At the motel conference room in Kafanchan on Thursday, we divided into animal-named small groups to brainstorm the “old school” and current day mindsets toward boys and girls. As part of the bird group (tweet for me!), we reflected about how boys were and even today are given preferential treatment. One male participant (most of whom are widows and guardians of orphans and children) said that it is better to invest in boys because they will carry on the family name and the farmland; girls will be given away in marriage to another family. If I had been in the lion group, I might have stood up and started singing Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!”
Fortunately, the workshop curriculum and funding is from Tearfund, an organization that promotes empowerment for women and girls. Pastor Ben read Biblical passages extolling the value of all children, saying that there is no difference in worth or treatment for boy and girl children. Preach it, Pastor Ben!
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