With my sociological mentality, I'm constantly looking for explanations and solutions. Why are there so many children who perform so far below their level? What's the difference between the low performers I work with and the bright children who occupy the same classrooms and schoolyards? The obstacles mentioned above, certainly, but why are those the determinants, and how can we improve conditions for these kids?
I'm thinking that gender roles and attitudes toward sex and parenting is actually more important than people may realize. It's one of those things that's so ingrained from childhood that it's hard to see the effects (everywhere, not just in St. Lucia). This site explains it more succinctly than I can:
- Women often times run their households and raise their children with little to no assistance from men.
- Most women work, shop, etc., and there is little that is seen as unacceptable for them to do.
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From a young age girls are encouraged far more than boys to be active in school, which continues into college. Increasingly women are taking over the professional role while men continue in labor jobs (construction, bus drivers, farming). Yet, men still expect to be the sole breadwinners despite a changing professional class of women.
One of the Peace Corps initiatives worldwide is to empower women and girls. Here in St. Lucia, women already have power. They work, they make decisions about their families. Let's empower men and boys, teach them to respect their own sexuality. Teach them about raising families. Teach them to take responsibility. Teach them that life can get better than liming at the rum shop down the road and getting with whichever woman responds to their cat calls.
As hard a time as I'm having with my small project now, the idea of trying to change attitudes about gender roles makes it look easy.
1 comment:
You said what many of us are experiencing very well; hit that nail right on the head. It did strike me as odd when we first arrived to learn about how much had gone into empowering women here, to help them get educations and work, and now see cycle leaving the men behind while so much of our global efforts remain on women's empowerment.
It is an interesting paradigm. Even with the several groups I work with in my village--they are predominantly attended by women. The plights both genders are experiencing are great and if we can manage to stir that volunteer spark inside them, I think that spark would help make it easier to implement other behavior/life-style changes.
Of course it's all quaint in theory. I'm still trying to figure out how to get people off the block for meetings, activities, or other events without the bribe of a snack. I'm guessing you've hit similar crossroads, where the people acknowledge so many of their needs and agree to be a part of the required change. Yet when the clock chimes the action hour, hardly a person is seen.
The frustration of understanding is brutal. I'll keep reading your posts to see if you find a breakthrough. Keep smiling till then. ^_^
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