Being a Rural Woman: A life of service to the community

“Nothing decisive,Nothing sustainable,can be done in our country as long as this important part of ourselves remains in the oppression imposed on them by different systems of exploitation….the true empowerment of women is that which makes the woman responsible,that includes her in productive activities, and in the fight against the different challenges faced by our people. The true emancipation of women is that which forces consideration and respect from men”

Though these words may sounds like those of a convinced women’s rights activist of the second decade of the 21^st century, they aren’t. These are words from Burkinabe revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara to women gathered to celebrate International Women’s day on March 8^th 1987 a few months before his assassination.

The above was not only an appeal for women to never lose sight of the fundamental role they play in the progress of a society, but above all, a call to men and society as a whole to support them as they selflessly invest in the nation’s future at times through acts of courage that are often taken for granted or ignored such as beautifully balancing their role as mother, caretaker of the family, and increasingly bread winner for most families in my part of the world.

Rural Women deserve more……

 The brave women of the rural areas of Cameroonlive what I call “A life of service to the community” by waking up early to prepare the children for school; prepare breakfast for the family; toil all day in farms; return home late and despite the hard day’s work prepare dinner for the family. This makes me so proud of these women and reinforces my conviction that they merit more attention than is currently being accorded them by politicians and policy makers in the far away capital cities and comfortable skyscrapers in Yaounde, Addis Ababa, and NewYork.

Women make up more than half of Cameroon’s vastly youthful population. A majority of this very “important part of ourselves” live in the most ignoble of conditions in its rural areas and are on a daily basis subjected to torture, rape, and abuses of all sorts by men who are themselves oppressed by a society in which the gap between the very rich and the very poor is ever widening.

Economic Injustice is an Effective fertilizer for the Oppression of Women

Yes, a man who is powerless in the face of  his family’s inability to eat to their fill; cannot pay  health bills for his family; and cannot afford to send his children to school,  transfers the injustice done  him by society to his wife, sister, and daughteronly  in the face of whom he feels  “a real man”.Non-inclusive redistribution of a country’s resources therefore leads not only to economic inequality among a nation’s citizens but aggravates the already existing inequality through abuses of all sorts on women and girls.

Achievement of Millennium Development Goals is impossible without women 

Thus, greater economic opportunity is to be extended to rural area dwellers if the Millennium Development Goals to which this year’s International Women’s Day is dedicated are to ever be achieved and this cannot be done without the brave women who though living in these socially challenged areas, have put their lives “at the service of the community” 

Water:Sustaining Lives, Sustaining Development

Being part of a world where according to statistics from the World Health Organization at least 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking-water and 2.4 billion persons live without access to sanitation systems with 5000 children dieing everyday from avoidable water-related diseases, and at the heart of a continent(Africa) where only 5% of its rural area dwellers(the majority of its population) have access to safe drinking water (http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/en/), Cameroon is one of those countries in which this year’s world water day’s theme: Water and Food security has a particular meaning.

CHOLERA IS THE MOST VISIBLE TIP OF THIS ICE BERG

In the last 3 years, Cameroon has experienced a series of acute cholera outbreaks which have affected thousands and killed more than a thousand others(http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/africa/cameroon/cameroon-cholera-continues-to-claim-lives/).The recurrence of Cholera outbreaks in a given place is indication that basic hygiene and sanitation facilities and practices are absent and when this happens in a country like Cameroon where according to official statistics more than 50% of consultations and 60% of admissions in health units is related to diseases caused by poor sanitary conditions and by water-borne, water-related, water -based and water-scarce diseases such as cholera, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, river blindness, guinea worm, trachoma, scabies, and diarrhoea, the resulting effect could not but be felt on all spheres of the society.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in its report titled: Strengthening interventions to reduce helminth infections: an entry point for the develop-ment of health-promoting schools, the incidence of water-borne diseases and related infections is highest among the poor, especially school-aged children and more than 2.2 million people from developing countries die each year from preventable diseases caused by inadequate access to safe drinking water and poor hygienic conditions.

Conscious of the fact that a significant portion of children in Cameroon’s rural communities do not go to school because they have contracted a water-related disease, and having witnessed the numerous cases of child deaths linked to water-related diseases in my community, instead of sitting comfortably and waiting for the government to come and salvage my community from the cholera outbreak, I decided to act for my people.

WE CAN ALL DO SOMETHING HOWEVER SMALL

Convinced that for any fight to be effective those most affected by the ill against which the fight is directed should play a key role and conscious of the fact that only a few of my community’s inhabitant had knowledge of the MDGs, I set out in September 2010 to change people’s mentalities and perception about sanitary conditions ,community development and nation building. I started a one-on-one outreach which consisted of personal discussions with various community stakeholders during which I sensitized them on things to do to avoid being victims of cholera.

After realising how fundamental Water, Sanitation, and Health(WASH) were to the achievement of all the MDGs, I started an initiative called: the MDGs Participative Achievement Program, which sensitized pupils and students on how they-as individuals-could effectively combat Cholera in their various schools, communities, and families by observing simple hygiene rules and by so doing contribute to the achievement of all the other MDGs.
After reaching out to more than 1000 pupils and students, this program came to an end in March 2011( after last year’s world water day) due to lack of resources. But our fight for our people’s right to water,their right to live in a safe environment, and in a comfortable house should be recognised by policy makers has just begun and nothing, not even the lack of resources will stop us.

WHEN THE SEARCH FOR WATER BECOMES DANGEROUS

Where I come from in Cameroon and like in most developing countries, rural women produce between 60–80 per cent of food for household consumption(www.fao.org/SD/FSdirect/FBdirect/FSP001.htm) and it is a tradition that, men fetch fire wood(generally tree branches used for cooking) and women fetch water which they use to cook, do laundry, and water crops they have planted. This tradition is fast becoming a burden too heavy for my people-especially the women to bear. This is because water sources are drying up and the distance separating my people from the few sources of potable water is widening and the number of rapes of girls who have to move long distances using very dangerous paths through a thick bush to fetch water. These young girls are not only exposed to repeated rapes, but also have to miss classes because they at times have to walk for an hour or two to fetch water for household use. Those among these girls that are most determined to go to school thus have to leave home as early as 5A.M to walk to and from these water sources and then cook food(that will serve as breakfast for a family) before they go to school.

The above, all negatively affects the education of the girl child in my village and are amongst the first causes of the high rate of school drop outs among the female student population in this rural community.

WATER IS INDISPENSABLE TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

There is therefore no doubt as to the fact that water plays a fundamental role in worsening or improving the quality of life of people in any community. Thus to effectively tackle ills plaguing rural communities such as illiteracy conditions, poverty, rape, violence against women, and hunger, every single soul should easily access water which is safe and affordable.

Making water available safe drinking to rural community dwellers in a place closer to where they live and work(most rural area dwellers in Cameroon have agriculture as a means of subsistence), will have a great impact on its present and future generations. Girls will substitute the time they spend in walking to far away places to fetch water with studies, rapes will be reduced(since water sources will be closer to their homes), and community efforts to sustainably manage their water source will be enhanced.

As we celebrate world water day today, policy makers should know that if they prefer tarring a road to making water safe, accessible, and affordable, all the policies they will formulate and implement will backfire and the achievement of MDGs will forever remain a dream.
Water needs to be given the place it deserves in policy. World leaders must move beyond the much talk at international conferences to taking concrete actions that will not only lead to the achievement of the MDGs but above all save the lives of more than a billion persons. Water is indispensable for Live, Water is indispensable for development.

You can also read this blog at:
http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/Gastonkwa/2012/3/22/Water-Sustaining-Lives-Sustaining--Development