The Imam in my village has 4 wives and the last one is 20 years old. It made me upset because the Imam is old enough to be her grandfather. This is fairly common in the villages in Senegal. The realities of young girls in villages are far more painful because they are married off to older men before they reach their twenties.  Young girls do not have the time to go to school. They must stay home and help cook. They are married off early and have babies early. Young girls start getting married at the age of 15.I was thinking about how I just finished school and she had to leave her studies to marry the Imam. In the villages, these women become dependent on the men for money resources. Sometimes, they are neglected by the husbands because most likely they are ion polygamous relationships.

Throughout the naming ceremony of her baby she was crying and I tried to find sympathy for her; all I could feel was anger and confusion. I saw myself in her because I could not imagine what it feels like to be 20 and pregnant for a man without love. Although she refused to be with the Imam, her father forced her to marry him. Everyone at the ceremony just stared because they could see the age difference between them.

In the Senegalese culture, the women tend to keep the status quo and not be their own advocates. They do not react because they are afraid that they might be shunned by others in the village. Most of the women I talk to give me the impression they care about what others say about them. Some may reach the baccalaureate level and not attend universities because it is too expensive. They have the educational resources but they either do not have the means or are not provided with the choice of pursuing an education.  

I wanted to tell her of all of the possibilities that she would have access to. My philosophy about this is that there is a cost-benefit to every situation. I can talk to her but it is not a guarantee that she may listen or understand what I tell her. She may even tell the Imam since she has been taught to be loyal to her husband.  I would get myself in trouble because the Imam is the most influential person in my village. As a volunteer, it is hard to roll certain issues off your shoulders when you would have stood against them in the states.  In terms of the social aspect of my village, I feel limited to change their norms.  The question I ask myself is how I can continue to empower women in a society that treats them as second class citizens.