Assorted reflections from late July and early August

1) I recently participated in an H1N1 immunization campaign which included people suffering from chronic diseases as a major target group, and it was quite eye opening to see how many people in this area have high blood pressure, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, etc. Like many Americans, I tend view chronic diseases as the consequence of decadent lifestyles, and thus, mainly an affliction of the wealthy. Not only is this a huge misconception within the US itself, but it is rapidly losing any element of truth for many countries in the developing world as well. My impression was that there was some incidence of chronic disease among Gambians living in Kombo (the capital area), but that it wasn't a major concern up-country. After spending several days looking at dozens people's of hospital slips confirming their conditions, I can confidently say that my initial impression was incorrect. While not surprising given the level of salt and sugar Gambians regularly consume, it is frustrating and seems a bit unfair that Gambians are increasingly having to deal with chronic disease on top of the ever-present infectious diseases of the developing world (malaria, diarrheal diseases, etc).

2) It is extremely common for both male and female Gambian civil servants (health workers, teachers, policemen, soldiers, etc) to live in a completely different part of the country from their spouses, rotating postings periodically and only coming home for visits every once in a while. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I know quite a few Gambian civil servants, many of whom are married, and I can't think of one that lives full-time with his/her spouse. This is a small country, so theoretically living in a different part of the country from your spouse shouldn't be more than a half day's drive (obviously not ideal but not unheard of in the US), but a lack of basic transportation infrastructure makes travel significantly more time-consuming than it should be. I cannot believe that this system does not have some far-reaching effects on some of the country's most educated and service-oriented individuals and their spouses and families...

3) I recently had a very surprising and enlightening conversation with a highly educated female civil servant who I consider to be one of the most empowered Gambian women I know. I'll call her Binta. She noticed I was reading a book with veiled girls on the cover and asked to look at it. In the introduction of the book there was a blurb about the author that mentioned her expulsion from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the veil. Upon reading that, Binta exclaimed “that's the way it should be!” Shocked, I tried my hardest to maintain my composure and asked her to explain. She cited the Koran and explained that when women don't cover themselves properly and/or wear tight trousers, men start thinking inappropriate thoughts about them. At this point, Binta could tell I was biting my tongue and asked me what I thought. As diplomatically as possible, I said that I'm not a Muslim, so I don't understand these issues from an Islamic perspective, but it seems unfair to me that women should have to dress in a certain way because men cannot control themselves. “Why don't men have to cover up to avoid tempting women?,” I asked. She laughed and just said that men are different from women.

Binta also mentioned that the Koran says that men are responsible for providing for their families and a woman's place is in the home raising children, where she won't come into contact with any men who are not immediate family members. She lives in a different town from her husband, leaves her compound for work every day, and works with mostly men, so I couldn't keep myself from asking exactly how she reconciles the reality of her life with that belief. She blamed poverty and essentially said that you do what you have to do to feed your family.

I was curious what Binta, an educated women with a professional career, thought about girls education, so I mentioned that in some countries, such as Afghanistan, Islamic extremists oppose girls education, and that is something I personally take issue with. Her response was that she can understand opposing girls education because it brings girls in contact with boys and men that are not their immediate family members, either during their schooling or in the workplace when their education allows them to find jobs. She only has one son who is not yet school-aged, so I couldn't ask her whether she was sending her daughters to school. I wish I had thought to ask her what she would do if she did have school-aged daughters.

This was quite a challenging conversation for me, and it made my ignorance of these complex issues quite apparent (to me at least). I clearly have a lot to learn about the many faces of Islam, and I am realizing that I need to be much more careful about assuming that if a person is educated and seems “western” or “progressive” in certain ways, then they must have western social values similar to my own.

4) The other night Jacob and I were making dessert with a few Gambian friends when Jacob kiddingly tried to grab a chuppet (like a cross between funnel cake and a donut hole) out of my hand just as I was about to take a bite. Indignant, I jokingly turned to him and said “You are rude!” in Mandinka. At this point, our (educated and “western”) Gambian friend turned to me, legitimately scandalized, and scolded me for saying that to Jacob. Very seriously, she explained that in Gambian culture, a husband can say that to his wife, but a wife can NEVER say that to her husband. My bad.