Hooray for Women! / 女性万歳！

Why is it so hard to be a woman. I am proud to be a woman, and I’ve never wanted to be a man in my life. And I am sure that men have their own troubles and worries as men. But as I meet women from all over the world and see how they live, there are many times when I cannot help but wonder why it is so hard to be a woman.

女性として生きると言うのはなんて大変なことなのでしょう。私は女性でいることを誇りに思っていますし、男性に生まれ変わりたいと思ったこともありません。また、男性には男性としての苦労や悩みがあるだろうと思います。でも、世界中の様々な女性に会い、彼女たちの生活を見ていると「女性はなんて大変なのだろう」と思わずにいられないことが多いのです。

先日ブログで書いたメモーナさんと娘さんのアイシャちゃん。男の子は・・・知らない子です
My neighbor Memona (who I introduced in a previous blog), her daughter Aisha and... I don't know who the boy is

The Ghanaian women around me are all strong, beautiful, cheerful and hard-working. Ghanaian women work very hard since childhood. They wake up at 4:30 to pray and fetch water, cook for everyone in the family, clean the house, go to school and come home to cook dinner. While most boys are playing soccer in the evening, the girls are helping with chores. In the weekend they spend a whole day washing loads of dirty clothes, and their fun times involve going to market or chatting while washing. Since most families don’t have washing machines, washing clothes take hours, and it also takes at least 2 hours to prepare food.

私の周りにいるガーナの女性たちはみんな、たくましく、美しく、明るく、そして働き者です。ガーナの女性は子供の頃から本当によく働きます。朝は4時半頃に起きてお祈りをした後に水を汲み、家族全員分のご飯を作り、掃除をし、学校に行って帰ってきたら今度はお夕飯の支度。男の子達の大半が夕方サッカー等をして遊んでいる間、女の子たちは家事を手伝います。週末は洗濯物の山を一日かけて洗い、楽しみは市場に行ったり洗い物をしながらお喋りすること。洗濯機がないので洗濯は何時間もかかり、お料理も最低2時間かかります。

お料理しているファティマさん。
私が写真を撮りたいと言ったら
「もう帰るの？」と慌てた優しい人です。
Ms. Fatima cooking. When I asked for a picture
she got worried that I was going home soon.
A very kind lady!

Many adult women work, and while I think it is nice that more women are out of the house working compared to Japan, this does not mean that their husbands help with household chores, so in the end, the women do everything from child-rearing to cooking.

大人の女性は仕事をしている人が多く、日本に比べたら家から出て仕事できる人が多いのはステキだと思いますが、仕事をしているからと言って夫が家事を手伝うわけではなく、結局育児も家事もお料理も全て女性がしています。

There are many polygamous families in the northern regions of Ghana, partly due to the large number of Muslims that live here. There are many households where the father lives with multiple wives and their respective children. I really respect the fact that the children all take good care of each other despite complex family situations, even though for them that may just be normal behavior…

ガーナ北部ではイスラム教徒が多いこともあり一夫多妻制の家族が多く見られます。同じ長屋にお父さんが一人と複数の奥さん、そしてそれぞれの子供たちが一緒に暮らしたりしています。そんな複雑な状況でも子供たちがお互いを助け合い、仲良くしている姿をすごく尊敬します。

彼らにとってはそれが当たり前のことかもしれませんが・・・

Lately I have had a few chances to have one-on-one conversations with women of my age, but I have been taken by surprise many times by stories that I would have never expected from the cheerful attitudes of these women. One friend was talking about her wonderful boyfriend, when all of a sudden she says “but you can never count on men”. When I asked why she thinks so, she explained that her father had four wives. Since she fundamentally doesn’t trust men, she says that she does not expect anything from them. And yet, as the oldest child she cares for her stepsiblings and talks about how she misses her boyfriend. Another friend was treated awfully by her husband, another was forsaken by her family… Despite the traumatizing experiences that some of them have had, in my eyes they are all beautiful because they continue to live with bright smiles, looking towards bright futures.  

                                                                                                        

最近、同年代の女性とゆっくり話す機会が何度かあったのですが、いつも笑顔でいる彼女たちの思いもよらない話に何度も驚かされています。大好きな彼の話をしていたのに、突然「でも男なんてあてにならない」と言うお友達。なぜそう思うのか聞いてみると、彼女の父親には4人奥さんがいたそうです。根本的に男を信用していないから、期待もしないという彼女。それでも、長女として異母兄弟を大事にし、彼に会いたいと話す友達。夫にひどい目にあった友達、家族に見放された友達・・・　言葉を失う様な体験をしていても、笑顔で美しく、前を向いている彼女たちが本当に眩しく見えます。

Of course, this situation is not unique to Ghana. There are women facing similar problems all over the world, whether they live in a “developed” or “developing” country. Career, marriage, children… these are all issues that women around the globe worry over at least once in their lifetime.

大家さんの奥さんのゼィファウさんと二男のサリス君。
私と同い年ですが、いつも気にしてくれます。
My landlord's wife, Zifau, and her second son Salis.
We are the same age, but she always takes good care of me!

Cheers to the wonderful women in the world who face reality no matter what situation they find themselves in, do not give up on their dreams, and move forward with smiles on their faces!

もちろん、こういった状況はガーナ特有の話ではありません。「先進国」と言われる国でも「発展途上国」でも、同じ様な問題を抱える女性は多くいます。仕事や結婚、育児・・・　世界中の女性が一度は悩むことでしょう。

どんな状況に置かれても、現実から目をそらすことなく、夢を捨てることもなく、笑顔で前に進む世界中の素晴らしい女性たちに乾杯！