Cease fire guys, this is but an expression.Hello! Is anyone home!
I was simply trying to depict a picture of how much FGM is valued and
treasured by the Gambian community.
Thanks.
Harona.


>From: Michael Ba Banutu-Gomez <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Female circumcision; My View.
>Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2000 00:39:24 EDT
>
>Hello Harona,
>Thank you so much for your contribution. You have offered some good ideas
>as
>well as some that are contrary to my research regarding female
>circumcision.
>I question and I challenge your statement that "As an African and having
>hailed from a community whose very survival depends on the practice of FGM,
>I
>at times shy away from the reality of the pain and suffering women/girls
>endour from circumcision camps,hoping that will subside my fears and
>worries."
>     My ten years battle and research with this issue has revealed that
>female
>circumcision is practiced World-Wide, in Jewish, Arabic nations, Australian
>Aboriginal, Indonesian and Malaysian cultures, as well as among Sub-Saharan
>Africans. At this time, female circumcision is practiced in 40 countries,
>mostly in west and east Africa, but also on the Arabian Peninsula. It was
>practiced in the United States from 1890-1930 by doctors. According to my
>research, there is no indication that the culture or community that
>practice
>female circumcision depend on it for survival. I have visited every
>district
>and division in The Gambia and I did not come across a community that said
>they depend on female circumcision. I challenge you to name any community
>or
>village in The Gambia that depend on female circumcision. I was born and
>raised at Bakalarr village, in the North Bank Division. My ethnic group do
>not practice female circumcision but I lived among ethnic groups that
>practice it. Whilst I was growing up as a child, I know of two girls from
>my
>age group who went through this process and died but their death was
>associated to some traditional belief. I am a professor today but I am sure
>this two innocent girls could have been professor, doctors or president in
>The Gambia but their life has been taking away from them. How can one have
>prestige from a practice that forces and kills innocent young angel girls
>who
>are the future leaders of Africa? I am not the first Gambian or African to
>know that young girls died from this practice and I am sure (God for bid) I
>will not be the last one to know it too. I am urging all Africans to join
>hands and eradicate this evil practice in our societies. My challenge to
>Africans and Gambians World-Wide is for us to start putting female
>circumcision as a priority agenda in our conferences instead of ignoring
>it.
>I am prepared at any time to speak about this issue in any conference if I
>am
>invited and I have the chance to attend. I remember, when I was in Boston
>having a heated debate with a brother from Mali and South Africa about
>female
>circumcision. I also had the same debate with some Gambians and they end up
>turning their face away from me because they did not want to deal with it.
>Does that sound familiar to you or to some of us from The Gambia or Africa?
>The reason why I am saying this is because I belief that this is not only a
>youth issue, female issue or men issue but all human beings who care about
>the well being of their societies and nations for national development.
>Both
>men and women have to be empowered so that we can have a healthy dialogue
>about female circumcision. We have to first educate ourselves before we
>even
>think about educating other people about it. Some of us have not accepted
>the
>eradication of female circumcision in our minds and heart and yet proclaim
>to
>educate other people about it. How possible can that be? According to my
>research, change comes within and not outside. We must first change
>ourselves
>before wanting to change other people. Which way fellow Africans? Which way
>fellow Gambians? Are we going to continue hurting our lovely innocent young
>girls? For me, I say no. Where do you stand as a human being and what are
>you
>going to do about it? As far as I know, God will never tell anyone to go
>and
>hurt human beings. I love and cherish African culture but I also hate
>destructive practices in African culture. This being the case, we must
>separate evil practices from the good ones in our culture. May God bless us
>all.
>Michael
>
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