The World I Hope

“I have something to prove, as long as I know there’s something that needs improvement, and you know every time I move; I make a woman’s movement – Ani DiFranco

Ladies and Gentlemen my name is Judith Nyambura Gichuki, a Christian, a daughter, a mother to be, a potential leader. A young woman. So today as I speak of the world I hope of, its needless to say that I shall do so from the perspective of a young woman such as myself and the young ladies in this room, a mother such as our mothers and our aunts, and a career woman such as, again our mothers, aunts and our elder sisters and last but not the least shall speak of the world I hope for from the perspective of a woman leader

But first before I speak of the world I hope for I shall tell you of how the world as it is from the view points I mentioned earlier. You see the world from a young woman’s perspective has a relative outlook. From a girl living in some parts of Africa she worries about being married off early as early as thirteen to a very old man aged seventy and above to be his fifth or sixth wife. If not an early marriage she worries about Female Genital Mutilation which some African societies term it as Circumcision which it isn’t. She is also a victim of war. Raped and Abused during wars or state conflicts. Left behind by her husbands as a single parent. In times of elections Rape is used to subdue, to intimidate female candidates and voters. In the Islamic world, a woman is a mere property of the husband and is at his mercy. These women do not enjoy even the basic of rights. For example very recently in Afghanistan it became law for a woman not to wear brassiere. Women whose breast seemed firm were taken in by the law enforcers and were ordered to remove there bras. Women and girls in the Islamic world are not given the right of education a woman’s, place is in the Kitchen and her sole reason for existence is to serve her Husband. The men in these societies forget that Islam means the submission of Mankind to the will of God and not submission of women to the will of men.

In more developed societies, women are discriminated against in terms of employment opportunity. If a woman and a man go for the same interview the male person is more likely to get the job even though she has the same qualifications as the male counter-part.

Ladies and Gentlemen this has been and is still is the world to a woman. The world I hope for  is where an African girl is not required to under go humiliating mutilations for her to be recognized as a woman in the eyes of her immediate society. A world where she is not expected to save her family from poverty by agreeing to marry a man twice her age! A world where our male counter-part realize that for there to be a stable and peaceful society the rights of women are to equal those of men. I hope for a world where the girl child in Afghanistan is educated; because it’s a known fact that when you educate a woman you educate a generation and the education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all; and her mother is allowed to put on a bra and she is not scowled and battered by her husband as if she was a child! I hope for a world where women participation in the civic part of society is encouraged and welcomed rather than being seen as if she is out of her place and she is sneered by men and fellow women because she is deemed to have neglected her other ‘wifely’ duties. A world where a woman dose not have to work twice as hard and produce double results in order to be deemed equal to the male counter-part. This is a world I hope for.

Thank you!!”