought her story was very inspiring. Mercy and our tour guide, Memory, are examples of women who are running their own businesses and supporting themselves which is usually thought of as the man’s job. They were able to create success for themselves and rise above the expectations placed upon them by society.
Nephele R., Northwood High School