Esther is a serious person.  She carries herself with dignity and says very little unless she feels she has good reason to talk.  She is the first to stand and tell her story.  She’s told it many times to her the village women and her daughters because she innately knows there is an important purpose in repeating it.  People listen to her. She doesn’t speak much English; her words are translated for us.  But her emotion and passion require no translation.  She is a moving story-teller, and this is part of what she told us…

 “I am not ashamed about what happened to me.  I was not given a choice.  I was in primary Class 6, a very young girl, and one day on holiday from school my father called me in and said “we have given you up to go to your husband’s homestead.”  He said he needed the goats this man would give him to help feed the younger children. This husband was unknown to me and old to my eyes.  I did not want to go with him. There would be no more school for me as I would just need to be a wife now.   I cried and cried.  I would miss my class because I loved school.  I would miss my mother. I begged to stay, but my father said that it had been decided and if I didn’t go, my family would have a curse on them.

I took a small sack and followed this husband.  I was afraid.  Where he stayed was not far from my school.  I could hear the sounds of the children coming out of the school sometimes, and I would go down there to play with them because I was still a child, too.   I fetched and cooked and took care of the goats but I knew I could do more things. I wanted to learn to sew. After each of my children was born, I asked my husband if I can go to polytechnic and learn this skill.  He said no.  After my number five child, I did not ask anymore.  I told him I am going.  And I did.  He did not stop me.  That is the day I stood tall to face a man. Now I sew school uniforms late in the night when my chores are done. I sell them for fees to send my children to school.  I tell my husband that all these children will go to school –  even the girls.  They will make their own choices.

Some in my village, even one woman, have gone to school so I listen to everything I hear. I ask questions and I find out I can learn many things from them. I learned that mangos make big crops but take a lot of water. I learned that brown water makes babies sick and vegetables make your body strong. I learned that cutting of girls is not a good thing and farm ponds can give water for kitchen gardens. I can speak up now so I can tell my people what I know. I am invited to talk at the leader’s meetings along with the men.  I am no longer afraid.  And my daughters are not afraid either.”

Esther lives in the middle of nowhere with none of the things we consider basic:  clean water, adequate food, electric, access to information, even time.  But she has turned her childhood experience into the courage to  improve the quality of life – particularly for women in her community.   She organized the Kailer Kitchen Garden Women’s Group to share dry farming methods; she is a village advocate against female genital mutilation. She dreams of teaching others to sew so they can form a women’s co-op and sell their wares for fees so more children can attend school.  She has tried a demonstration project for mango production; she draws pictures in the sand at meetings to campaign for farm ponds and drip irrigation for subsistence farming; she knows about the slow food movement; and she is vocal against enforced marriage for girls.  She is still married to Peter, now the village elder. The strength of Esther’s convictions has even altered his traditional way of thinking on some subjects- influencing the decisions he makes as a leader in this community.   Her “ripples” are far-ranging.

Unfortunately, some of Esther’s ideas require resources that are not available to the community – like a clean water system to improve health and eliminate fetching – so women have the time and energy to do other things like learning skills or starting small businesses; or the installation of a micro-irrigation system to keep their kitchen gardens watered, or cultivate mangoes,  to eliminate food insecurities and encourage self-sufficiency.

Village Voices is proud to call Esther our friend and partner.  We hope you will partner with us as well to help us provide the resources necessary to make her dreams for the community come true.     Jackie