In the
girls’ group we approached the same themes. We told them about the day and
asked them to think about children’s rights and responsibilities. We also asked
them to draw or write down both what is positive and negative in their living
environment when it comes to children’s position in their community.
This
led to fine observations and interesting discussion. They see a lot of good and
valuable qualities in their community such as love, communality, respect of the
elderly, family and home. The girls appreciate education and they are happy
that nowadays girls are also allowed to schools. However, they pointed out many
defects too. They see neglection and even child abuse, lack of food and
shortage of other basic needs. Perhaps one of the most important remarks is
gender inequality. Girls are given more household duties such as cooking,
cleaning, childcare and collecting firewood and water. This leaves them with
little free time and energy to study. Boys are still prioritized when it comes
to education.
Girls
are aware that children have the right to education, quality food, home,
clothes, playing and praying and the right to be heard. Girls would like to
have more time to meet friends and rest. This led us to think about the balance
of rights and responsibilities and to seek ways to better communicate with
parents. In girls’ opinion, first the responsibilities have to be taken care of
and the negotiation has to be well timed and grounded.
It
was great hear the girls’ own opinions and ideas about the topic. Due to gender
inequality the girls are usually quite unconfident to speak out and share. They
need to get the experiences of being heard, respected and allowed to have
opinions.
Minna
Varho & Ida Nyroos
The writers are Master’s degree social
work students from University of Turku in Finland and are currently doing their
internship with Ni Hekima Pekee.
