Zulu Maiden Post Response

So since the Blogspot website will not let me respond still to the Zulu Maiden Post by Dr. Fitzgerald, here are my thoughts:


I think this article and the Western perspective has a strong commonality with the FGM we discussed in class. It is easy for such a community and practice to be judged, but hard for their reasons to be understood. I did however appreciate the fact that leaders claimed this pressure put on the virginity of young women helped to combat skyrocketing AID and HIV numbers. In a way they appear fairly clever and strategic. The question just comes into play on whether their methods of HIV and AID prevent is ethical and appropriate for the world today.

Child Soldiers

In class today I drew a blank about the music video I was referring to regarding child soldiers.  The 'I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You)' by Fall Out Boy was aired nationally on MTV's TRL on September 12, 2007.  The plot of the music video focuses on the lives of two children from Uganda.  The pair fall in love and work hard to be able to go to school in hopes to build, and better, their life together.  One day, their village is raided, and the young boy is taken by a rebel soldier group. However, in a portion with no music, the boy escapes. As the boy returns home, the music starts playing again and the two reunite. The video ends with a message saying that there are still thousands of children soldiers who have not returned to their family, along with the URL to Invisible Children Inc. official website.


I remember when I first saw the video, I was impressed that such a well known band was using their fame to spread awareness on such a pertinent problem African youth faces.  Just thought everyone else might enjoy their efforts, and the video as well.

Child Mortality

During class we touched on high mortality rates that occur in African nations.  Here is the link to the article I brought up in class.  It brings to the table quite a bit of alarming statistics regarding death rates and the causes in children.  I reasserts that the most shaky ages in the people of Africa are from birth to age five.  Additionally, in 2007 Unicef estimated that a staggering 9.2 million children under the age of five died from preventable causes worldwide.  This article does note though the improvements the country of Africa has been making on a whole in improving their infant and child morality.

The Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo

THIS ARTICLE

According to the article above, conditions for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo have gotten increasingly worse in the last few months.  The maltreatment of women in the area can be summarized into vast reports of rape.  While African people dwelling within the country have been appointed the blame for the time being, that is up to debate.  This article shows a different twist on the developing country and the women affected in it.

After the Rwanda genocide it is known that "Hutu members of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) who had participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide fled that year over the border into the DRC" and deeply rooted themselves in the country.  Over the past years they have grown to 6,000 members strong and have been using the Democratic Republic of Congo as a home base.  Since their arrival they have not only be exploiting the country and its women.

In 1996 the Democratic Republic of Congo was given the title of "Rape Capital of the World".  Since then the violence has continued and even escalated.  Due to these events the UN decided to get involved.  Against the pleas of the native people, the UN and Congolese government began a combined military operation named Kimia II, which was supposed to weaken the FDLR by finding and dispersing or arresting its troops.  When this initiative was proposed, the NGO's and Congolese activists urged the UN to abort the mission.  They claimed that there would not be enough manpower to halt the FDLR's actions.  They also suspected that these actions would lead to more retaliation violence.  The UN and Congolese government ignored these warnings and pleas and went on with Kimia II.

What occurred after the launch of Kimia II was horrific.  It leads to mass rapping's like the most recently Luvungi rapping's that lasted from July 30 to August 3.  What is even more alarming is that members of the 2,000 MONUSCO (the UN's peacekeepers) were less than 20 miles away and failed to stop the rapes.  They have offered no reasons for their lack of involvement in stopping the violence.  Furthermore, the UN has gone as far as to blame other groups for the Luvungi mass rapping's.  When asked about the event, UN's new Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallstrom simple said, "it's a lesson to learn."

The closing of this article poses thought provoking questions like: Why was no action taken by peacekeepers? What were the peacekeepers doing? If peacekeepers were indeed unaware, why did their intelligence fail? I agree that these questions certainly warrant a response.  But what concerns me is the lack of consideration the UN, and our own Hilary Clinton, had for the Congolese people.  They completely disregarded the pleas from the activist groups and Congolese representatives that urged the UN and their Government to forgo the mission.  We are supposed to be helping these people, not creating even more distress in their lives.  When our own government members fail to listen to the cries of such a distressed group of people, who can we rely on?

Female Genital Mutilation

The article

Female Genital Mutilation is a major crisis most of the developing world is face today.  Most often, this injustice takes place around Africa's confines.  Although initially it was a procedure that was swept under the rug, it is just now coming to light not only within Africa, but also internationally.

Female genital mutilation, more commonly known as FGM, is the blanketed term that is used to describe procedures that “involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to he female genital organs for non-medical reasons” (WHO).  Fecently though, public health practitioners have dissected the these female cutting activities, and decided it is a major risk not only physically but psychologically to women.  The FGM procedures are usually not done in the safest conditions.  Most often the procedures are done without the care of any medically trained personnel.  This is usually due to poverty and lack of medical facilities.  With such awful conditions, the already sketchy procedure is made increasingly less safe.

FGM emerged from the idea that men wanted to control women and their sexuality.  In most cultures, women who are able to refuse the procedure are shunned from their community.  Female genital mutilation is recognized on the international level as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.  The article states that between 100 and 140  million women have undergone such a procedure to date.  It also focused more specifically on Nigeria and their alarming procedure rate.

The question to pose though, is how can FGM be put to rest for good.  Health professionals submerged in the African culture and ideology have even recognized the extreme consequences of these practices.  So how do we break a 2,000 year old practice?  How do we convince entire cultures to completely change?