Group: Courtney, Katie, Ryan, Cheyenne, Casey, Lindsey, Abbie

Sometimes a Girl's Best Friend Is Not Her Father - Examining How Time Affects Cultural Values

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/featured_articles/990303wednesday.html

Location: A dusty plateau in Southern Kenya (Courtney)

Quote: "He was about 30 years old, she said. She was only 9." (Courtney)

"One girl who will enroll soon is the daughter of a woman killed in December by her husband, a policeman, a case that has heightened concern about domestic violence."(Courtney)

“They feel that when a girl goes to school she gets spoiled because she gets to a point where she is equal to the men. But she’s not supposed to be equal. She’s not supposed to make her own decisions.” (Courtney)

"Even the Masia are wearing underwear now."

"I'm a girl who is going to school so I can get my education," she said she told her father. "My Father said, That's nonsense" (Casey, Lindsey, Abbie)

"He has seen now that I have done a good job," she said. "He has said it is very important for me to be educated." (Courtney)

Anecdote:

The A.I.C. Girls Primary School has become a haven for girls seeking to escape early marriage. (Courtney)

-The practice of young marriage is one of the most fiercely traditional and independent of the 42 tribes in Kenya. (Courtney)

-Nearly all the students have undergone some sort of genital cutting. (Courtney)

-Starting with 20 students, the school has grown to about 650 students. (Courtney)

Highlights of the story:

-A father was willing to exchange his nine year old daughters hand for marriage in exchange for 10 cows, four goats, 200 quarts of beer, more then a pound of sugar and a sack of rice.

-AIC girls primary boarding school is becoming a safe haven for young girls trying to escape marrige, The school is circles with a chain linked fence that has barbed wire on the top that way the fathers cant come sneak their daughters away and marry them off.

-The girls are from the Masai tribe in Kenya ,which is thought to be the most rigid in respects to both tradition and independence of all the 42 tribes.(Ryan)

-The A.I.C. Girls primary school was established in 1959 by christian missionaries, idea behind it was Masai could leave their daughters for death by cannibalism (Ryan) leave their daughters to get an education while the rest of the family followed their cattle.

http://www.mutelibtech.com/mute/can/images/cannibalism.jpg

-The parents feel that when a girl goes to school she is being spoiled by thinking that she is equal to me because they shouldnt be making their own decisions.

-Fathers worry that their daughters wont get married if they go to school becuase by getting an education they become and "outcast"

-Slowly but surley things are starting to change and some tradtitional Practices are being modernized

Vocabulary: Casey Lindsey Abbie Ryan

dowry-money, goods or estate that a wife brings

abhorrence- a feeling extreme repungence or aversion: utter loathing

parceled-to divide into or distribute in parcels or portions

cow- a four-legged black and white spotted beast, used for food and transportation. make good pets

Here are some picture links:

http://www.maryknoll.com/MARYKNOLL/MMAF/images/school_land.jpg AIC Girls Primary School in Kenya (Courtney)

http://www.thepattern.org/files/Girlsschool.jpg Classroom (Courtney)

http://womensenews.org/images/ci/kenyaschool_1516.jpg students (Courtney)

http://www.unicef.org/protection/files/earlymarriage.pdf -Early Marriages in Africa (Casey, Abbie, Lindsey)

http://www.africanheart.com/information/masai.htm - more information about the masai tribe (Casey, Lindsey, Abbie)