For African Women, Inc.

Shifting Ideas Through Education

Omukazi Documentary 2006

“Omukazi” means “woman” in Luganda.  By titling our documentary “Omukazi”, we hope to help people from all different cultures and nationalities realize that “woman” is a universal term that encompasses all females:  Mother, Daughter, Sister, Grandmother, Aunt, Cousin, Niece, Neighbor, Friend, Stranger—Woman.  By creating this documentary, we are not only helping to empower the women in Eastern Africa, but we are helping to empower all women in every corner of the world, as well as their families and the societies in which they live.

After three years of sweat and toil we accomplished our dream of a mission trip to Africa (Kenya & Uganda) to put down a work plan and a foundation of a women’s education center.  It happened last summer between June 19th and July 4th.
School in Uganda

S.I.T.E. for African Women

P. O. Box 441724

Indianapolis, Indiana  46244

 

317.489.3013

 

Omukazi@siteaw.org

The girls are therefore seeking help to stay in school until they are old enough to say NO to circumcision. Parents feel paying school fees (tuition) for girls, is a big burden, so they quickly want girls circumcised in order to give them away in marriage to lighten the burden. That terminates their education and with no skills, girls (who are now supposed to be women) end up in a vicious cycle of poverty.

 

There’s no guarantee also of survival through the circumcision rituals. Many girls bleed to death or end up with infections and terminal illnesses. When we heard what those girls said we felt like we had struck gold, thus, somewhere to begin. We came back with many names of the circumcision candidates of this year to beg for help in this emergency.

 

If you feel you can help a girl to remain in school to survive the brutality of circumcision please contact us. If you want direct contact with the girl you choose to sponsor, we will give you the information about her and how to contact her. If you want to help but remain anonymous please contact us we will choose a girl in need of your help.   Blessings will flow back to you.

 

There is much work to be done.  The women’s center we are building in Uganda will also help to empower those girls and the women who have gone through terrible traumas inflicted on them by traditions and poverty in their tribes and communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are some other ways you can continue to help or encourage your family member, friend, community or Church to help: Invite us to share our experience with your church, community, women’s group or school. We can present pictures and short video clips of our experience to engage people in the experience.  We speak for the voiceless to create awareness and to raise funds for building the women’s education center in Uganda. Or donate funds. No nation is too small, a penny goes a long way.  Or Connect us to people or other organizations that might be able to help.  Or Volunteer your time or skills to help the organization.  We need help with transportation, crafts, running booths shows and fairs, mailing, and more.  We are working to teach reading and writing and train women and girls in various skills so that they can sustain themselves.  We are developing counseling programs and human rights workshops. In 2007 we hope to supply computers to the Women’s Center and begin computer literacy classes.  More information will be provided at your request. Or  Order some  of our fundraisers and also let your friends know about them, we sell: African outfits, bags, different African crafts, books, cards, personalized bookmarks, children’s story books and CD’s. You can buy through our website www.siteaw.org or by  sending mail to P.O.BOX 441724 Indianapolis, IN 46244 or by calling 317-489-3013.

 

Again we thank you so much for what you do to help us change lives.

 

 

As if that was not enough, traditions that are so outdated continue to be imposed on

women and female children.  In many communities we found women who are still being beaten by their husbands, abused in many ways and deprived of their human rights, and education. What is the reason?  They are women.

 

We visited two different tribes in Kenya and Uganda where women’s circumcision is still being practiced up to this day. These tribes believe that a female is not a woman unless circumcised. She can’t go to the well with the other women, she can’t climb the granary to get food, she can’t talk to other women and above all, she can’t get married within the tribe. With the pressure to marry and be accepted by the tribe, girls look forward to being circumcised. When a woman is given away in marriage after circumcision, their education ends.

We would like to thank all of you from the depths of our hearts for the moral and the financial support you extended to the group that made the trip.  Without your help we are not sure the trip would have happened that soon.

 

The main objective was to visit the women we have been telling you about and make a documentary to let you know more about their situation. We visited and interviewed many, many women in their homes and in their communities.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived was the extent of the poverty. It was everywhere.  Women and children suffer the most. One of the members in our group kept asking every time we visited a home, “Are we on the same planet?”  She could not believe what she was seeing.

 

As people from outside these two tribes we were wondering how we could help these girls. We felt helpless.  It is not so easy to just jump in.  Change has to come from within the people. When we sat with the girls, the candidates for this year (2006) to be circumcised in December, they knew exactly what the best way to salvation was. “Salvation will only come to us through education”, they said.

 

The girls said that remaining in school would give them a chance to grow older and fight for themselves. That is the main objective of SITEAW, INC (Shifting Ideas Through Education for African Women) to empower women and let them fight for themselves from within their tribes and communities.