Happy(belated)International Women’s Day!!
In the last two week I have held about four classes (including 2 make up classes) focusing on International Women’s Day, which was March 8th. In these lessons we started by watching five short videos from a series called "Why Women Count". You can find the series HERE on YouTube. We specifically focused on Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Uganda.
For the Government High School in Buea Town I chose 3 students who had a tie for 2nd place and 1 student for 1st place. At the Biligual Grammar School in Molyko I have two classes (the regular club and the advanced class) therefore two 1st place winners and respectively a 3 way tie and a 2 way tie for 2nd place.
Prizes comprised of a
variety of school supplies like notebooks, pens, pencils, etc were given at the
assembly.
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See what the winners have to say below:
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School: Government High School - Buea Town
Winner: Yatuh Ketline
Class: Lower 6
 |
| Yatuh Ketline Of Government High School Buea Town |
1. Why is it important for a
woman to be empowered and able to make her own decisions
2. What are some other ways
men, women, girls and boys around the world can advocate for women and other
causes?
3. How does the material we
covered today in class relate to the work YAN does?
To empower means to make
someone feel that he/she has control over their life and their work. Empowerment
is to formally give a person or an organization the legal authority to do
something. Empowering women means empowering her family and in turn her
community which translates a powerful force that can change the world in
significant positive ways. Also, letting a woman to make decisions brings more
equality to mankind. It balances the strengths and weaknesses of men and women
to compliment each other. If the world were run by men and women in unity, how awesome
e it would be.
It
is important for a woman to be empowered politically, this is holding or
occupying positions in government. When she is there, she will make women
benefit form it. She will do everything in her power to see that women are
taken care of, they are provided with their essential needs. If this happens,
there is going to be peace and harmony in the world.
It
is also important to empower a woman economically. This is done through loans
given to them or opening up business centers. When a woman is economically
stable, she makes decisions for herself and the family. She will be able to
take care of her children and provide for her family in the times of need or
when the man is financially unstable. This will reduce the rate of depression, poverty
and hardship in out contemporary society.
It
is also very important when a woman is empowered morally. When she is no being
beaten, neglected, or forced into early marriages, but instead, sent to school
in full term, hher self esteem will no be damaged and she is going to manage
her home in an advanced way. She will be able to bring up her children in an
upright manner making them to be good and better citizens
There are ways in which men,
women, boys and girls can advocate for women. Firstly, the opening of ministries
like the Ministry of Women’s’ Empowerment and the Family headed by
Marie-Therese Abena Oncloua. This ministry see in it that, the problems and
struggles of women are taken into consideration and finding lasting solutions.
This helps to make the women known and advocacy can be carried out through this media.
Another
way is by proclaiming days like International Women’s Day which is set out to
celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women. This is
another way of advocate because awareness is created on the relevance and
importance of a women in out society.
Lastly,
setting up radio campaigns is another way. On the radio, we can sensitize woman
and children on the importance of mainlining women's rights leading to gender equality
and unity.
The material we covered in
class related to the work we do in YAN. The primary aim of YA is creating awareness
to the public on problems affecting our communities and the country at large. In
YAN, we identify a problem that’s affecting our society. In the movies, we
identified problems. We discovered that in all the movies, the prominent
problem is that women are violate, suppressed and no counted.
In
YAN, after identifying the problem, we find out what the world has to chare
with us concerning that problem (researching our specific topic). In the movies
we watched, the problem has been identified and women form Nigeria, Zimbabwe,
Uganda, Sierra Leone and Ghana shared their thoughts and experiences on the
problem.
In YAN, after knowing what the
world's opinions are about your problem identified, you then advocate. Sensitize
the people on the possible preventions, ways to reduce or completely eradicate
the problem. In the movies, we saw how individuals and organizations have come
up to put an end or reduce the rate in which women are violated and minimized.
To conclude, from the assessment above, we can say
that it is very important to empower a woman in economic, political and social
domains. This is going to promote gender equality, harmony and unity in out contemporary
society.
“Women rise up and make the men to count you”
-Yatuh Ketline
 |
| Receiving her prize at the General Assembly |
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School: Bilingual Grammar School - Lycee Molyko
Winner: Muluh Victory
Class: Lower 6
Chosen Essay Questions:
1. What is gender quality and how can this improve living
conditions in our community and around the world?
2. Why is it important for a women to be empowered and able
to make her own decisions?
3. What are some other ways men, women, girls and boys
around the world can advocate for women?
Women are mothers of the world and supposed to be considered
as the most important people in the world today because there is no thing like
a mothers love for the child. If women are allowed to express themselves as men
do in the world today that is gender equality. We will see a great impact in
the worlds development. I there was gender equality in the society and around
the world today, there will be low rate of infant mortality since women would
be seen to school and they will be taught on how to bring up their children and
how to care for them. Reduction in prostitution since women will be educated so
they will know the implications of prostitution like contraction of diseases
such as AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. And
the rate which women are being depressed and so they will take care of
themselves and their children. The women's talents would be exposed which will
improve on the income of the country. Like they say, “What a man can do a woman
can do better.”. And it is true anywhere in the world today. Gender quality
will leave do an increase in women’s life span, reduce the rate of orphans on
the streets and also the rate of teenage pregnancy since women would have the
right of education like men and also reduce the world’s starvation especially
in Asia and Africa. Also, rape victims will be able to defend themselves and it
will reduce the rate of women being raped every day throughout the world.
Women face a lot of difficulties as being considered or
accepted in the society today as being important even though they have ideas
that change the world and impact their families. Women should be appreciated
and empowered because they have a lot to offer to the world to make it a better
place. If women are empowered and allowed to make their own decisions in
education and marriages respectively they will gain knowledge on how to take
care of their children, be independent and to contribute to the development of
the country. And they will be happy about themselves and it will not only make
the family happy but the world for they say, “When the mother is happy the
whole family will be happy”. Some women who have been empowered not only in
Africa but throughout the world believe that women should have a say in the
world today like the presidents of some African counties such as Ruth Sando
Perry the first African lady president in Liberia and Joyce Banda the president
of Malawi. Both are great examples of empowered women who have ruled their
counties very well showing that women are good leaders if they are given a
chance. When women are empowered they can change who their children become by
encouraging them to fight for their rights and their future because women
change the thinking capacities of their children. So, women should be empowered
because the growth of the world depends on them.
In order to change the mentality of the society about women
and also to advocate for women in the world in the world today as men of the
society is to appreciate and give them a change to express themselves in anyway
they can. Give them the respect they deserve because we were brought into this
world by a woman and as boys and girls we should give them respect and honor
them by all means that we can. Because not for them we wouldn’t be in the world
today.
“Women have more
and more to offer the world – more than we think. We should just give them a
chance to express themselves and we shall see the outcome of it all. “
-Muluh Victory
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School: Bilingual Grammar School - Lycee Molyko (Advanced YAN Class)
Winner: Henry Ekema
Class: Form 4
Chosen Essay Questions:
1. What is gender quality and how can this improve living
conditions in our community and around the world?
2. Why is it important for a women to be empowered and able
to make her own decisions?
3. What are the
biggest struggles for the women/girls of Cameroon and how can this be overcome?
When people talk of gender equality they will think of
gender inequality because the rights of both male and female children are not
the same. With gender equality in our community many things will be changed. The
living condition will be change because both the children will have right over
their properties and education to both female and male children. It will reduce
the rate of unemployment, arm robbery, prostitution and unwanted pregnancy in
our community because they will be educated and have right over their
properties. It would improve the living standards of the community and the
world.
It is good for a woman to be empowered because there are
some houses where the women has no say in what they do. She will take
instructions and carry it out carefully and well cone. The women has to be empowered
because she has to know her rights and duties. Some of the rights and duties
include: the right to own properties, the right to decide what she wants, education,
government facilities and she has the right to work in the public services. Her
duties are to take care of her children, to cook for her family, to help the
man in bringing up the children and so on. The woman also has the right to make
her own decisions because there are some things one to the woman which does not
please her like forced child bearing, rape, killing them as sacrifices, forced marriages
and forced prostitution. Women wan to make decisions on their own. She will
make decisions that please her so that she will not accuse anyone or say
someone is that cause of her misfortune. The woman will know the amount of children
to have. They should also make decisions to the type of job they want to have
and where she wants to go and who she wants to marry.
The biggest struggle in Cameroon in violence, disrespect,
being uneducated and unemployment. When the women does not want to have sex,
they will use violence on her to have it. Some men would even beat them up
because they have refused to do it. Like the women in Zimbabwe where when she
gave birth, her husband beat her up saying the child was not his and finally he
beat her up with and axe making the woman to leave the house. The husband also choked
her daughter man time cause she was a woman. The women is also disrespected in
general because they are women. Some are insulted but everyone with children and
adults which is not good.
The women being uneducated because they will say woman’s
place is in the kitchen. Like in some areas they will say “they are educating
the women for what?” if she would get married to another family and it will be
the husband who controls the money and her.
There is a high rate of unemployment because the women are
not educate and so they cannot get a job and this may lead to poverty and proposition.
"Some possible solutions are: creating seminars for women; allowing women to have education
and employment; allowing the women to make their own decisions; allowing the
women to own property; the women should be respected and also; people should not
inflict violence on them."
-Henry Ekema
