MY VIEW Female Circumcision/Female Genital Mutilation has been in existence for as long as any of us can remember. 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. God knows it doesn't! Our culture/tradition is an important part of who we are. Discarding it is a folly, letting it lead you astray is even a bigger folly.The issue then becomes of how do we combat this "societal evil"?. It all starts with education,empowerment and spreading the word out. Remember, though FGM has been with us for Hundreds of years majority of the people have little or absolutely no idea of what it entails.Back in 1995 or so, we had the "previlege" of forming one of the biggest funded youth projects for the elimination of FGM in the Gambia. Boy it was TOUGH.The group was a branch of the Foundation For Research On Women's Health, Productivity And The Environment (BAFROW). The Youth Centre For Information and Counselling embarked on massive radio programmes,lectures to schools,trekking the provinces,seminars,printing and distribution of educational materials etc. Though there has been an impact in increasing the awareness level of the youth population, many volunteers and workers quit along the way for threats of being disowned by there families.Being cursed and intimidated became like hello to us. This is how sensitive this issue can be. It's my view that any prog that will successfully see to the end of FGM will have to target the youth. Reason being they are more educated and more change oriented than are the adult population. The goal and focus has to be in the long term. The issue sensitive as it's has to be approached with tactfulness, show them the very good sides of their culture highlight those, then try explaining to them in the best and nicest way possible how FGM can affect their well-being. At this point an alternative must be given in place of the popular practice, an example could be " Initiation without mutilation". Whatever it is has to appeal to the community in question. However, the major obstacle is the "Traditional Doctors" (N'YANSIMBA)who are the Surgeons. What happens to them, their prestige , high standing within the community and most importantly where would they generate as much money elsewhere as they would being the Doctors of Circumcision? Clearly, these are very experienced and skilled women. Their skills and abilities can be redirected towards being masters of Initiation Without Mutilation camps where the initiates can be given the full picture of what FGM is all about with the absence of the knife. It's our culture,be proud of it but let go. Can FGM be eliminated? Yes it can! Harona Detroit,MI _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------