WWC

World Women's Conference of grassrout women

CFA

Conference des Femmes d'Afrique de 23. à 26. mai 2017 in Bamako

Route
NRW

Namibian Rural Women's Assembly (NRW)

World women from Namibia

World Women? Yes, also in Namibia women think internationalistically. Thus two delegates made themselves on the way to the World Women’s Conference of grassroot women in March 2016. There 74 World Women from 40 countries discussed how everyone can make progress with women’s rights and thus the society in its own country.

Becoming acquainted with the Namibian World Women, the exchange with them over their lifes and their struggle was an important concern for us on this journey.

World Women’s Conference of grassroot women.

In contrast to official bodies like for example the UN these body has been conneted grassroot women, which are confronted with inequality in their daily lifes. Also I’m involved in theGerman women’s association Courage on local level. So I could use this connection for asking for a meeting to those Namibian World Women.

In the township Katatura we met Patricia, a woman of the Namibian Rural Women's assembly (NRWA).

Patricia with us
World Woman Patricia with us

Inequality is larger only in a few countries than in Namibia, which ranks 125th on the Human Development Index. On top of it the income of woman is 50% less than men’s.
Two legal approaches are existing equivalent. On the one side the modern constitutional law with same rights for the woman and on the other side the custom law, which is valid particularly on the countryside with the different ethnicities. Especially women on the countryside are married by a bride’s price and regarded then as possession of the man.

The emphases of the NRWA, joined well with further South African countries, are shown on its website, left column:

The African power women of the Rural Women's Assembly are well interlaced with further South African contries.

This photo shows Patricia in a meeting with women from altogether 9 South African countries.

The hope to meet Katrina, the second World Women, we had to bury, because she had not answered to my email.

We have been traveling already for three days, experiencing a lot. Just when we were guided in a professional, tour through a township at one of the next huts we were confronted quite abruptly with this picture “International Women’s Day”.

“International Women’s Day” on a wall amid Namibia

I was electrified , turning to a women next to me telling her about the World Women’s Conference in Nepal , that had been taken place on the Internation Womens’s Day in Marc 2016. She replied: But from Namibia there were present only two women and I was one of them. Hard to belief – it was Katrina.

Meeting Katrina
Meeting World Woman Katrina

A short intense astonishment, disbelieving on both sides, then a common photo before now Katrina had to turn to her tasks

Katrina’s daily work consists of training young women in manufacturing and in selling those handycraft in a shop. The women manufacture decoration, small dolls, batik cloths. All this is sold in the shop to tourists and creates so a base of life for unmarried women.

The young girls are to complete also the payment (the girls have to learn counting, probably not being able to read and write always correctly). From time to time that does not work smoothly at the cash register. Katrina is helping patiently in the background. The shop is to find at Dantago Arts Centers in DRC township Swakopmund.

Katrina with young woman

Katrina training young women

There is a lot of violence in society and the pregnancy’s rate of young women is high. (46,000 teenagers out of a total population of only 2,3 Million became pregnant in 2013). Often young women alone are responsible for their children. That makes Katrina’s work Katrina so important for these young women.

Who wants to experience more about Katrina’s daily work, will find more about the activities on Facebook:

Dantago is a platform on facebook, which connects those in need to those, which want to help. Then often we would like to do something helpfully, not knowing how. These platform shows how.

Patricia among African women
Patricia among African women
n/a