By Nyariak kic
South Sudan inhabits 64 tribes yet with a specific understanding of what it means to be a woman. Be silent, listen, and serve.
Tracing back from our origins, our mothers were accustomed to keeping their opinions unuttered. By doing so, they were regarded epitome of perfection of womanhood.
After a church service one day, I found myself getting along with my neighbour. She was 82 years old. As she dived into her early life, a question bothered me. I then asked her the question. I asked why she was married off at such a juvenile age (14). “My father arranged for my marriage, and I was helpless as it wasn’t girly for a woman to speak,” she replied. I must assume you’re astonished. That was me listening to the response at that time. Our mothers were seen as sources of wealth and usually married off in hundreds of cattle. However, was this practice of exchanging a daughter for cattle wealth merely a tradition or a response to poverty? Bridal wealth resulted in fathers marrying off their daughters at young ages.
In today’s times, should we go around putting blame on them for doing what seems to be unfair unto our mothers? Sometimes, circumstances yield their own solutions. Perhaps they had no other way out of poverty at that time. Nevertheless, I also believe that as the clock clicks and so should our decisions shift. To truly end poverty in families today, girls should be allowed to go to school. It’s understandable that this would present financial hardships to low-income families. Despite this, the Bible teaches us that,” We reap what we sow.” Take educating a girl child as saving all the amount of energy and sweat you’re investing into a bank account to withdraw it at a later time when you’re exhausted and can’t even lift an arm to your eyebrow.
What kind of education are we referring to here? Education starts right after birth and throughout one’s entire life. Teaching a 3-year-old to sit before the table and have their meals is education; getting your old parents used to evening walks is also education. The kind of education we are discussing here is one in which a girl-child will be equipped to question and understand the world around her. The world is modernizing each millisecond, and through education, our daughters and sisters are wielded with the skills needed for them to thrive.
Thanks to our government for the role it’s taking by putting more schools in place, even in rural areas. However, the local people also need to respond. I, therefore, call upon our beloved nation to arise and partake in the role of taking their girl-child to school.
“Our sisters and daughters need education for self-reliance in this modern era!!!”
The writer of this article is a High school graduate who is passionate about writing to the nation.