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What unites Russian and African women? Can we make this world a better place so that our children can live at least a little easier than we do?
We talked about this and much more with Oksana Mayorova, director of international development of the All-African Women’s Union.
– Oksana Vadimovna, you are the director of international development of the All-African Women’s Union. Women are a huge force…
– Yes, in Africa they are very influential, and we are similar to them in this.
– How promising can joint projects between women’s organizations in Russia and the African continent (or individual countries) be? I know that you are involved in issues of protecting children’s rights, well-being and organizing an environment conducive to their development…
– The All African Women’s Union is a unique organization that unites women from 27 countries. What makes it unique? This is not an organization brought in from outside, not created from above. This is a union that literally rose from the Earth. It includes women who have begun to unite, who understand what women’s strength is and what women’s weakness is. They understand their pain points and have begun to unite within countries to work together to do something better.
Their motto is women for women. A woman’s pain is always her children. Therefore, first of all, they began to focus on giving girls the opportunity to receive an education. Why girls? Firstly, because the Union is for women. In addition, their social status is much lower than that of boys.
This year we set ourselves the goal of raising funds and training 100 girls in Russia on state scholarships. It is clear that these are quotas allocated by Russia. But in order to come to our country and live here for five years, a girl needs, firstly, to fly. We have cases where several villages are collecting money, taking out loans just to buy her a ticket. You also need food and winter clothing. After all, it is very difficult, and sometimes legally impossible, for a student to find a job. Of course, 100 people on the scale of Africa is an insignificant number. But this is only the first step. If 100 girls receive an agricultural higher education… And it must be said that all African women are aimed at receiving just such an education.
– I heard that in Africa they consider Russian agriculture to be the best. Accordingly, is our agricultural education also the best?
– That’s right, the Africans themselves told me this. So, this girl returns to her homeland as a great agricultural specialist. She has the highest social status, she can earn money herself, and does not depend on gender stereotypes and biases, which, of course, exist there. This girl starts a cycle: she helps another girl, she helps a third… Thus, step by step, the woman’s social level rises, their level of influence grows. The women who began to self-organize into such unions and help girls are mainly those who at one time received outside help in order to learn and take a step forward in life and career. This is an invaluable experience.
African women are enthusiastic about Russia, they love Russia, they know Russia, they are ready to send their girls to study with us. You can’t even imagine how much joy and hope this brings them. I am very glad that Russia has taken such a step towards Africa. Africans, in turn, come to meet us halfway with great joy.
– Preservation and strengthening of family, moral and spiritual values comes to the fore in our difficult times…
– Russia is one of their main defenders in the world. And the African continent is close to us in this regard. It is very comfortable to work with those countries with which we have a similar religion. For example, Ethiopia. It is quite easy to work with Muslim countries, since we have common tendencies to protect family and moral values and traditions. The institution of family is important to us, marriage is the union of a man and a woman, a boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl, and it cannot be any other way.
With countries that are under strong Western influence, things are different. Many residents from these countries with whom I spoke say that they are artificially creating and legislating various homosexual and LGBT communities. This is completely alien to ordinary citizens. They talk about cases where African children are adopted to other countries and their gender is changed there. This is shocking to ordinary people. But the pressure on the leadership of these countries from the United States and its Western allies is incredibly strong.
The difference between the people who live, so to speak, on the ground and the leadership stratum is enormous. We have to work not only with the population, but also with the authorities. And when the authorities have such a position, constructive cooperation will not work.
For ordinary Africans, Vladimir Putin is a real hero, because he was the only one who was not afraid to openly say that America was wrong, and was not afraid to confront it.
Africans support all Russian initiatives related to gender equality, which take into account the difference in the functions of men and women and the traditional nature of the family. Just the other day, a conference was held in Ethiopia on the issues of preserving traditional family values. Russian Orthodox priests were also invited there. The participants not only exchanged opinions, but also decided how they could jointly resist the so-called Western values.
– What other projects are being implemented by your women’s organization?
– This Union was originally created for Africa and in Africa. In most countries, projects have been launched to help girls who simply want to go to school. Having a Christmas tree is great. But the holiday will end, and what next?
After all, for a girl to go to school, she needs to go by bus every day and bring some food with her. Many children in Africa go to school only because they provide food.
In many countries, there is very strong family pressure on girls – there is no need to go to school, sit at home, helping, so to speak, sort out the maize. In our case, a huge plus is that women themselves live in this village, see this problem and face it themselves. They understand perfectly well who really needs help. And they give exactly the help that this child needs at the moment.
– How much money do you need to get to school by bus and eat?
– You know, not so much. And in these villages, 3-4 people chip in to give a girl a piece of bread and a bottle of milk for school. And this needs to be done every day for many years. In fact, it turns out that women take on very serious responsibilities. And this is worthy of all respect.
We cooperate with the International Foundation “Children Must Live”. He has many shelters in Russia. And now he is expanding and organizing a network of shelters in Africa. The foundation, at its own expense, equips computer classes for children from African slums. In this case, this is not a place for toys. This is a place where children can understand how a keyboard, a computer works, and what opportunities network technologies provide. And this is already a definite step that helps the child subsequently climb the social elevator. Otherwise, he has no opportunities other than the street, drugs and, as a result, not a long life.
– Oksana Vadimovna, how did you come to this organization?
– Also, one might say, from Earth. As a co-founder of the Pan African Development Center, I do a lot of work in Africa and interact with local communities. After all, all public-private partnership projects always rely on local communities. The land belongs to them. People from these communities will also work at the enterprises. Social projects that are always attached to large construction sites or industries – hospitals, schools – are always aimed at maintaining good relations with the local community. Therefore, I work with many, I know many, many know me.
Naturally, during the conversation, topics that concern women were raised. Women began to unite. In this Union, we have a media channel in which they can communicate, debate, and share their thoughts. They discuss a variety of issues, starting with the color of the neighbor girl’s dress, ending with global issues of who will ultimately be the world hegemon. When I look at them, I understand that we differ only in the color of our skin and the brightness of our clothes. And the problems that concern us are the same: children, husbands, neighbors, countries, government, food, clothes, education and the eternal question – how to make this world a better place, so that our children can live at least a little easier than us.
Interviewed by Yulia NOVITSKAYA, writer, journalist-interviewer, correspondent for “New Eastern Outlook”