I think that even reading such a powerful book, I couldn't begin to put myself in someone else's place that has went through those things.
The thing that stuck in my mind the most was the family that had to go on after all of the strive.
Losing my father would be the hardest thing for me, I don't know what I would do with myself, and in this story, there is this girl who not only has to move on so quickly from her father's death, but pull together her mother who is now permanently handicap, and younger brother who is left in devastation.
The strength that it must take to have to mourn the death of someone who was your main provider, and the next, run for your own life, its too immense of a feeling. I find myself relating to her because I too do a lot of things with my father, my father is chief of our fire department, and I joined as soon as I could, and we have spent a lot of time side by side working on things.
I don't know how I could piece my life together when I'd have to leave it all behind, and play father. I just couldn't even imagine.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Water Sanitation in Africa, or lack there of
Bundaa JosephChild's work
Bundaa Joseph, 10, Kampala village, Tanzania
I have no school. I would like to go but I am the only child at home so if I go to school there will be no one to help my parents.
I have to fetch the water. I use the water here for drinking, bathing and washing my clothes. My parents always get sick with diarrhoea - I don't know why - but they have to go to hospital. I'm not happy using this water. Some people use it like a toilet.
(WaterAid/Jane Scobie)
(http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_getting_water_in_africa/img/3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_getting_water_in_africa/html/3.stm&usg=__gKEn0pZgHLJdpW5M72y95zs29-8=&h=300&w=300&sz=20&hl=en&start=2&sig2=C5OujvPZ11SjfwFeM2GlLA&tbnid=IR2p4nQ-UOWtJM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&ei=nXccSemiJ6X8NOrQhd0J&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWater%2Bin%2BAfrica%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff)
Water problems are the biggest in South Africa, the strain has even lead into violence across borders and even domestic. In Côte D'Ivoire where government problems led to an unpaid water bill and the cause later was the increase risk of water-born diseases such as cholera. Only 22 percent to 34 percent of the population in at least eight sub-Saharan countries are able to have access to safe water.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations:
"What is the role of agriculture in water stress?
Agricultural development has the potential to improve African economies but requires extensive water supplies. These statistics from the Water Systems Analysis Group at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire reveal the urgent need for sustainable agricultural development:
About 64 percent of Africans rely on water that is limited and highly variable;
Croplands inhabit the driest regions of Africa where some 40 percent of the irrigated land is unsustainable;
Roughly 25 percent of Africa's population suffers from water stress;
Nearly 13 percent of the population in Africa experiences drought-related stress once each generation."
96 percent of Agriculture in Africa is rain fed which causes a big dilemma. With the resource of water being low and with the little resource of that polluted with germs, the state of Africa is in what is called "Water Stress."
Over 80 of Africa's river and lak basins are shared by two or more countires and those countries heavily depend on those resources, threatening the native livelihood.
According to the Living Waters Pamphlet:
"Almost half of the population (778 million in 1997) suffers from one of
the six major water-related diseases. Lack of risk preparedness and
mitigation is also a factor: in Mozambique over 1 million people were
displaced by the floods of 1999/2000 and an unknown number killed.
Every day, 650 people die from diarrhoea in Africa, mainly children
under five years of age. More than 10,000 people contracted cholera
during outbreaks in South Africa in 2001."
Africa is home to about 13% (800 million
people) of the world population and accounts
for about 2% of world economic output.
• About 29% of the population lives in West Africa, 27% in
East Africa, 18% in North Africa, 17% in Southern Africa,
and 10% in Central Africa. North Africa is the most urbanised
region in Africa, while East Africa is the least urbanised.
• Overall, the agricultural and mining sectors employ the largest
numbers of Africans. Around two-thirds of Southern Africa’s
population is dependent on agriculture for employment.
• Vast desert and densely forested regions are nearly uninhabited, while
population density is very high in places like Nigeria, the Nile River valley,
and the Great Lakes region. Two of the largest cities in the world – Cairo
and Lagos – are in Africa.
• Estimates of the number of languages range from 700 to 3,000. Major
languages, in terms of the number of speakers, include Afrikaans, Akan,
Amharic, Arabic, English, French, Fufulde, Hausa, Igbo, Malagasy,
Oromo, Portuguese, Rwanda, Shona, Somali, Sotho, Swahili, Xhosa,
Yoruba and Zulu.
Source: US Department of Energy http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/africa.html
Bundaa JosephChild's work
Bundaa Joseph, 10, Kampala village, Tanzania
I have no school. I would like to go but I am the only child at home so if I go to school there will be no one to help my parents.
I have to fetch the water. I use the water here for drinking, bathing and washing my clothes. My parents always get sick with diarrhoea - I don't know why - but they have to go to hospital. I'm not happy using this water. Some people use it like a toilet.
(WaterAid/Jane Scobie)
(http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_getting_water_in_africa/img/3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_getting_water_in_africa/html/3.stm&usg=__gKEn0pZgHLJdpW5M72y95zs29-8=&h=300&w=300&sz=20&hl=en&start=2&sig2=C5OujvPZ11SjfwFeM2GlLA&tbnid=IR2p4nQ-UOWtJM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&ei=nXccSemiJ6X8NOrQhd0J&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWater%2Bin%2BAfrica%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Bleeding Stone
I was very intrigued by the term "jinn" which was mentioned frequently in the book.
"Jinn" .. which is an arabic term, part of Islam. Which makes me wonder if this is the religion of the character in the book. The religion is quite unclear and there is mention of many within it. But I pull back from that thought because the muslims who come to take the waddan meat are not easily represented by the main character. So I'm not sure what to think, even though the character is more open to help them then the christians. But the christians are referred to as foreigners, so it might just be that the muslims are natives.
Nonetheless, the "ancestors" that the bedioun chooses to speak to, is an Islamic term:
(http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/belief/jinn.html)
"The Jinn are beings created with free will, living on earth in a world parallel to mankind. The Arabic word Jinn is from the verb 'Janna' which means to hide or conceal. Thus, they are physically invisible from man as their description suggests. This invisibility is one of the reasons why some people have denied their existence. However, (as will be seen) the affect which the world of the Jinn has upon our world, is enough to refute this modern denial of one of Allah's creation. The origins of the Jinn can be traced from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Allah says:
"Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth mud. And We created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire"
[Surah Al-Hijr 15:26-27]
Thus the Jinn were created before man. As for their physical origin, then the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) has confirmed the above verse when he said: "The Angels were created from light and the Jinn from smokeless fire" [1]. It is this description of the Jinn which tells us so much about them. Because they were created from fire, their nature has generally been fiery and thus their relationship with man has been built upon this. Like humans, they too are required to worship Allah and follow Islam. Their purpose in life is exactly the same as ours, as Allah says:
"I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me"
[Surah Ad-Dhariyat, 51:56]"
Even though Jinns can be muslim or non-muslim, I feel there is a significance to the religion itself.
But Jinns are referred to as devils.
Does the bedioun worship the devil? or does it answer to it to keep the land that he protects happy?
In my research it says that Jinns can take on any form such as human, plant, animal, etc.
"Jinn" .. which is an arabic term, part of Islam. Which makes me wonder if this is the religion of the character in the book. The religion is quite unclear and there is mention of many within it. But I pull back from that thought because the muslims who come to take the waddan meat are not easily represented by the main character. So I'm not sure what to think, even though the character is more open to help them then the christians. But the christians are referred to as foreigners, so it might just be that the muslims are natives.
Nonetheless, the "ancestors" that the bedioun chooses to speak to, is an Islamic term:
(http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/belief/jinn.html)
"The Jinn are beings created with free will, living on earth in a world parallel to mankind. The Arabic word Jinn is from the verb 'Janna' which means to hide or conceal. Thus, they are physically invisible from man as their description suggests. This invisibility is one of the reasons why some people have denied their existence. However, (as will be seen) the affect which the world of the Jinn has upon our world, is enough to refute this modern denial of one of Allah's creation. The origins of the Jinn can be traced from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Allah says:
"Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth mud. And We created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire"
[Surah Al-Hijr 15:26-27]
Thus the Jinn were created before man. As for their physical origin, then the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) has confirmed the above verse when he said: "The Angels were created from light and the Jinn from smokeless fire" [1]. It is this description of the Jinn which tells us so much about them. Because they were created from fire, their nature has generally been fiery and thus their relationship with man has been built upon this. Like humans, they too are required to worship Allah and follow Islam. Their purpose in life is exactly the same as ours, as Allah says:
"I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me"
[Surah Ad-Dhariyat, 51:56]"
Even though Jinns can be muslim or non-muslim, I feel there is a significance to the religion itself.
But Jinns are referred to as devils.
Does the bedioun worship the devil? or does it answer to it to keep the land that he protects happy?
In my research it says that Jinns can take on any form such as human, plant, animal, etc.
Cont. issues in Africa
In light of the topic of journalist abuse, I found a sight that reports on stories of abuse of journalist in Africa today.
http://cpj.org/africa/
Story one:
In Ethiopia, managing editor, Aregaqi, of the Reporter was releaed from the hospital when three men attacked him as he left his office by striking him in the head repeatedly with a stone until he fell unconscious. This attack was directed to anonymous threats received in connection of investiagtive reports accusing people close to Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi had mismanaged his investments.
Story two:"Editor-in-Chief Tsion Girima of the private weekly Enbilta is being held in Kality prison, outside the capital, Addis Ababa, pending sentencing on Tuesday"
Girima misspelled a judges name in her paper, and instead of running a correction, she spelled the name correctly in her next edition, now Girima will serve up to one year in prison for that mistake.
Story three: “Chief” Ebrima Manneh was arrested and brought to prison...
"Though he was never charged with a crime, Chief’s arrest stemmed from his decision to republish a BBC story critical of President Yahya Jammeh’s democratic credentials on the eve of an African Union summit in Banjul. Editors at our pro-government paper overruled Chief’s decision, pulling the printed copies that carried the story and withholding them from distribution."
A reporter from the paper even went undercover to investigate Manneh's arrest. This reporter said many of the sources that he went to were afraid to speak about the disappearance, for they may be the next victim.
The reporter testified on the Chief's behave, and was relocated from his dying father to help the chief.
But the chief was never released, leaving behind wedding arrangements and bright future.
This is something to take into consideration, being a journalist in the USA, I feel secure that my government protects to a degree my freedom of speech. In Africa, the government silences it.
http://cpj.org/africa/
Story one:
In Ethiopia, managing editor, Aregaqi, of the Reporter was releaed from the hospital when three men attacked him as he left his office by striking him in the head repeatedly with a stone until he fell unconscious. This attack was directed to anonymous threats received in connection of investiagtive reports accusing people close to Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi had mismanaged his investments.
Story two:"Editor-in-Chief Tsion Girima of the private weekly Enbilta is being held in Kality prison, outside the capital, Addis Ababa, pending sentencing on Tuesday"
Girima misspelled a judges name in her paper, and instead of running a correction, she spelled the name correctly in her next edition, now Girima will serve up to one year in prison for that mistake.
Story three: “Chief” Ebrima Manneh was arrested and brought to prison...
"Though he was never charged with a crime, Chief’s arrest stemmed from his decision to republish a BBC story critical of President Yahya Jammeh’s democratic credentials on the eve of an African Union summit in Banjul. Editors at our pro-government paper overruled Chief’s decision, pulling the printed copies that carried the story and withholding them from distribution."
A reporter from the paper even went undercover to investigate Manneh's arrest. This reporter said many of the sources that he went to were afraid to speak about the disappearance, for they may be the next victim.
The reporter testified on the Chief's behave, and was relocated from his dying father to help the chief.
But the chief was never released, leaving behind wedding arrangements and bright future.
This is something to take into consideration, being a journalist in the USA, I feel secure that my government protects to a degree my freedom of speech. In Africa, the government silences it.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
So you call us bias, but you do not know what we go through
Sometimes it feels good to open a book and be able to relate to a character in the majorest/minorest level.
I felt close to Lomba, because I too am a journalist and a writer.
I remember when I told my family that I was going to be a journalist and my family just kept fearing for my life saying "Don't go to Iraq!"
And I understood the immediate dangers that lie under the field of some of the most hated people in society.
Reading this book, I see the potential and the power that someone within the business can create, and the consequence one can face when trying to do what they believe is right.
I hope this leaves a reminder to those who call the media biased. Yeah, it is, and that is why I became a journalist, to combine my two passions: writing.. and being nosey.
There are people like Lomba who are suffering in prison, locked away in solitude, beaten down for owning even a pencil and paper, sleeping on lice-ridden cots, eating food that only animals would call cuisine.
Not able to know what day it is, and the days become irrelevant because freedom becomes just a whisper,anger welling up inside as you take beating after beating..... only because you were covering event.
That's why I became a journalist, because instead of staring at the TV saying, "thats bias" or "they're not telling us everything." I got up and decided to change it. Someday I hope to do news justice and uncover stories to the world that has become blind to such corruption.
Maybe I could be a Lomba?
Who knows.
I felt close to Lomba, because I too am a journalist and a writer.
I remember when I told my family that I was going to be a journalist and my family just kept fearing for my life saying "Don't go to Iraq!"
And I understood the immediate dangers that lie under the field of some of the most hated people in society.
Reading this book, I see the potential and the power that someone within the business can create, and the consequence one can face when trying to do what they believe is right.
I hope this leaves a reminder to those who call the media biased. Yeah, it is, and that is why I became a journalist, to combine my two passions: writing.. and being nosey.
There are people like Lomba who are suffering in prison, locked away in solitude, beaten down for owning even a pencil and paper, sleeping on lice-ridden cots, eating food that only animals would call cuisine.
Not able to know what day it is, and the days become irrelevant because freedom becomes just a whisper,anger welling up inside as you take beating after beating..... only because you were covering event.
That's why I became a journalist, because instead of staring at the TV saying, "thats bias" or "they're not telling us everything." I got up and decided to change it. Someday I hope to do news justice and uncover stories to the world that has become blind to such corruption.
Maybe I could be a Lomba?
Who knows.
Monday, November 3, 2008
The cost of oil, literally.
It's astonishing to think how much oil has affected Africa without benefiting the country at all.
The Africans seemed to not be interested in the use of it, and yet it is be sucked from the veins of the land and leaving mother earth dry. And those who fight to protect their intellect, to find themselves benefiting from a ruthless trade, are coming up short, and turned away.Not only that, but it has destroyed the land and the spirit of the people who call it home.
Where is home when greed and corruption become your needy neighbor?
"This is our land," a dark and round-faced young man named Judé piped up. "We've seen no benefit from it. We lost our land and have received nothing for it. At first they said they were going to build hospitals and dispensaries here. But they've done none of that." Exxon, Chief Tamro explained, had offered the village its choice of five options: a school, a well, a granary, one kilometer of paved road, or a marketplace. The villagers chose the school, understanding that it would house six grades, but ExxonMobil built them a two-room schoolhouse instead. "Let me ask you something, sir." The chief tried to contain his frustration. "If I take something from you, should I then come and dictate the terms of my compensation to you for the loss? Surely it is for me to apologize and ask you what I can do to make it up to you."
Oil industries within Africa have five countries that dominate the oil game, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Angola and Nigeria. They produce 83-87% of the continents oil. And althought they are not the only countries dominated by this (there are 52)they take the lead. The oil industries within Africa confirmed 73-77 billion barrels of oil make up 7 percent of the entire global total.
AFRICAN OPEC MEMBERS PRODUCTION mb/d--Last Updated on Oct.16-2008
2006
2007
1Q08
2Q08
3Q08
Jul 08
Aug 08
Sep 08
Sep/Aug
Algeria
1.37
1.36
1.40
1.40
1.41
1.40
1.41
1.41
0.00
Angola
1.39
1.66
1.87
1.90
1.85
1.90
1.87
1.77
-0.10
Libya
1.70
1.71
1.75
1.73
1.69
1.69
1.67
1.72
0.05
Nigeria
2.23
2.13
2.04
1.86
1.95
1.92
1.95
2.00
0.05
(According to the African Oil Journal)
And seeing as I'm just a naive consumer and never really checking the labels on what I purchase, by reading the article I was unaware that we tapped into more African sources than in Saudi Arabia. Everytime I go home, or go to see my friends, with each drop of oil I pump into my '95 Bonneville, I'm supporting destroying somebody else's home.
How do we stop it?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Fighting Female Genital Mutilation
Despite laws against the muilation of females, the treatment still continues in many pparts of Africa today. There are different organizations in palce that work against this practice, but the fight has been very hard against traditions that support this tpractice.
According to the afrol web site there FGM is in four types:
Gemale Genital Mutilation (FGM), aka female circumcision or female genital cutting has been in practice for several 1,000 of years in almost 30 African coutnries and Middle Eastern nations. Is it practiced by Muslims, Christians, Jews and followers of AFrican religions.
(DIRECT DEFINITION)
The World Health Organization also classified FGM into four types:
Type I
The WHO defines Type I FGM as the partial or total removal of the clitoris (clitoridectomy) and/or the prepuce (clitoral hood); see Diagram 1B. When it is important to distinguish between the major variations of Type I mutilation, the following subdivisions are proposed: Type Ia, removal of the clitoral hood or prepuce only; Type Ib, removal of the clitoris with the prepuce. In the context of women who seek out labiaplasty, Stern opposes removal of the clitoral hood and points to potential scarring and nerve damage.
Type II
The WHO's definition of Type II FGM is "partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (excision). When it is important to distinguish between the major variations that have been documented, the following subdivisions are proposed: Type IIa, removal of the labia minora only; Type IIb, partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora; Type IIc, partial or total removal of the clitoris, the labia minora and the labia majora. Note also that, in French, the term ‘excision’ is often used as a general term covering all types of female genital mutilation.
Type III: Infibulation with excision
The WHO defines Type III FGC as narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris (infibulation)." It is the most extensive form of FGM, and accounts for about 10% of all FGC procedures described from Africa. Infibulation is also known as "pharaonic circumcision."
In a study of infibulation in the Horn of Africa, Pieters observed that the procedure involves extensive tissue removal of the external genitalia, including all of the labia minora and the inside of the labia majora. The labia majora are then held together using thorns or stitching. In some cases the girl's legs have been tied together for two to six weeks, to prevent her from moving and to allow the healing of the two sides of the vulva. Nothing remains but the walls of flesh from the pubis down to the anus, with the exception of an opening at the inferior portion of the vulva to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass through; see Diagram 1D. Generally, a practitioner recognized as having the necessary skill carries out this procedure, and a local anesthetic is used. However, when carried out "in the bush," infibulation is often performed by an elderly matron or midwife of the village, with no anesthesia used.
A reverse infibulation can be performed to allow for sexual intercourse or when undergoing labor, or by female relatives, whose responsibility it is to inspect the wound every few weeks and open it some more if necessary. During childbirth, the enlargement is too small to allow vaginal delivery, and so the infibulation is opened completely and may be restored after delivery. Again, the legs are sometimes tied together to allow the wound to heal. When childbirth takes place in a hospital, the surgeons may preserve the infibulation by enlarging the vagina with deep episiotomies. Afterwards, the patient may insist that her vulva be closed again.
This practice increases the occurrence of medical complications due to a lack of modern medicine and surgical practices.[citation needed]
A five-year study of 300 women and 100 men in Sudan found that "sexual desire, pleasure, and orgasm are experienced by the majority of women who have been subjected to this extreme sexual mutilation, in spite of their being culturally bound to hide these experiences."
Most advocates of the practice continue to perform the procedure in adherence to standards of beauty that are very different from those in the west. Many infibulated women will contend that the pleasure their partners receive due to this procedure is a definitive part of a successful marriage and enjoyable sex life.[citation needed]
Type IV: Other types
There are other forms of FGM, collectively referred to as Type IV, that may not involve tissue removal. The WHO defines Type IV FGC as "all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization."This includes a diverse range of practices, such as pricking the clitoris with needles, burning or scarring the genitals as well as ripping or tearing of the vagina. Type IV is found primarily among isolated ethnic groups as well as in combination with other types.
The practice is brought by fear of a daughter's marriageablity and honor in the community. Historic reasons were more for marital fidelity, by controlling a woman's sex drive, preventing lesbianism, ensuring paternity, "calming" her personality and hygiene. In these practices it is considered an important rite of passage.
FGM practices by country
Country Prevalence Type
Benin 5-50% excision
Burkina Faso up to 70% excision
Cameroon local clitoridectomy and excision
Central Afr. Republic 45-50% clitoridectomy and excision
Chad 60% excision and infibulation
Côte d'Ivoire up to 60% excision
DRC (Congo) local excision
Djibouti 98% excision and infibulation
Egypt 85-95% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Eritrea 95% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Ethiopia 70-90% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Gambia 60-90% excision and infibulation
Ghana 15-30% excision
Guinea 65-90% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Guinea Bissau local clitoridectomy and excision
Kenya 50% clitoridectomy, excision and some infibulation
Liberia 50% excision
Mali 94% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Mauritania 25% clitoridectomy and excision
Niger local excision
Nigeria 60-90% clitoridectomy, excision, some infibulation
Senegal 20% excision
Sierra Leone 90% excision
Somalia 98% infibulation
Sudan 90% infibulation and excision
Tanzania 18% excision, infibulation
Togo 12% excision
Uganda local clitoridectomy and excision
Based on statistics from Amnesty International and US govt
According to those who fight the practice of FGM, stopping this practice requires "a profound social change," according to the Director of the International Programme at the Center for Reproductive LAw and Policy, ANika Rahman.
Acccording to Amnesty International, a non-governmental based organization that conducts research inorder to prevent abuse on human rights that are violated. Amnesty has estimated over 130 million women wordwide will be affecgted by some type of FGC with over 2 million procedures being performed every year.
According to the afrol web site there FGM is in four types:
Gemale Genital Mutilation (FGM), aka female circumcision or female genital cutting has been in practice for several 1,000 of years in almost 30 African coutnries and Middle Eastern nations. Is it practiced by Muslims, Christians, Jews and followers of AFrican religions.
(DIRECT DEFINITION)
The World Health Organization also classified FGM into four types:
Type I
The WHO defines Type I FGM as the partial or total removal of the clitoris (clitoridectomy) and/or the prepuce (clitoral hood); see Diagram 1B. When it is important to distinguish between the major variations of Type I mutilation, the following subdivisions are proposed: Type Ia, removal of the clitoral hood or prepuce only; Type Ib, removal of the clitoris with the prepuce. In the context of women who seek out labiaplasty, Stern opposes removal of the clitoral hood and points to potential scarring and nerve damage.
Type II
The WHO's definition of Type II FGM is "partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (excision). When it is important to distinguish between the major variations that have been documented, the following subdivisions are proposed: Type IIa, removal of the labia minora only; Type IIb, partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora; Type IIc, partial or total removal of the clitoris, the labia minora and the labia majora. Note also that, in French, the term ‘excision’ is often used as a general term covering all types of female genital mutilation.
Type III: Infibulation with excision
The WHO defines Type III FGC as narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris (infibulation)." It is the most extensive form of FGM, and accounts for about 10% of all FGC procedures described from Africa. Infibulation is also known as "pharaonic circumcision."
In a study of infibulation in the Horn of Africa, Pieters observed that the procedure involves extensive tissue removal of the external genitalia, including all of the labia minora and the inside of the labia majora. The labia majora are then held together using thorns or stitching. In some cases the girl's legs have been tied together for two to six weeks, to prevent her from moving and to allow the healing of the two sides of the vulva. Nothing remains but the walls of flesh from the pubis down to the anus, with the exception of an opening at the inferior portion of the vulva to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass through; see Diagram 1D. Generally, a practitioner recognized as having the necessary skill carries out this procedure, and a local anesthetic is used. However, when carried out "in the bush," infibulation is often performed by an elderly matron or midwife of the village, with no anesthesia used.
A reverse infibulation can be performed to allow for sexual intercourse or when undergoing labor, or by female relatives, whose responsibility it is to inspect the wound every few weeks and open it some more if necessary. During childbirth, the enlargement is too small to allow vaginal delivery, and so the infibulation is opened completely and may be restored after delivery. Again, the legs are sometimes tied together to allow the wound to heal. When childbirth takes place in a hospital, the surgeons may preserve the infibulation by enlarging the vagina with deep episiotomies. Afterwards, the patient may insist that her vulva be closed again.
This practice increases the occurrence of medical complications due to a lack of modern medicine and surgical practices.[citation needed]
A five-year study of 300 women and 100 men in Sudan found that "sexual desire, pleasure, and orgasm are experienced by the majority of women who have been subjected to this extreme sexual mutilation, in spite of their being culturally bound to hide these experiences."
Most advocates of the practice continue to perform the procedure in adherence to standards of beauty that are very different from those in the west. Many infibulated women will contend that the pleasure their partners receive due to this procedure is a definitive part of a successful marriage and enjoyable sex life.[citation needed]
Type IV: Other types
There are other forms of FGM, collectively referred to as Type IV, that may not involve tissue removal. The WHO defines Type IV FGC as "all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization."This includes a diverse range of practices, such as pricking the clitoris with needles, burning or scarring the genitals as well as ripping or tearing of the vagina. Type IV is found primarily among isolated ethnic groups as well as in combination with other types.
The practice is brought by fear of a daughter's marriageablity and honor in the community. Historic reasons were more for marital fidelity, by controlling a woman's sex drive, preventing lesbianism, ensuring paternity, "calming" her personality and hygiene. In these practices it is considered an important rite of passage.
FGM practices by country
Country Prevalence Type
Benin 5-50% excision
Burkina Faso up to 70% excision
Cameroon local clitoridectomy and excision
Central Afr. Republic 45-50% clitoridectomy and excision
Chad 60% excision and infibulation
Côte d'Ivoire up to 60% excision
DRC (Congo) local excision
Djibouti 98% excision and infibulation
Egypt 85-95% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Eritrea 95% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Ethiopia 70-90% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Gambia 60-90% excision and infibulation
Ghana 15-30% excision
Guinea 65-90% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Guinea Bissau local clitoridectomy and excision
Kenya 50% clitoridectomy, excision and some infibulation
Liberia 50% excision
Mali 94% clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation
Mauritania 25% clitoridectomy and excision
Niger local excision
Nigeria 60-90% clitoridectomy, excision, some infibulation
Senegal 20% excision
Sierra Leone 90% excision
Somalia 98% infibulation
Sudan 90% infibulation and excision
Tanzania 18% excision, infibulation
Togo 12% excision
Uganda local clitoridectomy and excision
Based on statistics from Amnesty International and US govt
According to those who fight the practice of FGM, stopping this practice requires "a profound social change," according to the Director of the International Programme at the Center for Reproductive LAw and Policy, ANika Rahman.
Acccording to Amnesty International, a non-governmental based organization that conducts research inorder to prevent abuse on human rights that are violated. Amnesty has estimated over 130 million women wordwide will be affecgted by some type of FGC with over 2 million procedures being performed every year.
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