They Called It Tradition

- Painful Tradition -

 

Most of us just live their lives and try to do the best out of it. Some of us struggles and fight with their parents in order to do and get what they want. In fact many of us are careless, egoistic and just think how to please them selves in the first place. We live in our own worlds and we do not know how other people live, we actually do not know that they exist, because we are full with our own problems, while they are nothing against people who do not have food to eat or water to survive. Where children start working at a very young age, because their parents are ill and someone has to bring money to the family. Girls who have to be circumcised in order to be able to marry ect ect ect. And we … what do we do? We always complain about everything instead of being thankful while others are not having half of what we have.

Have you ever heard about a nomad’s life in Somalia? Well let me tell you, they live under extremely poor conditions; their life is depending on their live stock and on rain. Their life stock gives them everything they need to survive namely, “milk and me
at”. Sometimes they sell an animal in order to buy some rice. Every helping hand in the family is important in Order to survive. Everyone has to fulfill a special task. They move almost every month from their place in order to find water for themselves and their camels and goals. Usually the animals are the most important possession in a Nomad’s family, especially camels, because they can live without water for some weeks. They can carry a lot of heavy things and they give milk too. When a girl marries, her family gets some camels.

Did u know about these information? Well I was surprised but that is not all, one of the great events in a girl’s life is the circumcision, an operation she has to undergo in order to be able to find a husband. This operation is not only painful but it is mostly carried out under very unhygienic circumstances so that many girls die from blood- poisoning or another infection.

Talking about Female circumcision, I have to mention Waris Dirie, who is now since September 1997 a special Ambassador at the United Nation fighting against FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). She fights for the rights of women in her society. She wants to abolish the cruel and dangerous custom of FGM.

“Desert Flower” is the autobiography of the Somalian girl turned supermodel, written by Waris Dirie, she explained and described everything in her book. Shortly, Waris mean “Desert flower”. She is one of 12 children born into a nomad family in the middle of the desert in Somalia. At the age of five she has to be circumcised to be able to marry. And at the age of fourteen her father wants to force her to marry a sixty- year- old man, but she runs away to her aunt in Mogadishu the capital city of Somalia. After some time she gets the Chance to go with her uncle, who works as an ambassador of Somalia in London. There she lives with her aunt and her cousins but they treat her like a slave. When her uncle’s working period runs out, they have to go back to Somalia, but Waris hides her passport, so they cannot take her with them and so she stays in England. At the beginning she cannot speak English, she does not know where to stay and how to manage her life. Soon she finds a friend who also comes from Somalia; she helps her to find a job. She works for McDonald and begins to attend English courses. One day a man wants to take a photo of her, for the Cover of a magazine. This is her first step to becoming a famous model. Her job makes her travel a lot around the world. In New York she falls in love with a drummer and later they get married and have a baby. After a successful career as a model, she devoted her time and energies to campaigning with the UN against female genital mutilation. Waris Dirie's story is one of great determination to overcome the odds and make a better future for herself. And it is of course a source of inspiration for young women. Moreover this is a book which will make you both laugh and cry, especially because it is a true story which happened quite recently.

There are different forms of female circumcision. A form of female circumcision called “excision” involves the removal of all or part of the clitoris, and in some cases other external genitalia. In the most extreme form of circumcision, called “infibulations”, the clitoris and both labia are removed and the two sides of the vulva are sewn together. It causes lots of problems such as strong pain, infection, bleeding, psychological damage, damage to the urinary tract, and even death. Usually it is performed on girls just before purberty by untrained and uneducated midwives using kind of knife or razor, without painkillers and in unsanitary conditions. The reason for it in Egypt is “cleanliness”.

Sadly the majority of Egyptian countryside women are still circumcised. In a study performed in Cairo, Egypt, 79.3 % of genital surgeries happened at home. Only 0.3 % of the operations were done in hospitals. Most operations are done without anesthesia or sterile instruments which often cause Septicemia, tetanus, or urinary tract infections. Unhygienic salves used to heal the wound also cause infection. Reproductive health risks include a loss of sexual sensation, chronic urinary tract infections, and painful intercourse.

Female circumcision is frequently describes as an “age- old Muslim ritual”, in fact it is against Islam. There is no mention of it in the Islamic holy book, the Koran. This problem has been not only in Africa or in Middle East countries, but also during the nineteenth century women in the United States and in Europe were sometimes circumcised because it was believed to relive hysteria and insanity. 

Female circumcision is actually set on traditions and beliefs. The most common is social pressure to maintain tradition. The second most common is the belief that uncircumcised women are not good bakers or cooks. Many women believe that after circumcision, women are cleaner. Ethnic groups in Nigeria believe that if a woman's clitoris is not removed, it will kill a baby during childbirth. Other people believe that without circumcision, the female genitalia will continue to grow.

Definitely those are uneducated people, who just run after tradition and believe. We - the educated people- have to find a solution, we should help them in order to understand. In urban areas women should be educated on the harmful health risks caused by infibulation
and introduce the non- harmful form of circumcision in order to gain better future for our girls and women.

Be Thankful For What You Have !!!

 Material:

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_cutting

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie

·         http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287393,00.html

+ The Book: “Desert flower” by Waris Dirie