Can You Write Your Name?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Mimkosa is brilliant. She’s by far, the most powerful and influential woman in our entire city. I wrote her story in a past blog entry entitled “Chairwomen of Kopila Valley.” Here’s a picture of Mimkosa signing our legal NGO papers last June. She’s writing her name for the first time in her entire life. To complete our paperwork, she had to sign her name for a total of 56 times. It took her 4 hours. One of the government officials laughed in my face and asked, “How I could choose a woman for my board that couldn’t even write her own name?”
We live in a world where we can walk on the moon. We live in a world with atomic weapons, nuclear power plants, high definition televisions, drive-thrus, wireless internet, and instant macaroni and cheese. Would you believe it if I told you that 90% of the women in my city can’t even write their own name? They mark their existence with a fingerprint. They can’t write down a single thought, a single story. They can’t open a bank account or complete any official paper work. They can’t even write a list of the things they need at the market or write a note to a friend or relative. They can’t read books, magazines, newspapers, or sign boards with important information.
I think it’s about time we start to get our priorities straight.