Short Stories of Women Around the World – Global Woman

Female Genital Mutilation

The following article about the health status of women is shocking. I personally cannot fathom the horror and pains women go through around the world. Honestly, until now I was unaware that something of this magnitude exists. During some of my research work I came across this horrific issue. Before this I was IGNORANT.. I feel sorry for my lack of understanding and knowledge. If anyone of you can find more information or have gone through this please come forward and share your experience. Let us all together educate ourselves. We can do better than this in this age and time. Let us also not forget that every girl has a right to education. She has to learn (educate herself) to come out of the ages of ignorance and cultural norms. Let us together make a difference.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the altering or cutting of a girl’s genital part for non medical reasons. This procedure can cause severe bleeding, problems urinating and complications during childbirth. It is a cultural practice continued since past 2000 years in the continent of Africa. According to a report of WHO (World Health Organization), 92 million girls from age 10 years or above have under gone FGM. Also an estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM. It is also occasionally performed in North America, Europe and Australia by the families who have migrated.

These are the few reasons that this practice has been prorogated.

  • To reduce the sexual drive of a woman. So that a woman would not go to any other man after marriage which brings shame and disgrace to the family and society.
  • It enhances fertility, makes the woman look beautiful.
  • As an initiation of girls to womanhood, social integration, maintenance of social cohesion.
  • Some believe if a woman is not gone through this procedure, she is unclean and is not allowed to touch food or water.
  • The clitoris is cut because they think it grows with the age of woman.
  • It cleans up the vagina.
  • Men will get more pleasure if the woman has been through this.

Most of the time, this procedure is done without any anesthesia. The girl is held down tightly by other women so that she would not move. The midwife who performs this would use items like tin-lid, blades, glass, knives.

A girl suffers from bleeding or hemorrhaging, infection, unbearable pain and trauma. Also a woman can suffer with HIV and the risk is increased as the same unsterilized instruments are used on several others. Also in Sudan, 20-25% of female infertility is linked to FGM. Apart from all this there are many psychological problems women go through because of the traumatic experience. She is forever altered. He body and soul is crushed and wounded.

The WHO, in 1997, issued a joint statement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) against the practice of FGM. A new statement, with wider United Nations support, was then issued in February 2008 to support increased advocacy for the abandonment of FGM. FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

Short Stories on Ice Storm Experience

Dear Friends from around the world.

Hi, I want a share my memorable experience from last year –December 07. Life is all about friends and family, living in hope and love.  Its about surviving the storms with courage and strength. Here is my story of a real wintry Ice Storm.

Everyone who lived in Tulsa last year in December remembers the Ice Storm. How can anyone forget it, right?

I remember it especially very well as it was very unique and astounding experience for me and my family. We are in Tulsa since last two and a half years as my husband is a graduate student at University of Tulsa (TU). We have lived in USA since last 5 years. We are from India. My parents were visiting us for the first time since we have been here. This was their 1st ever visit to USA and the first visit of my parents to our home since we married. So it was very exciting for both of us.

It was around 10-15 days of their visit that the power cut off in most part of Tulsa. I very well remember as it was the morning of 10th of Dec. 07 and the lights went off. The house started becoming cold and by evening everything around looked dark and gloomy. Now during the same time, we have a close friend from India, Priyanka whose parents were also visiting her for the 1st time as she is also a graduate student at TU. By God’s grace, her apartment had heating as it was running on gas but no electricity. So they invited us to stay with them as we did not have any heat. We knew each other since we came to Tulsa and share a close friendship, as we are students in the foreign land. We decided to go to her apartment. So it was us (me and my hubby) and my parents – 4 people. Not forgetting that Priyanka’s parents were with her.

Now, can you imagine 7 people in 1 bed room apartment? Sounds crazy, right? I can understand that as we have lived long enough in America to understand the culture here. But for Indians it is normal, we are a close knit people with strong group dynamics and social structure.

So we all got a lot of time to spend with each other talking about all our lives. We enjoyed together knowing each other better and caring in those hard times. Every morning, my mom and Priyanka’s mom and I came to cook the entire day’s meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) at my house as we had my gas stove working, luckily. All the time, my parents and Priyanka’s parents sat and chatted for a long time how they felt not having electricity on their first visit in the most technologically advanced country in the world. This was not at all they expected. But they were happy as they had very amusing stories to tell back home when they returned to India. In the evening, we all had dinner together lit with many candles which warmed our hearts in those freezing days. At night we all slept huddled in 2 rooms which has a profound and lasting impact on us and
our relationships.

The most difficult part was that my husband and Priyanka both had their finals during the same time. So they had to be at TU most of the time to study while we all were enjoying at home.

It took 5 days for the power to come and yes it did come on 14th of Dec. My home was lit again and we had a huge party that night. Yes we had to party for the electricity to come back on the day of my Birthday……a gift I will always remember…..

Submitted By,

Glory Christian

International Women’s Day – Clara Zetkin

All over the world, 8th of March is celebrated as International Women’ day. Many women have struggled and faced many difficulties to achieve the rights of equality and freedom, we enjoy in this world today. Here is a story of one such Hero who led the flame for us. We offer our tribute to her life and legacy. Global Woman salutes her and all other women who have made it so easy for us.

Clara Zetkin was born as Clara Zeissner in Saxony, Germany on 5 July. A communist and political activist, she was also an ardent campaigner for women’s rights and helped create the first International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March 1911.

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A Journey to Remember

From the slums of Mumbai to Oscars in Hollywood

An Overwhelming success and response to “Slumdog Millionaire” has made many run to the theatre to check the buzz about this ‘rags to riches’ story of a teenager from Mumbai.  The critics have and will find the negatives about the movie, but at its core, the movie is about hope, resilience and human triumph. What truly amazes me about the movie is that Jamal Malik, Rubiana Ali, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and all other children are not child artists, but real teens from the slums of Mumbai.

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Happy Valentine’s Day…With Love

February is a month of love and romance, a day when we send roses or rings and exchange cards and candies. A day filled with hugs and kisses. This sounds so sweet and pleasant among all the terror and suffering going on in the world. At times I wish there were more days like this in the year when we took a moment from our busy lives to think of our loved ones, friends and family.

Let’s think for a moment what is LOVE……

It is feeling, we cannot see love but we feel it. We can proclaim it with our actions which speak louder than words. But more than anything, LOVE IS A COMMITMENT.

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How Do You Deal With Your Fears?

“I am dead scared”, “I am having goose bumps”, are some of the expressions one often hears in various situations. Be it an examination phobia or the fear of facing a new boss or facing an interview or may be the prospect of getting married, there are fears and more fears- any change in the set pattern of life may cause consternation.

I have often seen students losing confidence during examination and panicking. They are so scared that they sometimes have cramps, run a temperature or even have an upset stomach. Same symptoms are seen when one feels nervous before an interview for job. This abnormal fear is sometimes even the cause of nervous breakdown. Those who suffer from such phobia are ultimately the losers. They lose their equilibrium and make a mess of everything.

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Do You Believe in Angels?

This is one of the very first articles I had ever written. It was for a friend of mine. But then, I sent the article and it was published in the Kalamazoo gazette in April. It is of course about a woman, or call her an angel – some one who helped me one day in the middle of a busy road out of nowhere.

It was a usual fall morning in Kalamazoo, a small city in Michigan. The clouds were dark and the wind was freezing and it was going to snow soon. The first snow of the season always brought a lot of excitement. I have lived almost a year now in this small university town but still everything was new around me.

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www.IFUW.org
Ifuw stands for International Federation of University women. IFUW works to empower women and girls through lifelong education for leadership, decision-making and peace. The members are women for all different countries who are committed for improving the status of women globally and enabling women to make positive change for a peaceful and sustainable future.