Inspiring!, thanks for sharing On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 12:05 PM, Pasamba Jow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Interesting read from http://gambiabeat.weebly.com > Dr. Siga Fatima-Jagne > Academic/International Consultant > [image: Picture] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > *Development activist, international consultant, and Director of > International Development Support Services (IDSS), Dr. Siga Fatima > Jagne-Jallow worked as Assistant Professor, English, Comparative > Literature, Women's Studies, and African Diaspora Studies, Spelman College, > Atlanta, GA, between 1992 and 1996; as Teaching Assistant, Department of > Comparative Literature/African and African-American Studies/Romance > Languages; and Director, Graduate Travel and Research Fund and Vice > President, Graduate students Organisation at SUNY-Binghamton University, > New York. * > > *She was also **Professor/Acting Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the > University Council, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada (University > Extension Programme in The Gambia). Dr. Jagne speaks, reads and write > English, French and Arabic, and gathered a wide range of experience working > in many African countries as a researcher and international consultant. In > this interview with Sanna Camara, she speaks on politics, women, education > and some of her personal stories.* > > *Some people believe that successful women like yourself find it > difficult to marry. Do you have similar experience? * > > No, I have never had that experience. I was the one running from men… > (Laughs). I have to be honest, I heard it a lot but I never had the > problem. I am the one who didn’t want to get married. I wanted to have a > career and I focused on that. When I was ready, I got married. But for men > getting scared due to somethings, may be there were but some came. So I > can’t speak for all men on that. I got married after my Ph.D and after > working for many years – about 12 years ago, but it was basically my > personal choice. And I am happy now; I see my children as my priority… I > could have married and have them as my priority at age 20. But I decided > otherwise and I think I am a better mother now… having children at this > time of my life, and I have no regrets. There is nothing more important to > me now than my husband and my kids. They are my priority. > > *The national assembly recently passed the women’s bill into law, but > with reservations on some issues. As former director of the Women’s Bureau, > did you play any role in this Bill?* > > Then, I used to work at the Pro-PAG and we worked closely with the women’s > bureau to have a draft of the women’s bill. That was where my role ended. I > think the areas the legislators had reservations on were affirmative action > part. Where there had to be a certain number of females in the parliament > and in certain institutions. I think the worry was that, if they have, say > 33 percent of women parliamentarians, are they going to have the right > people from the population to put in parliament? Isn’t that a lot at this > time, knowing the level of awareness, education of women… and I always > stress, education is not about going to school but knowing issues. > > *So do you think that it is time that women have a proportional > representation in the national assembly?* > > I think in certain areas, affirmative action is important. I also that > think in politics, it has to be a personal decision. What if they give > women the 33 percent and not enough women are interested? It’s not going to > make difference in our lives. For The Gambian women, from the research I > have done, many of them want to be more economically independent than to be > part of politics. I find that very interesting because when you ask them > most often, what they tell you is they want economic independence. ‘Do you > want to go into politics?’ they would say ‘no’ they want money so that they > can do better in life, and they don’t think it can happen for them to go > into politics. It’s a cultural norm that women should remain in the private > spheres while men remain in the public spheres. > > > > ------------------------------ > *For the affirmative action, many think it should not be confined to the > national assembly but also the political parties…?* > > Yes, because that is where decisions are made as to who can be a candidate > to go into the national assembly. That decision is not made at the level of > the national assembly. I think these political parties should be challenged > to practise affirmative action. > > *Other people find the demand for monogamy rather contentious too?* > > I think polygamy started because people were farming and needed a lot of > help on their farms. Now, I don’t understand why people in the urban areas > would practise polygamy. It is true, oh yes. Historically, even white > communities, European nations and Asia, they all practised polygamy. That > was the cultural start of polygamy and if you do anthropology, you learn > this. That’s how polygamy started because everybody was agrarian, everybody > was farming and you needed a lot of hands on the farm because there was no > technology. Men married a lot of women and had a lot of children to work on > the farm…. > > *But others would consider it religious. For example, Islam allows men to > marry up to four wives…* > > No, no, no… then it is people who don’t read the Qur’an and the Hadith > very well who would say that, because the conditions for marrying more than > one wife are so difficult to fulfill. Do you see people from Saudi Arabia > marrying more than one wife? You hardly see Arabs marrying two wives > because the conditions that are set are so difficult. I think very few in > The Gambia would qualify to marry more than one wife. First, most women > feed themselves. Most men cannot fulfill the main condition that Islam asks > from them, which is to cloth and feed their wives and children. So why > would they marry a second wife when they can’t even take care of the first > one they have? That’s against Islam. > > *Some argue that marrying more than one wife can help in reducing the > unmarried women on the streets. Particularly if the statistics are saying > that women are more than men nine times?* > > Actually, if I remember right, once I came to do a research as a student, > we have more male babies being born in The Gambia than females. That figure > is not true; the female population has always been 50 or 51 percent. It has > never been above 51. The reason why we have more females at adulthood than > males is because more males die under five years old. For some reasons, > girls are stronger and survive longer than their counterpart males. These > are scientific facts. I don’t know if the records are available here but in > most countries, records of births should be able to prove this. > > *If your husband wants to marry a second wife, how would you handle that? > * > > I don’t like to discuss polygamy because it is a personal choice. I know > some women who wanted their husbands to marry, and even get them, second > wives. And there are those who don’t want it. Such are private things… I > know in certain countries there are laws, like Senegal, that when you marry > you sign papers on whether your husband would marry a second wife or not. > Some women sign to allow it… > > *But you don’t belong to that category? Or do you have an agreement with > your husband too?* > > Me? I don’t have any agreement… and my husband is also his own individual > and I think, like I said, it’s a personal choice for both sides. People can > do what they want… how you react, nobody can predict. > > *What jobs have you been doing?* > > I have been doing holiday jobs at ports authority in Banjul from the > mid-70s to 78. After that, I worked for The Gambia Information Services as > a journalist and editor after my sixth form. I also went to the US to > study, but while I was studying, I was tutoring in French and women > studies. For my Masters, I was actually teaching a comparative politics > class. For my PhD, I was also teaching full time in the areas of > comparative literature, women studies and African studies. > > *But how did you get into gender?* > > Gender is something I grew up with. I think I grew up in a household where > there is gender equality… and I couldn’t understand why other households > did not have that just like my household. So it’s an innate part of me so > that whatever work, or analysis I do, I bring in gender. It is an interest > of mine but my disciplines are in the art, the humanities and the social > sciences. I have done a lot of work in policy, research more than I have > done on gender. > > *You were once appointed to head the women’s bureau. How did that job > come about?* > > > *You were once appointed to head the women’s bureau. How did that job > come about?* > > Actually, I was on a sabbatical from… I was teaching in the US and I had > just come back and I was in Senegal and teaching at the Codesria gender > institute. I happen to come to The Gambia and was chosen as one of the > co-lead consultants for the first national women’s policy in 1996/7. A few > of my friends and colleagues who are not by the way Gambian, actually > convinced me to take the job that was being advertised at the time since I > was planning on leaving the academia. So I applied, got interviewed and was > given the job of the executive director of the women’s bureau. > > *Women constitute the majority of this country, but they are still > playing secondary roles when it comes to decision making positions in the > country?* > > I think it has to do with cultural issues and the lack of acceptance by > males and even females themselves that they need to be in leadership > positions. For instance, when we talk of the highest level, we have women > represented. Where the problem comes in is actually at the decentralised > levels: when you look at the number of chiefs, alkalolu, and even > governors. We are yet to have females in most of these positions. Of > course, the only position where we have the women occupying is in the > village heads (Alkalo). But other than that, I am yet to…. Historically, > maybe I need to find out because I am doing research on that right now. I > think it is very important for us to have females in such positions at the > decentralised levels. Another reason why females are not in positions where > they are supposed to be is the level of education. We are not talking about > acquiring degrees, but basic education in your local language. You have to > have basic education or a basic way of knowing processes and how things are > done… > > *But that is something missing in this country. Some people are even > suggesting a mass re-education of Gambians? * > > That’s right, this is missing. Because if you notice in the neighbouring > Senegal for example, people are highly educated about most things – whether > in politics, culture, or many others – it is because they are literate in > their native languages… It is not like they are studying things in French. > And it is the same in Asia, you will even realise that there are more women > in leadership positions in Asia than any other region. And that’s because > of the same things. Asians have been using their local languages to educate > their own people, rather than English or French. > > *Do you think such is possible in The Gambia?* > > As a teacher of languages, I think it’s always good to start work in your > native languages before you move to somebody else’s language. What you find > is, a lot of people despite their level of education in foreign languages, > cannot even write in their native languages. English is a second language > or for some Gambians, even a fifth language because they are speaking other > languages before they go to school to learn English. Imagine, trying to do > everything in that English language? Five times, two times removed from > your native language? We have a lot of this adult literacy in the past, but > I think we need to go beyond that and teach about civic education, cultural > studies… all for the women. > > *The national assembly recently passed the women’s bill into law, but > with reservations on some issues. * > > Then, I used to work at the Pro-PAG and we worked closely with the women’s > bureau to have a draft of the women’s bill. That was where my role ended. I > think the areas the legislators had reservations on were affirmative action > part. Where there had to be a certain number of females in the parliament > and in certain institutions. I think the worry was that, if they have, say > 33 percent of women parliamentarians, are they going to have the right > people from the population to put in parliament? Isn’t that a lot at this > time, knowing the level of awareness, education of women… and I always > stress, education is not about going to school but knowing issues. > > *Thank you for your time, Dr. Jagne-Jallow.* > > Thaank you Sanna. > > "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of > justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To > unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the > List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask]¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤