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BOOK REVIEW: Today You Will Understand

AUTHORS: Members of Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE)

PUBLISHER: IRIN, Supported by Federal Republic of Germany

REVIEWER: Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Books come with a CD and can be found at FEMRITE (+256 772 743943) or IRIN offices (+254 20 762 2147).

This is a collection of true harrowing tales of Women of Northern Uganda during the harsh times of the conflict led by LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony. Most of the women still live in IDP camps. The testimonies that were recorded were aired by local radio stations and later IRIN documented the work.

EASSI has also been engaged in the work around Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW0 and the effect on women and children. EASSI has already developed gender mainstreaming guidelines and is also involved in engendering the National Action plans on SALW in East Africa.

Today you Will Understand: (Names have been changed)

One widow recalls how her husband died from AIDS. After testing several times and finding that she was HIV negative, she appeals to other widows to remain strong at heart in order to look after the children.

Mildred fights back tears as she recounts the experience at Abia camp in 2004. After hearing gunshots from a distance, she gathered her six children into her hut. Soldiers in uniform started setting several huts ablaze and she feared for her children who sought refuge under the bed. As she struggled to let them out, fire gutted her door. Her children cried for Mama to pour water onto their burning backs. Other people told the children to keep quiet lest the rebels returned. The next morning dead bodies lay strewn all over. Her landlord had been burnt to death with only his skull left in ashes.

For Beatrice, her husband left her for another woman. He did not leave her with anything but she cultivated the little she had. Her husband however took them away. Her in-laws intervened and even tried to convince her to go back to her husband. He threatened to kill her.

Beatrice says, “He can kill me with a knife and no one will follow him. At the police station of you kill your wife, you stay in for only three days, that’s shy I am afraid.”

These and other stories give a face to the effect of Small Arms and Light Weapons and the need to analyse it with a gender lens.

Title of book: In the Name of Honour (A Memoir)

Author: Mukhtar Mai

Publisher: Virago Press, 2007

Reviewer: Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Mukhtar Mai has the fortitude of a lioness. This memoir is a struggle of a real woman with real problems that came to the surface after the worst humiliation any woman from her clan in Pakistan could receive. Instead of giving up in a suicidal act, she rose up from the ruins. Mukhtar is a Pakistani woman from a lower caste in Southern Punjabi called Gujar. Her brother, Shakur, is wrongfully accused of rape of one girl belonging to a richer caste, Mastoi. In form of justice, as is usually done, the Mastoi rape a woman, usually a sister to the accused in order to clear his name. The unfortunate woman chosen is Mukhtar Mai, sister to the accused. Her punishment: Brutal rape by 4 members of the mastoid clan in front of the community. Most women after this ordeal, commit suicide, because the shame is too much to bear. For Mukhtar, it was different. In her search for justice, her biggest handicap is her illiteracy because girls and women are not permitted to formal education. However, her resilience and steed work in her favour. As a result, Mukhtar has become the voice of the voiceless in Pakistan and the region beyond. Through the quest for justice, she has gained international support and has managed to establish a small school in Southern Punjab for young girls.

Title of book: In the Name of Honour (A Memoir)

Author: Mukhtar Mai

Publisher: Virago Press, 2007

Reviewer: Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Mukhtar Mai has the fortitude of a lioness. This memoir is a struggle of a real woman with real problems that came to the surface after the worst humiliation any woman from her clan in Pakistan could receive. Instead of giving up in a suicidal act, she rose up from the ruins. Mukhtar is a Pakistani woman from a lower caste in Southern Punjabi called Gujar. Her brother, Shakur, is wrongfully accused of rape of one girl belonging to a richer caste, Mastoi. In form of justice, as is usually done, the Mastoi rape a woman, usually a sister to the accused in order to clear his name. The unfortunate woman chosen is Mukhtar Mai, sister to the accused. Her punishment: Brutal rape by 4 members of the mastoid clan in front of the community. Most women after this ordeal, commit suicide, because the shame is too much to bear. For Mukhtar, it was different. In her search for justice, her biggest handicap is her illiteracy because girls and women are not permitted to formal education. However, her resilience and steed work in her favour. As a result, Mukhtar has become the voice of the voiceless in Pakistan and the region beyond. Through the quest for justice, she has gained international support and has managed to establish a small school in Southern Punjab for young girls.