Extraordinary women

OK - my Facebook rant is over. Sorry to all those people I offended. Well... not that sorry, really.

Rahilla and Guilaine are the only 2 female participants in this course. I really wish that there were more, but it is rare to find an African woman educated enough to take a university -level course. Especially one who has dedicated their life to helping others read.

These two ladies are room-mates and soul-mates. Rahilla is from Niger and Guilaine from Congo - worlds apart in many respects, but they are inseperable, here. Both are extremely strong-willed, extraverted, dynamic personalities that hold their own amongst the men. They both have several children and are anxious to see their families again after 4 weeks away. But what really impresses me about these women is their utter devotion to helping their people read.

Rahilla had it good. She was hired by an NGO to head up the literacy component of their larger work in Niger. Last year, she came to the course with lots of experience, but almost no formal training in education or literacy. She ate up everything we could give her and was so encouraged to understand the deeper concerns, rather than just surface-level management. But when funding dried up earlier this year, her employer informed her that she would be let go and the project dropped. She was devestated, but not dettered. Using her severance-pay to come to this course, (the fairly significant cost is normally shouldered by the sending or sponsoring organisation) she is determined to find a way to learn and practice everything she can.

Guilaine found out about literacy in her own language just a few months before serious fighting broke out (not sure which time) in Congo. The expatriate group who was in charge of this project had to pull out. When she heard that the project would be shut down, she went and pleaded with them to stay. That didn't work, so she made an appointment to plead her case with the director of the organisation. She was told that the decision had already been made, but that did not deter her from pushing for a solution. She told them that if they were going to go, the least they could do would be to leave her the materials so that she could carry on the work. Reluctantly, (it takes a lot of trust to hand over the reigns to someone you hardly know) they agreed, and she has been organizing literacy throughout the region ever since. She loves her language, and we all love to say it. "Munukutumba" is just a fun word to say. Not quite, but almost as fun as Ouagadougou.