Who Run The World?

Girls!

As I have written about previously, gender roles are very defined here in Uganda, with expectations for men and women being deeply rooted in ones beliefs. 

Now women here do a lot, from digging and operating shops in town to fetching water and cooking meals but girls, they do it all. 

I am talking young girls in primary school.

In America you might find these same aged girls participating in various extracurricular activities, completing homework, or watching their favorite primetime cartoon show.  In Uganda these girls are doing all the above while building a fire to cook dinner, bathing their younger siblings, and cleaning the house.  I honestly feel that life in Uganda would fail without these girls. 

I continue to learn that some families deny girls of educational opportunities, opting to put their sons through school, which is why there is a higher rate of illiteracy among them.  Furthermore they lack services to reproductive health and many find themselves pregnant at a young age. This breaks my heart, as these young girls are bright, knowledgeable, and I believe hold a huge part in the advancement of their country.

One thing that happens in the North that I never saw when I lived in the Southwest is a woman operating a boda boda.  This is a little thing when you look at the big picture but it is one gender breakthrough that gives me hope.  If men can see that a woman has the potential, knowledge, and skills to drive a motorcycle, then maybe they will see the other mounds of potential they have.  When I see a woman drive by on her two-wheeled motorbike, helmet strapped on, and a passenger seated behind I see a role model for young girls. 

I see someone who has overcome barriers and has paved a way for herself. 

I see someone who was once told her dream was not acceptable or possible and instead looked for a way forward to show her community that anything is possible.

I am happy to see these women on their motorcycles, defying what it means to be a woman in Uganda.  Essentially they show young girls that your life doesn’t have to be constrained to what your country believes. 

Instead they can ride by the wheels of a boda, which can take them anywhere.