Peace Corps Polyglot

Celebrating 30 Years of Women's Rights

December 18th marks the 30th anniversary of global adoption of CEDAW – the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Rosemary Straley (RPCV Ghana 62-64; Country Director Cameroon 78-79) has been active in CEDAW advocacy ever since attending the 4th UN World Conference on Women in 1995 where she learned that the U.S. had not ratified the treaty.  Unfortunately, Straley and other women’s advocates are still waiting.  While 96% of the world’s nations have now ratified the treaty, the U.S. remains among a handful of nations that have yet to take action.

According to Straley, “CEDAW provisions guarantee that women, who hold up ‘half the sky’, will have access to basic human rights by exposing discriminatory practices.”  She says experience demonstrates that empowering women by increasing their opportunities leads to greater investments in families, education and economic security.

Follow this link to learn more about CEDAW and its 30 years of advancement and success.

Ratification of international treaties requires a two-thirds vote of the United States Senate, so Straley urges supporters to contact their Senators to urge ratification.  And, she notes, a CEDAW National Day of Action is already in the works for next March 8th – International Women’s Day.

RPCV's Daughter Tells the Tale of Her Trip to Cameroon

We know the children of RPCVs often have unique experiences from their peers.  Some (like the founder of Goodie Goodies, we blogged about here) are moved to make a difference from what they know about other places in the world.  One RPCV's daughter recently wrote a letter describing her trip to Cameroon, the homeland of her father and the place her mother served as an PCV.  Here's what she had to say about the experience:

My trip to Africa was amazing.  I went to visit my family.  We go every three years because my dad was born in Cameroon and he met my mom while she was in Peace Corps.  It took a very long time to get there, 20 hours!!!!!. I went with my mother, my father, my sister and my brother.  When we got off the plane the airport was packed and extremely HOT!  My dad went to go look for our luggage. Usually I look for his black bald head, but there were so many black bald heads I couldn’t spot him!  The next stop was our hotel. The hotel was pretty boring.  

Whenever we go to Cameroon, the first stop is always Bandjoun, my father’s village.  My grandmother still lives there. We popped a tire on the way there so we arrived around midnight.  Every one was very happy to see us, but very tired.  Soon we were shown to our beds.  Despite Liza’s (my little sister’s) constant kicking I immediately fell asleep.  I discovered work in Bandjoun is very fun.  It’s very different from the work here in the U.S.A.  Liza and I thought it was much more entertaining than cleaning our rooms!  We helped my grandmother gather beans in her field, then we had to shell them, so that they cook them for dinner.  We also helped wash clothes in the morning, but not my brother’s diapers!!  I was also in charge of crushing up the garlic, onions, leeks, and ginger on a stone in my grandmother’s kitchen. Soon it was time to leave to head to the big city. Before I go on I just want to say that Africa isn’t just wilderness.  My cousins have a 2 story house with satellite TV and cable! Isn’t that awesome?! 

Finally the place I had been waiting for: Yaoundé!!  I couldn’t wait to play with my cousins, but when I knocked on the huge, dusty, orange gate I felt shy.  What if they were different?  Marlene (14) opened the gate she looked pretty shy herself.  I entered the compound and saw Anaelle (9).  She’s my cousin of exactly the same age.  She looked like my opposite, strong and determined.  She then said ‘bonjour’ so suddenly I jumped.  “Oh! Bonjour!”  I said and smiled.  We both ran off to play in the grass.  At night I asked Anaelle about the fireflies.  Last time there were millions!  She said that they never came back after I left.  Oh no! I thought.  Then Anaelle said “look!”  I turned my head and saw fireflies.  Our nighttime was booked solid.  Soon it was interrupted by Cyrielle (16) “Time to take a bath!”  She called. I rolled my eyes but reluctantly started inside. My brother, sister and I stayed here while my mother went to her village to visit the family she stayed with in Peace Corps.  When my baby brother gets a little bigger, we will all go visit her village.  It is a long trip to get there. Every day in Yaounde was filled with fun.  We played and played, watched Disney Channel in French and played even more.   “Noooooooooooo!!!!” I cried “I don’t want to go home!”  We loaded up the car.  We were headed back to Bandjoun to say goodbye to my grandmother and then to Douala to catch our flight home.  I missed Yaoundé already.  Bandjoun here we come. We said goodbye and then got our flight to Miami.  I miss Cameroon a lot, especially my cousins.