Last week in The Gambia...

22nd June - 26th June - Women and Development

I leave The Gambia today to fly to the UK, and then on to Lilongwe, Malawi. I have tremendously enjoyed myself here, and have met some really wonderful people!


This week I went back to class at WACD-TC for the gender issues module. In The Gambia every tribe has their own traditions and cultures. However, there are similarities between the tribes on the treatment of women, and gender roles.
Males are the dominant sex, and women are seen as someone who works for them. In decision making, the woman's opinion does not matter. Women are the heart of the household, responsible for everyone's well being. Although they play this vital role, they typically have no authority.

A women will likely enter an arranged marriage around the age of 16 years, forcing her to drop out of school. Men begin getting married around the age of 30, having finished school and working for years. When women get married, their families must pay a dowry to the man. Polygamy is common practice.
On a typical day, men will work in the fields till about midday, when they retire to the local 'chill' spot and talk business and politics for four to five hours, then retire to bed. On the same day women will prepare all the meals, fetch the water, search for firewood, take care of the kids, mend and wash clothes, go to the markets to buy and or sell produce, tend to their vegetable gardens and have maybe one hour off before bedtime. There is a large disparity between male and female work loads. The household work that women do, is not considered actual 'work' by the men or women in the community. This gender role has been reinforced so much that it seems 'natural'.

Female genital mutilation is also common practice in The Gambia and surrounding areas. When a women gets married the blockage needs to be removed by the traditional circumcision person, or the women needs to have surgery to do this. It is a very painful process. Women once married rarely have access to birth control, so can have as many as 12 kids, only further burdening their work load.

An equal division of labour in a household is necessary to starting to create gender equality. Gender stereotypes and roles need to be examined. Women play a vital role in keeping families and societies functioning, and this should be recognized.

I am excited for my next adventure, but sad to leave this wonderful country. The Gambia may be a very poor country, but the concept of suffering in poverty did not occur to me here. There is so much beauty in the people and the landscape here. People are friendly, warm, accepting and earnestly trying to make their world a little better for themselves. It really is 'the smiling coast of Africa'.