Title IX

I think i speak for most of the volunteers who live in the Grand North of Cameroon when I say that we really appreciate the Muslim culture. Compared to the South at least, where people can be very aggressive. The markets of the North are calm, bargaining is more of a game, a fun formality. We (women) can stroll through the market and not be grabbed or pulled into stalls. I've also noticed that volunteers in the South are more aggressive towards Cameroonians, they seem to have less patience with them. I know when I am returning from a trip to the South, I have to adjust my attitude as soon as I get of the train. For example, after my parents left, we had been down South for over a week (in protective parents-are-here mode) and when we got of the train here in Ngaoundere, a little boy asked if he could carry our bags. Coming from the station in Yaounde where people are always grabbing and pulling at our things to have a chance to earn $1 carrying our bags to our seats, I was in a defensive mode. If you say no in they insist that you give it to them and that you can't possibly carry a backpack 100 meters; you have to be very forceful. So, tired of all the aggressiveness, I snapped at the boy. NO! And he looked at me like I was crazy and said "OK, welcome to Ngaoundere". I felt like a witch.

So here in the North, the muslims are (in general) more calm and relaxed. The Muslim way of life is peaceful and respectful. There is no drinking or smoking. One should love and accept his neighbor. People actually give money to poor beggars. They pray five times a day. All of the things that make up a successful society are included in the Muslim faith. However, there are perversions of the laws that have infiltrated this way of life. The Koran preaches the equality of man and holds that women are indispensable. Mohammed's wife was one of his strongest spiritual advisors, he relied on her for many difficult decisions and was open to his followers about how important she was to him. He appreciated women and encouraged others to do the same - even if he did say it was acceptable for a man to have four wives.

Nearly 2,000 years later and 3,000 miles away, the combination of the Islam and traditional rural African culture has created a disaster for women and girls. I have to point out here that its not just the Muslims that I'm speaking about now. Its Islam mixed with the traditional culture - the Christians and other religions have adopted this way of life. Polygamy and bu-bus does not necessarily mean a Muslim household. I could tell 100 stories about how women are treated here in Cameroon and they would all be just as depressing as the next. Boys are given priority when it comes to going to school; girls are married off at 14, 15, or 16 years old; wives are beaten; legally, men have all of the power to divorce a woman and take the children, etc.

One aspect of the culture that is evident just walking down the road is that women and girls are no where to be seen. They are in the house doing chores all day, usually going out only to get water, go to the farm or sell things at the market. Never have I seen a group of girls playing soccer in the afternoon or climbing trees to find fruit. You can't go 10 meters without running into a gang of small boys in search of something to do. There are young men, young and old, sitting in the shade all afternoon, sleeping or watching people pass. Never are there women doing this. Never. At any given moment in the center of TIbati, with 100 people within view, I could look around and count on one hand the number of women or girls. They are invisible outside the family compound.


That being said, a fellow volunteer and I have started a girls soccer/healfh club in a neighboring village. Every Sunday afternoon we play soccer and every Thursday we talk about health topics and teach some english words that correspond to the lesson. For example, last week we talked about the importance of exercise and eating healthy. The first week we had about 25 girls show up, and then slowly the numbers started dropping. After a month, we were down to about 15 girls. When we went searching for the others, we found them carrying water or washing clothes at their houses. We were told that they were "of marrying age" and shouldn't be out playing. These are girls that are 13 and 14 years old.

In an effort to convince the parents that exercise and socialization is important, we went around to all of the houses in the village who's daughter's stopped showing up. We had to explain to them what we were doing and why its important for them. One father in particular stands out: He has two young daughters, 13 and 15 years old. They are both pertty popular with the other girls when they play, and seem to really want to participate. After the first two weeks, they stopped showing up because, their father said, they were ready to get married and have children, and no man wants a girl who plays soccer instead of doing house work.

First we tried to say that it was good for their health and that they aren't missing that much work around the house - just two hours a day, twice a week. Then we said that maybe a man would like a strong girl who can play soccer. Both parents laughed at us. Nothing seemed to be working. Then I told them that I work at the hospital and I see many girls die or get very sick when they have children too young (fact). I told them that if they insist on marrying their daughters so young, they can at least give them a chance to get strong and healthy before getting pregnant. This got their attention. So we went with this strategy for the rest of the afternoon, explaining to parents that to have healthy children its important for the girls to be strong. One mother called me fat (a compliment) and I said it was because I exercise a lot and I'll have an easy time with pregnancies because my hips are big and strong.

For the most part, we were successful, but one father still refused to let his daughters come the following week. We went to his house on the way to the field because the other girls told us the girls wouldn't be able to come if we didn't talk to him again. He told us that they had to wash dishes and then they would be there. Twenty minutes later they still hadn't showed up and when Sam went to see why, he said they had done something wrong and weren't allowed to come anymore. We'll try again this week with the father, and next week and the week after. Hopefully the girls will get to play and have fun before they are married and popping out babies one after the other.


So here we are, trying to institute our own Title IX policy in Cameroon, telling the parents of young teenage girls that we are preparing them for babies and marriage through our soccer club. Whatever gets the girls come works for me.

Thursdays at Sam's house.