Home > Girls & Women in Namibia > Girls & Women in Namibia - Page 2
Girls & Women in Namibia - Page 2
 |
| Girls at Hanganeni Primary school in Swakopmund |
While PE and sport for girls and
women seem low on the list of issues to fight
(compared to AIDS, poverty, or unemployment),
it is evident that there is a desire to incorporate
quality programs in Namibia. In an article
by Martha Saavedra (sportanddev.org) the
notion that sport can be a means to empowerment
is discussed. Saavedra notes that the benefits
of sport spill over into all areas of life,
hopefully broadening girls' knowledge of
their community and the world beyond. "Involvement
in sport may also provide specific benefits
to young women, such as a greater control
of their fertility and a lowered risk of
teen pregnancy. In combating the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, this may be a valuable intervention." 13
In
May of 1998 the 2nd World Conference of Women and Sport
was held in Windhoek. This international event
was a large step for, not only girls and women
and sport, but also Namibia as a country. The
Conference delegates developed a plan called "the Windhoek call for
action".14 This plan
had 11 main areas where needs were shown, such
as developing more female leaders in sport,
establishing and strengthening quality PE programs,
and encouraging the media to positively portray and cover girls and
women in sport. The African Women in Sport Association (AWISA) was
established after the conference. According to Agnes Tjongarero, nothing
in Namibia changed after the conference. There were "supposed
to be elections, yet none occurred". One of Tjongarero's dreams
for girls in Namibia is to "develop more female leadership for everyone
in sport".
 |
Young Namibian friends
Two little girls we met at Okuryangara Market in Katutura.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2004), a child born in Namibia today has a 1 in 3 chance of becoming an orphan by the time adulthood is reached. |
Because there is no training
program for coaches, and most coaches are
hired from experience, there are very few
female coaches in Namibia. There are also
very few female judges in sports. In boxing,
there are only two female judges and Tjongarero
would like to see more in all sports. She
would also like to see girls in Namibia be
healthy and become Olympians.
When asked
if homophobia in sports is an issue in Namibia,
Tjongarero indicated that it is not really
a problem. However, she also said
that if girls play soccer or boys play netball,
there would likely be some teasing. Sport
types seem to be segregated along gender
lines in that boys play soccer and cricket
and girls play netball and gymnastics.
Sport opportunities and encouragement to play
sports among girls seem to be more of an issue.
While we witnessed netball being played in the schools while in Namibia, the
sport seems to suffer at the national and international levels. Netball reminds
me of ringette in Minnesota in the early 1990's. There were many talented ringette
players in Minnesota, but the community failed to embrace the sport, and eventually,
hockey won out and was added to the Minnesota State High School League. I was
able to purchase a copy of the June 2006 issue of Namibia Sport. Of
the 45 pages, there was not a story or picture of a female until page 32 and
there were no stories about netball. There was one article pertaining to females
in the magazine and that was about track and field. While netball has trained
female teachers and facilities, it seems to be losing ground to cricket, which
is expensive and requires facilities and equipment. This disparity between netball
and cricket seems to be a racial and gender issue in that cricket is thriving
in private and primarily white state schools, and netball is played in the rural
state schools, primarily serving blacks. This makes me wonder how influential
the primarily male-based leadership in Minnesota was in pushing hockey for girls
verses ringette in the early 1990's.
|
