perjantai 30. tammikuuta 2015

Naisen anatomiaa Funto Lamachin opiskelijoille

Etiopialaiset naimattomat miehet ovat tottuneet vaatimaan itselleen ympärileikatun vaimon. Sellaisen luullaan olevan monin tavoin parempi kuin leikkaamaton. Tämä on yksi vahva syy, miksi tyttöjä ympärileikataan. Nyt Tesfaye on ryhtynyt valistamaan naimattomia miehiä siitä, kuinka heidän avioliittonsa ja erityisesti seksielämä tulee olemaan paljon parempaa kun he ottavat itselleen ympärileikkaamattoman vaimon. Opetuksen jälkeen naimattomat miehet päättivät:

"Kun lähdemme tämän opetuksen jälkeen kotiin, opetamme kaikille kyläläisille ympärileikkauksen haitoista. Haluamme vaimoksemme ympärileikkaamattoman naisen, sillä emme halua kärsiä hänen vaikeuksistaan aviovuoteessa ja perhe-elämässä."

Tesfaye (vas) sekä upeita nuoria miehiä, jotka innoissaan vievät sanaa eteenpäin.

Ympärileikkaus on kuin keisarin uudet vaatteet: vasta kun joku sanoo ääneen kuinka haitallista se on, ihmiset itsekin tajuavat, että se todella pitää paikkansa. Monet, tytöt itsekin, uskovat ympärileikkauksen olevan hieno ja hyvä juttu eivätkä ole ymmärtäneet kyseenalaistaa koko asiaa. Ympärileikkausten haitoista on vaiettu niin, että jokainen siitä kärsivä on saattanut luulla olevansa ainoa, joka siitä kärsii. Myöskin seksi on niin vahva tabu, etteivät edes avioparit keskustele siitä keskenään. Miehet eivät välttämättä siksi ole tulleet edes ajatelleeksi, että naisen kärsimys seksin aikana olisi jotenkin epäluonnollista tai vältettävissä.

Näin puolestaan totesivat naimattomat tytöt Bezuneshin ja Tesfayen opetuksen jälkeen:

"Olemme niin pahoillamme, että olemme menettäneet tämän tärkeän osan kehostamme. Jumala auttakoon meitä kun menemme naimisiin ja synnytämme. Aiomme opettaa kaikille ympärileikkaamattomille tytöille kuinka huono asia tämä on, jotta voimme säästää heidät ympärileikkaukselta!"

Nämä naimattomat naiset haluavat pelastaa leikkaamattomat tytöt.

Tesfaye antoi molemmille ryhmille (miehille ja naisille) vielä tärkeän loppukommentin: "Vaimoni tärkeän kehon osan menetys on minulle itsellenikin suuri menetys ja me molemmat kärsimme siitä seksin aikana. Vaimoni on myös synnyttänyt kaksi lasta valtavien kärsimyksien alla. Hän ei ole edelleenkään täysin parantunut synnytyksistä. Te molemmat, miehet ja naiset, älkää tuhotko ruumistanne, koska se on luotu tärkeää tarkoitusta varten! "

Kolmenkymmenen eri kirkon edustajat.

Bezunesh ja Tesfaye opettivat Funto Lamachin raamattukoulussa opiskelijoita yli kolmestakymmenestä eri seurakunnasta kahden päivän ajan. Kaikki opiskelijat päättivät ottaa ympärileikkauksen haitat opetusaiheeksi omassa kirkossaan. Alla raportti kokonaisuudessaan. Välillä todella tiukkaa tekstiä, eikä kaikki kohdat ehkä sovi herkimmille:

The 4th work report to our partners in Finland 
Topic: Historical background of FGM and its harmful effects
Sub-topics:- Definition of FGM, Historical origin of FGM, The Types of FGM, The Process of FGM, The procedure of FGM, Determinants of FGM, and The Harmful Effects of FGM. 
This the 4th work report is focused on the Historical background of FGM and its harmful effects. We teached students in Funto lamach bible school from more than 30 different evangelical churches. We taught them for two days. Our learners included both married and unmarried, but mostly unmarried. They decided after our training to teach in each church about the harmful practice of FGM. Especially the married men and women decided to stop the bad practice from their children.
For instance, ours teaching looks like as follows:
Definition of FGM
The human race health organization (WHO) defines FGM as “all producers involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs, whether for culture or other non-therapeutic reasons.” It is considered as part of a group of traditional practice of female sex organ. Its literal meaning is “to cut off an important part of human genital organ involving the whole part of the external genital organ of female.” It is one of widely practiced traditions that have been damaging on the health of women and young girls in Ethiopia and other countries as well as in Kambata people. It is a deeprooted practice. 
For Muslims, circumcision is an outward symbol of the religious process, which brings oneself under the discipline of God’s requirement. According to their understanding circumcision reflects the inner growth of reason and submission of basic passions to the higher spiritual requirements of true Islam.  
Historical origin of FGM 
Different writers have different suggestion about the origin of FGM. According to Sandy Willcox FGM was practiced in Egypt before 2500 B.C. Also pre-Islamic Arabia and ancient Rome are concerned countries. Gachiri signifies that it has been practiced thousands of years and it was originated in Egypt and Ethiopia, but this is merely assumption without concrete evidence. A Greek papyrus from 163 B.C. mentions girls in Egypt were undergoing circumcisions and it is widely accepted to have originated in Egypt and the Nile valley at the time of pharaohs. 
Many people try to link the origin of FGM with Islam. However, the significance of the earliest records of the practice of FGM had begun thousands of years in Egypt before the beginning of Islam. Considering FGM as an Islamic religion obligation is not the right attitude, because FGM was carried out long before Islamic religion started. Also Koran does not prescribe the performance of FGM. 
The Types of FGM 
The world health organization classified FGM into four major types: 
Type one is Clitoridectomy. It is the removal of the clitoris with excising part or the entire clitoris. In Ethiopia this practice is common between the Amharic and Tigrigna speaking Muslims. It is considered as the simplest type. It requires a great skill, good light, surgical tools and an anesthetized, motionless body, quite aside from a thorough knowledge of anatomy. 
Type Two is Excision. It is removal of the clitoris together with partial or total excision of the labia minora with or without the labia minor. In Ethiopia tribes who commonly practice it are Gurage, Tigire, the Gondor’s Amara, Oromo, Shinashe, Kunama and Kambata. 
Type Three is Infibulations. It is stitching of the opening of vagina by creating a seal covering which is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner and sometimes outer labia with or without removal of the clitoris. In this type of FGM a small hole is leaving for urine. The tribes Harare, Somali, Mensal, Saho, Afar and some Oromo in Hararge practice it. 
Type four is other or Unclassified. This is a collective form of FGM. It has diverse range of practice like priking the clitoris with needles, burning or scarring the genitals, and ripping or tearing of the vagina. Primarily this type is found among isolated ethnic groups as well as in combination with other types. It is not practiced in Ethiopia but for example in Pitta-Pattain Australia and Rwanda. 
Variations of the types of FGM show the irreversibility of the practice throughout the world. However, in Ethiopia about 90% of women are believed to undergo one of the above three forms of mutilation except type four of FGM. 
The Process of FGM 
The procedure varies, depending on the FGM types girls age, and circumciser’s experience. In Ethiopia, the process of mutilation is performed under unhygienic condition by traditional practitioners, mainly old women and men. They use a sharp instrument like a razor blade or   knife. Some of the cutters are traditional birth attendants. They use it as a means of income generating. Majority of them are uneducated village women and village midwives. In some culture circumcisers are ordained by a group of elders. In Agikuyu of Kenya a child is believed and said to have an inner calling to be a traditional doctor. Others perform it as inheritance from their mother or father.  
The circumcisers use some local medicines to heal the wound. Some of them apply antibiotics in ointment form and in powder form after they excise girls body. In Agikuyu of Kenya the less modern circumcisers pour milk and iodine onto the fresh wound. The traditional ones use red powder made from alloy leaves after they are dried and crushed. They smear folded leaves with castor oil. These leaves are placed in the center of the wound to separate the two sides and to keep them from joining together during the healing process. In Ethiopia the circumcisers are recognized as gifted with the ability of circumcision from the nature. In some areas it is assumed that cutters are possessed by evil spirits. The medicines which circumcises use in the procedure has its own health affection. 
The procedure of FGM 
Procedures are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15 and occasionally on adult women. It is different from culture to culture. In Ethiopia the age of the procedure is different from place to place and family to family. But girls and boys are circumcised before marriage. The economic background of the family plays a great a great role for early circumcision or late circumcision. 
Determinants of FGM 
The reasons for doing FGM are as varied as the rituals that go with the custom, including a mix of traditional, socio- cultural, and religious factors. Where FGM is a social conviction, the social pressure to conform to what others do and been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. It is often considered as a way to prepare adulthood and marriage. The most common reasons to practice FGM are to reduce wife’s sexual desires in order to indemnify her faithfulness to her husband in their marriage relation, to prevent problems of labor and delivery, to conform traditional requirements, peer pressure, fear of stigmatization, for cleanness and beautifulness after the removal of the clitoris. Most of these beliefs do not stand up in the face of current knowledge and realities. The traditionalists excise women because their forefathers and ancestors did it. 
In addition to the above mentioned points socio-cultural factors include the excising of power and control over women and it is honor for the family or clan of the circumcised girls. The procedure brings prestige to families, ensures that the girls can marry certain people and that they will not be able to marry into groups that do not excise. It is sometimes an education into a secret society. It initiates to join the group in order to obtain social support of the group. These societies also often have considerable influence over the entire cultural group of which they form a part. According to the declaration of WHO of 1996 in some society, recent adoption of the practice is linked to copying the traditions of the neighboring groups. 
The Harmful Effects of FGM 
Depending on the types of the procedure of FGM all or most of female sexual organ’s external parts are removed in the process of mutilation. As a result it causes immediate and long term health complications on the health of the circumcised female. The immediate complications could happen within ten days of the operation. Its severity depends on the expertise of the operator and the environment where the operation takes place. Some of them are severing pain and shock hemorrhage and urine retention infection injury to neighboring organs. 
The long term consequences include urinary and reproductive tract infection, caused by obstructed flow of urine and menstrual blood, various forms of scarring and infertility. The first episode of sexual intercourse will often be extremely painful for excised women in needing to open the labia majora and to allow their partner access to the vagina. It may cause the second cut sometimes performed by the partner with a knife and can cause other complications. As a result the vulva lacks its function. Many women are suffering from this traditional practice of FGM and they lost their life when they give birth. 
"Our lovely learners, as you heard from the word of God there is no any evidence to exercise this practice on the lives of women. So, as unmarried male what is your attitude about this when you start to get married? Also, you unmarried girl what do you think about this practice? What is your intention to stop this practice from our community? As you heard now the truth of God’s word and through its historical back ground FGM is dangerous and it killed many women."  
The response of unmarried male group was: "We will after today teach our community about this harmful traditional practice of FGM and we wish to marry uncircumcised women because we dont want to suffer from her pain in our marriage life. As we heard from the word of Lord there is no biblical teaching about it, so Genesis said about male circumcision for Israelites but not all the world male people. Through this text we can’t create teaching about FGM for women as supportive text to practice FGM on the lives of women in our society." 
Unmarried girls said: "We are very sorry because we have lost an important part of the body from ourselves, which was created through God within purpose. If we get married we will suffer because of this harmful traditional practice. May God help us when we get married and when we give birth. But we start to teach the uncircumcised girls to save them from this kind of dangerous practice. Please, you our teachers continue your teaching among our community!"  
So, we promised to teach them continuously every time they want to learn about it.

At conclusion, Tesfaye said the last words: "Both of you, do not destroy your body which was created within purpose. I lost this important part of the body from my wife and I am suffering from it during sex time. Also she has been giving birth two times with strong suffering. Still now she hasn’t healed from birth givings. You can learn more from her when you ask her personally. We are responsibile of our body that was given to us from God the creator." 
Pleas help us as usually by supportive comments to continue our work. We wish all best for you who read this work report. May God bless you.

lauantai 17. tammikuuta 2015

Meeri Koutaniemi ja turvakodin tytöt

Tapasin juuri Meeri Koutaniemen, joka toi meille terveisiä Kenian matkaltaan. Hän on matkallaan kuvannut ja haastatellut Elizabethia sekä turvakodin tyttöjä. Turvakodin tyttöihin voikin tutustua enemmän uusimmassa Suomen Kuvalehdessä. Laitan lehtijutun jossain vaiheessa tännekin näkyviin. Nyt haluaisin kertoa enemmän Elizabehtistä, sillä olin niin iloinen saadessani kuulla hänen touhuistaan Meeriltä.

Carolyn Nyabokie, 15. Turvakodin asukas. Kuva Meeri Koutaniemi (Suomen Kuvalehti)

Meeri kertoi, että Elizabeth on todella karismaattinen puhuja ja ihmiset todella haluavat kuunnella häntä. Meeri oli ollut mukana Elizabethin opetustilaisuudessa jossakin kirkossa jossa Elizabeth oli puhunut tunnin pituisen puheen ja ihmiset olivat kuunnelleet aivan haltioissaan. Elizabeth myös jatkuvasti kouluttaa lisää anti-fgm-valistajia pelastamistaan turvakodin tytöistä. Eli vaikka Elizabethilla ei ehkä ole niinkään vahvuutena raportoiminen ja kirjoittaminen, hän on sitäkin terävämpi keskustelemaan ja puhumaan. Tämä on minulle erityisen ilahduttavaa kuulla, sillä totta puhuen olen välillä aika pulassa Elizabethin "raporttien" kanssa, jotka saattavat sisältää esimerkiksi vain neljä epätarkkaa valokuvaa ilman mitään saatetekstiä.

Myöskin sain kuulla ilahduttavan anekdootin Elizabethin elämästä. Kun Elizabeth karkasi kotoa 11 vuotta sitten, hänen isänsä suuttui valtavasti. Hän jopa yritti tulla turvakotiin tappaakseen tyttärensä. Nyt lopulta, yhdentoista vuoden päästä isänsä on pyytänyt anteeksi käytöstään. Hän on nykyään hyvin ylpeä tyttärestään ja pitää tämän työtä erittäin tärkeänä. Näin se maailma menee eteenpäin! <3

Mercy Tiaulei Leshiniga, 14. Kuva Meeri Koutaniemi (Suomen Kuvalehti).

Meerillä on muuten tulossa valokuvanäyttely poliittisen valokuvan festivaaliin Kaapelitehtaalla. Näyttelyssä hän tuo esiin Elizabethin työtä ja Kenian turvakodin tyttöjen tarinoita. On hienoa saada sitäkin kautta tutustua tarkemmin tähän meidän tukiringin ahkeraan työntekijään! Valokuvanäyttelyyn on tulossa myös Bezuneshin ystävät ry:n flyereita, joissa kerrotaan kuinka Elizabethin työtä voi halutessaan tukea. Näyttelyn avajaiset ovat 29.1. ja näyttely jatkuu aina 12.4.2015 saakka, joten käykää ihastelemassa!

Mitä kuuluu Elizabethin passihankkeelle? Passirahaa on riittävästi koossa, kiitos teille mahtaville tukijoille! Elizabethin tänne saapuminen ei kuitenkaan onnistu kaavailtuun kansainväliseen anti-fgm-päivään vaan se siirtyy myöhempään ajankohtaan, mutta kuitenkin edelleen yhteistyössä Meerin projektien kanssa. Tästä lisää kun asiat selviää.

Teclah Kudate, 16. Kuva Meeri Koutaniemi (Suomen Kuvalehti)

Juttelin Meerin kanssa myös muista järjestöistä, jotka edistävät tyttöjen oikeuksia, että voisikohan joku järjestö ottaa siipiensä suojaan näitä Elizabethin pelastamia tyttöjä tukemalla heidän koulunkäyntiään. Kuitenkin näiden isojen järjestöjen masiinat toimivat niin jäykästi, että he eivät voi rahoittaa olemassaolevia projekteja vaan ainoastaan pistää pystyyn omia hankkeita. Miten turhauttavaa! Miten paljon hyvää voisikaan saada aikaiseksi kun olisi riittävästi rahaa kohdennettavaksi jo olemassa oleviin hienoihin ja toimiviin projekteihin! Turvakodin tyttöjen tulevaisuus on siis kysymysmerkin alla: Mistä rahat? Jos sinulla on jotakin ajatuksia, niin kuulisin erittäin mielelläni! Olen myös avannut viitenumeron jos haluat erityisesti tukea tyttöjen koulumaksuja, laitan rahat Elizabethin tilille ja hän maksaa suoraan tyttöjen koulumaksut. Ihanan vähän byrokratiaa kun on riittävän pieni yhdistys! Viitenumero on 1177 ja tilinumero on FI82 5780 0720 4391 86 (saaja Bezuneshin ystävät ry.). Elizabeth on luvannut lähettää kuvia ja haastattelua tytöistä, joten saamme tutustua heihin sitä kautta tarkemmin. Odottelemme innolla :)

Lopuksi vielä terveisiä Tesfayelta, eli Bezuneshin mieheltä, joka myöskin toimii yhdistyksemme valistustyöntekijänä. Ehdotin jokunen viikko sitten Bezuneshille, että Tesfaye voisi käydä opettamassa naimattomille nuorille miehille vähän "naisen anatomiaa". Perustelin tätä sillä, että kun miehet alkavat suosia ympärileikkaamattomia vaimoja, perheiltä katoaa paine ympärileikata tyttönsä. Tesfaye onkin ottanut idean ilmeisen innokkaasti vastaan ja lähtenyt heti kentälle:

Dear. As you suggested teaching unmarried boys. Tesfaye did just taught Urulicho Bible school students. He finished his teaching today. You will get the work report in next time. God bless you. -Bezunesh

torstai 8. tammikuuta 2015

Terveisiä Euroopan parlamentin työryhmältä

"Hei Henrica,

ja hyvää uutta vuotta Brysselistä!

Näin jälkikäteen ilmoittaisin, että me, Heidi Hautala ja avustajat päätimme lahjoittaa joulukorttirahat Bezuneshille.
Heidi haluaa puolustaa tyttöjen ja naisten seksuaaliterveyttä ja –oikeuksia ja on mm. niitä ajavan EPWG:n http://www.epwg.org/ yhteispuheenjohtaja.
Siksi meistä oli hienoa voida tukea Etiopiassa tehtävää työtä.

Tässä vielä joulutervehdyksemme:

Koko tiimin puolesta toivotan parasta jatkoa ja onnea tärkeälle työlle.
Ystävällisin terveisin

Mari Saarteinen
Communications officer, MEP Heidi Hautala"

Heidi avustajineen toivottaa hyvää joulua ja onnea uudelle vuodelle!
Joulukorttivarat lahjoitimme Bezuneshin Ystäville tyttöjen ympärileikkauksen vastaiseen koulutukseen Etiopiassa.

Joulukorttirahat näkyvät jo tiliotteella ja tuntuu todella rohkaisevalta, että tätä hyväntekeväisyysprojektia arvostetaan Euroopan parlamentin työryhmässä näin paljon. Hyvää uutta vuotta sinne Brysseliin myös! :)

sunnuntai 4. tammikuuta 2015

Damboyan nuoret tytöt vastustavat FGM:ää

Bezunesh ja Tesfaye ovat olleet opettamassa yläasteikäisiä tyttöjä Damboyassa. Opetuksen jälkeen nämä tytöt eivät hyväksy FGM:ää, mutta pelkäävät, että vanhempansa eivät kunnioita heidän päätöstään. Siksi Bezunesh aikoo jatkaa opetusta myös tyttöjen vanhempien keskuudessa. Hieno asia nuorten naisten opettamisessa on myös se, että näin näillä tytöillä on vahva ymmärrys FGM:n haitoista myös kun asia tulevaisuudessa tulee ajankohtaiseksi heidän omille lapsilleen.

Kun katselen näitä Bezuneshin lähettämiä valokuvia tytöistä, hämmästyn kuinka nykyaikaisia he ovat. Eivät nämä mitään alkeis-savimaja-tyyppejä ole! Mutta silti näinkin modernissa yhteisössä vanha FGM-perinne elää. Onneksi näissä tytöissä on tulevaisuus!


The 3rd work report to ours partners in Finland

Topic: Female gentile Mutilation


First of all we would like to say thank you for your immeasurable supporting in every time and all aspects. This time was for us a special time because we had opportunity reach Damboya secondary level student girls through our teaching. Our teaching topic was Female Gentile Mutilation and How it Affects Womens Lives in Both Marriage and Birthgiving Time. We could reach more than 40 girls in this school. We taught them for 2 days in this school. The directors and some women teachers supported us in every way. After our teaching we are very happy because our learners are unmarried and some of them are uncircumcised. Also their responses are very interested and acceptable.

***

Ensimmäien ryhmä.

Among our learners this is the 1st group. This group raised a basic question about family: "We have now learnt about this bad practice but our family uneducated about it. How could they become recognized with this teaching to stop this kind of bad tradition?" Our answer was we will try to teach them too.

Some of the uncircumcised girls said that now when we understand about the dangerous of FGM, we will never cut our body because God gives this part of body within purpose.

***

Toinen ryhmä

This group is the second group and many of them are uncirumcised. Some of them have strongly descide to never cut their body. Then we interpreted these texts strongly and teach them. After that they became decided to stop this kind of harmful traditional practice of FGM.

Our teaching was as following: 

Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is one of the most harmful traditional practices that affects the health of women. FGM is common and acceptable norm in the Ethiopia culture as well as among Kambata people. Many women are suffering from severe health problems as a consequence of this practice. We did interview one instructor women from this school, her name is Amarech Abebe. Also she said that FGM puts extra strain on the women that are already burdened.

FGM is causing both immediate and long-term health complication that affects women’s physical and mental being. As it has been mentioned, FGM has short and long term effect in women’s lives such as severe bleeding due to extreme pain that takes a long time to be healed.

According to Ethiopia culture, many people believe that female circumcision is a form of initiation into womanhood or to ensure social cohesion and family integration. They do this practice to reduce females’ sexual desire as a means of maintaining chastity, virginity, and fidelity and as a way of increasing male’s sexual pleasure. Now days, although this tradition is publically discouraged, some uneducated people are continuing this practice in the lives of girls in hidden way. Even if there is teaching to avoid the practice of FGM from the Ethiopia people, it is not effectively implemented. Therefore FGM has been the one of several challenges and ways to oppress women in Ethiopian society as well as in the church until this day.
***
Kolmas ryhmä.

This is the third group they said we want this kind teaching again and again for future time to protect our life from the harmful practice of FGM. And then we make with them appointment for next time to continue about the historical background of FGM and how it did spread in Ethiopia and among Kambata people. On this issue we will discuss later on.

***

Neljäs ryhmä.

This group is the fourth group and they discussed how the girls would become free from this kind of harmful traditional practice of FGM? They said: "We need more recognition about this and also this teaching is very necessary for our community because if  we reject this practice our family could be against us. So we never cut our body if you will teach them next time."

We told them we are Ok in any time to reach the Kambata community with our teaching to save the life of women.

lauantai 3. tammikuuta 2015

Elizabeth pelastaa tyttöjä

Elizabeth ja kumppanit järjestivät kolmipäiväisen anti-FGM-seminaarin Oloonkipejusin kylässä yhteistyössä kylän kirkon kanssa. Elizabeth lähetti viestiä ja kuvia kirkosta.

Hi Henrica! We were in Oloonkipejusi village holding a three day long seminar that was arranged for us by the church. Chief of area was there and also promise to stand by us to fight against FGM. Those people were so happy and they promise us to change.
The tablet is working well and we are really thankful.











Elizabeth kertoi myös tarkemmin turvakodista sekä pelastamistaan tytöistä. Usein kun Elizabeth on opettamassa hänen luokseen tulee jälkeenpäin hätääntyneitä tyttöjä jotka kysyvät pelokkaina mitä he voivat tehdä välttääkseen vanhempien määräämän kohtalon (ympärileikkaus+naittaminen vanhalle ukolle). Tytöt eivät voi eivätkä uskalla puhua vanhempiensa tai opettajiensa kanssa asiasta. Heille Elizabeth on ainoa toivo, ja usein ainoa, joka ylipäänsäkään on uskaltanut avata suunsa asiasta. Elizabeth antaa kysyville tytöille puhelinnumeronsa, ja pyytää että soittavat hänelle heti kun tilanne alkaa näyttämään ajankohtaiselta niin hän yhteistyössä viranomaisten kanssa auttaa heitä pakenemaan turvakotiin. Turvakoti on samalla myös koulu ja koulusta on maksettava. Elizabeth maksaa näiden tyttöjen koulumaksuja pienistä varoistaan ja on kysynyt olisiko meillä mahdollisuuksia tai kiinnostusta osallistua koulumaksuihin. Olen kyllä kysynyt Elizabethilta voisivatko viranomaiset auttaa maksuissa, mutta hän sanoi, että viranomaiset kyllä tukevat heitä toiminnallaan mutta heillä ei ole valtuuksia tukea rahallisesti. Näin hän kertoo tytöistä:

Hi dear how is you? Me am good doing well the work is going on well. We do pay school fees for ten girls that we have already rescued and there are others who are planning to escape. We are collabrating with pastors, chiefs and councellors. The name of the house is Osotua Rescue Center. The name of the girls are Ann Kitamwuas 12 years old, Agnes Teyiaa 11 years old, Elizabeth Soipare 13 years old, Faith Nairesia 10 years old, Catherine Silantoi 14 years old, Susan Mantaine 11 years old, Winnie Naipande 12 years old, Christine Nayiano 10 years old, Veronica Soila 15 years old and Hellen Paanoi 11 years old. Together their school fees iare 150,000ksh because we want them to join boarding school January date six. The caretaker of the house is Joyce Mutere Ledidi.
Esitän tässä jokaiselle niin tahtovalle mahdollisuuden auttaa näitä tyttöjä pysymään turvakodissa ja käymään koulua. Virallisestihan hdistyksemme tukee anti-FGM-työtä, eli ei siis koulumaksuja, joten siksi en voi suoraan maksaa näitä koulumaksuja yhdistyksen anti-FGM-avustuksista. Mutta jos haluat tukea nimeomaisesti näiden tyttöjen koulumaksuja, lahjoituksen viitenro on 1177.

torstai 1. tammikuuta 2015

Bezunesh puhuu naisten puolesta

Hyvää tätä vuotta rakkaat tukirinkiläiset! Viime vuosi oli aivan hurjan upea, kunhan saan vuosikertomuksen tehtyä, laitan tänne yhteenvedon kaikesta siitä mitä meidän porukkamme on saanut aikaan. Kiitos joka ikiselle hengessä mukana olleelle!
 
Tässä kaiken jouluhässäkän keskellä ehti jäädä hieman rästiin Elizabethin ja Bezuneshin raporttien julkaiseminen. Laitan niitä nyt tässä tulemaan postaus/päivä-vauhdilla suunnilleen. Tässä ensimmäisessä postauksessa Bezuneshin aivan ensiluokkaisen briljantti raportti. Suosittelen lukemaan sen loppuun asti, sillä hän on liittänyt mukaan luentonsa ja täytyy sanoa, että se on aivan mielettömän hyvä! Tässä ei pelkästään saarnata anti-FGM:ää vaan otetaan vahvasti ja kokonaisvaltaisesti esiin tabuasioita naisten oikeuksista. Hurjan rohkea ja vahva nainen! Meeri Koutaniemi on muuten ihan lähiviikkoina matkalla tapaamaan ja haastattelemaan Bezuneshia. Minulla on kutina, että näillä naisilla on paljon yhteistä puheenaihetta!

The work report to ours partners in Finland

Topic:- The challenges of Women in Ethiopia as well as in Kambata people


First of all, we  excuse us for being very late to send the work report. We had shortage of internet connection. We say sorry, sorry and sorry. This work report focuses on different kinds of Women's challenges in all of Ethiopia's ethnic group as well as among Kambata people. So, we had a good time reaching this teaching to people from different churches at the same time. We found that there was more than 70 women at the same time and in the same days. We taught them for 3 day in Hego Dakeya Kela Hiwot church, they came from more than 8 churches and they are key women in each churches, which means they are a secretors of women Kifla Mahibar level. In another words they are leaders of parish women Damboya District area around in Durame Zone.

They were very teachable and interested to have more teaching. They gave thanks to God because of us and because we are interested to teach about FGM. Also they called us again to learn more about FGM and how they could to become free from the bondage of this harmful traditional practice of FGM. Among them some of decided to stop this practice from the lives of their own girls. Also some of them give hope and promise to reject and speak against this practice in the Christian community. So that, they need more recognition of our main teaching within biblical references. We must give hope to teach hem again and again. The following picture shows our learners.

Vaikka kuva on epätarkka, voi tästä nähdä kuinka vakavia kuulijat ovat.


We think it is important for you to know our teaching about what we taught the people in Ethiopia as well as among in Kambata. Our teaching was like follows:

The challenges of Women in Ethiopia society

The Ethiopian people respect others, and they are known in many appreciative practices. However, alike many societies in Ethiopia the challenges of women in the society of Ethiopia are tremendous due to low outlook of people for women. Women play an important role in the society, the people could be home to many bad experiences by using some biblical texts as pretext that lead to the oppression of women in the society as well as in the church. Some of the challenges are going to be seen as follows.

Culture as a problem for Women

When culture is defined, it is the total of inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge which constitute the shared bases of social action. In Ethiopia culture, inequality between male and female is seen from the beginning of their birth. Many people are not happy when female children are born. A clear difference is seen soon after their birth. Women express their joy by ululation (laud shout) when they go to congratulate the mothers of new born. This ululation is done three times for female children, but five times for male children. This is the starting point of the inequality of women in Ethiopia. Females are believed to be lower than males.

The society is not seen clearly in favoring female children. They are not treating with equal opportunities with male children. Sometimes boys get priority for school over girls. Boys are free to play, study, discuss with parents and other people rather than females. However, some times women get these opportunities, but they are expected to be silent and do what is needed for family.

Women’s place in the Society

The cultural and social values of the people dominate women. Culturally, they are considered as lower classes. Women have no right to participate in decision making; they must be silent in every case in the society and even in the family. For example if women express some ideas courageously, she is considered as talkative and she is not honored.

Women in Ethiopia society are active in every aspect of life. For instance, in family career, in managing and keeping house, in child bearing, in nurturing and so on which are considered as their dignity. like many other Ethiopian rural societies, women in Ethiopia have much more work to do than men. Women perform all indoor activities and most of the outdoor work too, for example, assisting their husbands in farm.

In general, even if Ethiopian women have many roles in all areas of life in the society, no credit and recognition is given to them, but through their work husbands and families are honored. Any work done by a woman cannot be appreciated openly either by her husband or by other men. This is considered to be right because a wife can do her work in the name of her husband. Women are always considered as very important part of society but their right is not fully respected.

Power Imbalance


When the issue of power rose, many Ethiopian people put women under the authority of men. Women are always expected to obey their husbands in any circumstance. This creates psychologically negative impact in the minds of women to accept themselves as equal with men. Many Ethiopian people consider women as inferior, and they try to measure the power of woman in accordance with physical strength. The ability of woman should not be measured by physical strength. For example, breast-feeding, menstruation, lack of rest after child birth and other difficult circumstances which they are facing make women physically weak.

Most husbands consider their wives as their servants who are created only to serve them. Even they do not give equal place with their male children. In other words, some mothers are given less priority than male children. They do not get a chance to get what they need in a proper time. Husbands are always the decisive persons in women’s lives. Although women are responsible for all the domestic activities, they do not have the chance to be heads of their houses. Men have the highest place in the domestic economy.

In addition to this, the social and political organization of the Ethiopian society is patriarchal. Its believed that, the father’s line is more important than the mother’s line. Ownership and inheritance of properties and political and religious leadership are in male’s hands. Women are not allowed to play a leadership role in the Ethiopia adequately. It is natural to hinder women from taking position in religious and political affairs. In every aspect of life men have higher opportunities for power, and women are by default subordinated to them.

Dehumanization

Some cultural practices of Ethiopia are known to suppress the human quality of woman. There are many proverbs that are known to dehumanize women in the language of the people.

For example: The following quotes are used to the dehumanization of women.

– Meniti daggu ketechi shinichi higanoba (Women do not know beyond preparing food or beyond kitchen).

– Mentichchiha haruchichiih dullu zaboa (Beating with stick is medicine for Women and donkey).

– Manna hoggohu menitin hossano (Friendless be friends with women).

– Meseleta illohuuo woani agamohu mexooti (Being a father to girls and being drowned by water are the same).

– Mentichu sajohu wo.a cu’imeihu lamunku matoti (Being advised by women is the same as holding water) and so on.

These proverbs in the Ethiopia language create a high psychological impact in the lives of women in the society. From these women accept their weakness as something natural and unchangeable. It forces the women put themselves in the lowest category.

The Workload of Women

The workload of women is one of the ways used to oppress women in Ethiopian society. Women have too much responsibility to work in household rather than men. For example, they are expected to take the responsibility for all food processing, other domestic activities, budgeting the household resources for constantly furnishing the society with labor, protecting children from any sort of danger, care for them whenever they get ill, caring for sick and the other older family members. When we observe women in the domestic role, they are responsible for society. The domestic tasks associated with preparation for wedding and other social meeting are the task of women in the society. There are other responsibilities for women which are mentioned as a workload, like fetching water from river, collecting wood, washing cloths and so on. They are overburdened by too much work during pregnancy time and expected to work even they are sick. Men do not share such responsibilities. Even though, women play a great role in the society, their contributions are unrecognized in society and in household. In these ways women are mistreated in the church and in society.

Women in Education

Women have limited access to education. In Ethiopian society many people believe that educating women is waste of time and money. The reason for this is that women are considered as someone’s property belonging to one man. They are not regarded as tomorrow’s leaders and decision makers. There are a lot of things that hinder women from benefits of education. Many wish to see their daughters to get a good marriage rather than education. Most parents or the society realize that completing the primary education is enough for the girls. The girls are also forced to see the suppressive situation of their eldest sisters and mothers. But there is some change regarding to women in education in present days, but it is not adequate, the attitude of some uneducated people is unchanged about women education until this day.

Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is one of the most harmful traditional practices that affects the health of women. FGM is common and acceptable norm in the Ethiopia culture. Many women are suffering from the health problems as a consequence of this practice. FGM puts extra strain on the women that are already burdened.

FGM is causing both immediate and long-term health complication that affect women’s physical and mental being. As it has been mentioned, FGM has short and long term effect in women’s lives such as severe bleeding due to extreme pain that takes a long time to be healed.

According to Ethiopia culture, many people believe that female circumcision is a form of initiation into womanhood or to ensure social cohesion and family integration. They do this practice to reduce females’ sexual desire as a means of maintaining chastity, virginity, and fidelity and as a way of increasing male’s sexual pleasure. Now days, although this tradition is publically discouraged, some uneducated people are continuing this practice in the lives of girls in hidden way because they accept it as culturally acceptable norm, but there is no evidences for it in the scripture. Even if there is teaching to avoid the practice of FGM from the Ethiopia people, it is not effectively implemented. Therefore FGM has been the one of several challenges and ways to oppress women in Ethiopia society as well as in the church until this day.

At last, we will do the best we to save our society from this harmful traditional practice and be strong to do with us. Thank you a lot.