TEARS IN MY EYES

This post is by Fatou!  She is having trouble accessing the blog.

I grew up in the neighborhood where hard work was next to every woman’s name. As a child, I saw my foster mom wake up at 4.30,5am latest, when she was late. Immediately, she would light the stove, and, in most cases, we had to use firewood for cooking. My sister and I would rush to sweep or to fetch water in a jerrican, trekking more than 300 meters. I had always preferred sweeping the compound despite the size combined with continuous bending, to demonstrate my seriousness and dedication to work. I remember hiding the brooms from my sister so that I would not fetch water from such a long distance, if you are lucky, without the endless queue. Oh, how we cried on our way to school after doing so much work at home, without tasting even a pinch of bread from the breakfast prepared for all because it was not ready in time. Oh, my x’aleel ya, was a tough one!  Do you want to know about our foster mom? Washing clothes took her about nine hours every seven days. Oh, do you doubt me? Ask me what I used to do during weekends.  

At 12 years of age, I already knew how to sew clothes. I learned it from the old pedaling sewing machine which was almost my age at the time. The children in our neighborhood would compete for who came first or who brought me fruits from their backyards to mend their torn school uniforms or dresses. It was even worse during Eid and Christmas because I had to help my foster mom to take care of some sewing that would not generate any income. When she was tired, she would wake me up in the middle of the night to complete some darap(bedsheets) because that was her expertise. She was a seamstress! Despite these years of hard work, our foster mom died from protracted illness. We could not afford to pay for her medication or provide her with adequate medical services.   

How about Aisha, my cousin in the village who at 10 was already an expert in her own right in farming. She was not fortunate like sister Mariam and I; we had the opportunity to go to school. When she lost her mom around the age of 12 or 13, Uncle Sulayman said, his friend’s brother in the neighboring village wanted to marry her. After three years, one fateful morning during Harmattan, we heard our aunt screaming, Allahu Akbar uuuuu. Shocked neighbors rushed to our door. In tears, our aunt managed to utter, “Ais, Aisha, Aisha is dead during her second childbirth a week ago.” Later we realized that the man who asked for our house that early morning must have told her such a piece of sad news.  

We all struggle every day but differently, trying to add value to what we do. Some of the things we do are considered as our traditional responsibilities as women and girls. We are expected to do house chores every day and it is even worse when you are a young girl. You cannot say no to your seniors. In a worst-case scenario, three elders could send you on an errand within the same timeframe: “Bring me a cup of water.” “Bring along the stool.” “Don’t forget to check if the baby is still sleeping.” Despite all the endless labor, you don’t have the agency to demand financial compensation. 

For centuries in Africa, housework and childcare have been performed by women. With all these forms of labor, domestic work is erroneously seen as having less value. Women’s work either homebased work, or as is the case in my neighborhood, factory work, whether in formal or informal sectors, have always been characterized by inequalities. The notion that women have unlimited resources of time and energy has always exacerbated exploitation and diverse inequalities. This question of women’s paid work or unpaid labor has attracted a considerable number of debates around women’s work. Chant (2007) notes that about 70 percent of the global poor are female, arguing that the generalization of women’s poverty is problematic due to inadequate data to determine poor women’s statistics,  which category, and how they become or remain poor. Additionally, the dualistic comparisons between female heads of households and male heads of households to assess poverty is also a problem. 

To McKinnon et al. (2016), unpaid labor can reinforce inequality and deter change. To that effect, attributed the continuous failure of women’s unpaid labor to different factors. These include the seeming persistence of the status quo, combined with the notion that combining childcare and paid labor is in the middle-class' best interest. Hence, insignificant for poverty alleviation strategies and the promotion of human rights. This unpacks how inaccurate it is to again erase the significance of balancing work and childcare for lower income. Thus, it is an illustration that the conversation around inequality is multifaceted. In that regard, Pearson (2007) argues, despite that poor women need money, mere increases in wages would not affect women’s status whether they are less poor or more powerful. What this means is that there is considerable need for collaborative actions in order to bridge such gaps to address the plight of women, including women in my neighborhood.  My neighbors' plight is caught in a vicious cycle: their situation has not changed much; the women are still doing their daily routine by waking up at 4 am while girls not only running on an errand but looking for help.

Do you think states and international agencies are considering the unpaid domestic labor of women especially, in Sub Saharan Africa? 

Chant, Sylvia. 2007. “Dangerous Equations? How Female-Headed Households Became the 

Poorest of the Poor: Causes, Consequences, and Cautions.” Pp. 35-47 in in Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations, and Challenges edited by Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison, and Ann Whitehead. New York: Zed Books.

McKinnon, Katharine et al. 2016. "Gender equality and economic empowerment in the Solomon Islands 

and Fiji: a place-based approach." Gender, Place and Culture 23, no. 10: 1376-1391.

Pearson, Ruth. 2007. “Reassessing Paid Work and Women’s Empowerment: Lessons from the 

Global Economy.” Pp. 201-213 in Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations, and Challenges edited by Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison, and Ann Whitehead. New York: Zed Books.