In an idle moment, a new idea popped into my head, which was to randomly select any area of the world, and profile the status of women in that particular region (in relation to women’s leadership and health and safety), sort of like a mini Portrait Project. This was a quick, fun way to see what’s going on with women outside of my home, and it’s fitting as The Women’s Foundation is in the process of reviewing Leadership Awards, which focuses on health and safety this round.
So, how was I going to pick the place? Well, I closed my eyes and placed my finger on my huge wall map. When I opened my eyes, my index finger was on Tanzania, between Mozambique and Kenya. I made way for the Internet to do some quick, surface research on the status of women in Tanzania, to evaluate female leadership roles and their health and safety.
What I found (at the risk of sounding naïve) disappointed me. Admittedly, I’ve never read or learned much about Tanzania up to this point, so I was a little optimistic that as other parts of the world are making pretty significant strides in terms of the rights and position of women, Tanzania was too. Alas, my Google search turned up numerous articles- none hinting at a large number of empowered, healthy women.
As for health, a 1993 study by The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations highlighted the rising number of female headed households that suffer from lacking farming systems, malnutrition and unhealthy laborious conditions with little income. While this data is quite outdated, 13 years isn’t that long ago. The farming situation that adversely affects women has continued to worsen.
Pauline Kisanga’s paper, principal nutritionist at the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre, explains that while women are responsible for 70 percent of food crop production, they have no say in the decision-making process for how resources are allocated (far from the leadership roles I was looking for). If they had a voice, they could provide input on better technology to advance from the traditional hand hoe, debate how to use income, etc.
Instead, women aren’t eating enough, eating well, or feeling well.
When our bodies are deprived of something as simple as Vitamin A, our eye-sight and immune systems are at risk of failure. Children face a greater risk of blindness, malaria, diarrhea, and measles. The 1993 FAO study showed that 6.1 percent of the population suffered from Vitamin A deficiency, with more women than men suffering because they tended to eat less than men in times of need. I can only imagine that this number has increased.
Water proved a significant barrier also. Babies died because water was unsanitary. Women were not delivering under hygienic conditions. Thankfully, water conditions are improving.
Childbirth and pregnancy complications have continued to be worsening problems. In 1990, the maternal mortality rate was 770 per 100,000 live births, and 8,700 women died from pregnancy complications. In 2000, for every 100,000 babies, about 1,500 women died. Future leaders don’t have much of a chance- they are dying at birth or early childhood.
Not to mention the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on women. United Planet re-visits the issue of victims of HIV/AIDS entering prostitution in order to make money. Of course, this does nothing to help with the disease or aid in the prevention of it.
Why the deteriorating health conditions? Well for one thing, there isn’t enough education on safe births. Many women don’t trust hospitals; they’re scared they will face some sort of operation and opt to give natural birth in their homes. There aren’t enough health care professionals, and there isn’t enough money invested in public health initiatives.
As for safety, I was surprised to see that as recent as 1997, while I was living my safe, life filled with the typical teenage perils, Amnesty International was criticizing Tanzania for failing to try derailing the persecutions occurring against women accused of witch craft. I thought the witch-hunts ended at some point in the 18th century, but am now learning of “modern” witch-hunts in Tanzania.
Women are allowed to partake in government activities and positions, but their numbers are low.
One good, or better, thing noted was the progress in laws impacting women’s safety. In 1971, the Law of Marriage Act unified laws of marriage and divorce and mandated that wives in polygamous marriages are notified of such, divorces be formally concluded and registered, and that “wife-beating” be prohibited. Of course, these issues are still a problem, as a law is just mere writing in a book without actual action put behind it. Still, it was good to see something somewhat positive. How the status of women’s safety in marriage is now, I’m not sure, but my guess is that it’s not too positive.
These are preventative diseases and deaths that are plaguing the people, particularly women, of Tanzania.
So what can I do? What’s next?
Well for one thing, I can learn more about nonprofit agencies that do work in support of increasing advocacy and direct service to Tanzania. I can strategically invest in these organizations. I can get involved in advocacy efforts about these issues.
A good thing about working at The Women’s Foundation is that you really do learn ways to help, instead of just learning what’s going on. I know how to take the next step instead of just reading some news and feeling bad. I target areas that I’m especially interested in seeing improve, and I invest in them.
In an effort to become more aware of issues such as these, little map projects like this can be done all the time! It takes so little time to pull up some research and helpful books to check out.
And it works for issues here, too…it’s amazing to me sometimes how there can be all of these realities going on in varying areas of Washington, or our region, that I don’t always think about because my life is concentrated only in certain areas. The Portrait Project has helped me get a grasp on that, and on ways to help locally.
And provided a model for looking at women’s lives and realities and the best way to invest in a way that really enables true understanding and a needs-based approach.
So that when we’re investing in women, we’re not just throwing a pin at a map–we’re really doing what works and making our community better.
