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Girls & Women in Namibia
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Herero woman
The horn-like hats that Herero women wear are said to represent the horns on the cattle they owned. The larger the cattle, the larger the horns on the hats. |
Like the United States, Namibia has a history of being primarily a patriarchal
society. In addition to the various issues discussed above, Namibian girls and
women are the primary victims of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to an October
2005 fact sheet by the Kaiser Family Foundation, women account for more than
half (55%) of adults estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in Namibia. "Among
young people ages 15-24, women are most affected - the estimated number of young
women living with HIV/AIDS is more than twice that of young men." 9
In addition, because women have unequal social and economic status, they are
placed at high risk for earlier infection, leading to their stigmatization and
allowing them to be unfairly blamed for transmission of HIV/AIDS. 10
While in Namibia, we heard of stories where men infected with HIV/AIDS believe
they can rid themselves of the disease by having sex with a virgin. To
make sure they find a virgin, they are raping younger and younger girls,
sometimes even babies. When a woman loses a husband to AIDS, she is often
stripped of property and the right to own and farm land. "A recent FAO study
found that over 40 percent of widows had lost cattle and tools, seized
by relatives after the male head of household had died". 11
This lowered economic status can encourage high-risk behavior such as engaging
in unsafe sex for money, housing or food for women and their children.
It becomes evident that the cycle of poverty, HIV/Aids transmission, and
gender disparity will be difficult to break.
All of these issues affect education, and therefore, PE and sport. According to a paper by Penina Mlama in September of 2005, The
factors behind the gender inequity and inequality in education include
negative cultural values, attitudes and practices that foster teenage
pregnancy, early marriage, sexual harassment, excessive domestic chores
and the disregard of the importance of girls'/ education. There is also
the lack of gender responsiveness among the teachers, in the curriculum,
teaching methodology, teaching and learning materials, school management
systems and the overall school environment. 12
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Woven Arts of Africa
While visiting the weavers we noticed that all the women working were black and the woman running the shop was a German white woman. |
During our visit to Namibia we
visited with many organizations (Penduka,
Uniforms for Africa, The Rainbow Project,
the International Community of Women Living
with HIV/AIDS, and Sister Namibia) designed
to help with the causes that women and girls
in Namibia face. Garises mentioned that the
girls that attend Hage Geingob Secondary
School have benefited from The Forum for
African Women Educationalists (FAWE), the
leading organization in Africa which directly
addresses issues relating to girls' education.
Students receive scholarship funds for girls
who cannot afford uniforms in Katutura. While
in Swakopmund, we visited the Mondesa Youth
Organization (MYO). MYO reminded me of a
YMCA camp, integrating sport and activities
with education. The program uses tennis to
draw underprivileged girls and boys to the
program, giving children opportunities to
rotate educational tutoring with tennis.
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