Somali Heroines

If I was 10 years younger I would dream of finished medical school and joining these women. http://www.drhawaabdifoundation.org/index.php?D=1  

They are mother and daughters who are doctors in Somalia.  They run a hospital, a school, and an entire community.  They invite displaced Somalians to their land.  The people are given free land and access to water, along with education and medical facilities, in exchange for following the community rules.  She says that everything is for the people and that they own it.  They cooperatively decide the rules and consequences.

Some of the rules include: no discrimination against people of other tribes and no hitting.  They have committees that you can bring complaints to.  It is common for women in Somalia to be treated as less than human. She has a prison on her land specifically for men who abuse their wives.

Dr. Hawa Abdi is an OBGYN and lawyer.  Recently some militants went to her compound and ordered her to give them control of the community.  They told her women could not be leaders and that she should stay in her home.  She looked at them and said, “what have you done for Somalia?  Look at what I have done here.  Now get off my land.”

They returned later – 750 of them, fully armed.  After killing some of the guards, they took Dr. Abdi and about 20 others captive.   They destroyed her hospital, smashing the equipment.  They held their prisoners for 10 hours.

During that time the community protested asking for their doctor back.   The attackers released Dr. Abdi, but she demanded all the prisoners be released.  Then she demanded an apology.

Her daughter said that was the first time she had seen Somali women take such a stand, and the first time she had seen an apology for that type of behaviour.

Currently they are in Toronto raising awareness and looking for support.  

I applaud her.  Just knowing about these people gives me more hope for the world.

For a better article see: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1022378–md-inspires-hope-in-somalia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Or,

Why Parents-with-small-children Isn’t a Popular Topic for Erotica

He looked across the kitchen and leaned on the broom; I caught my breath while wiping the table.  A roguish smile made his eyes sparkle with secrets – secrets I was determined to own.

“Ready to go to bed?  I have an early Mother’s Day present.” His voice was rich and low.

A squawk from the baby’s room interrupted my non-verbal reply.

“Be right back” I murmured, seductively.

And I was, with a vomiting child, racing to the bathroom.  He ran in and started washing the bedding.  I held the shaking, whimpering baby until she finished heaving.  We washed her up amid cries of protest.   I traded my puke-covered clothes for a giant, torn T-shirt (the first one I could find) and nursed her to sleep. 

I stumbled to my bed and crawled in.  I nestled my body in close to his.  Strong fingers ran themselves lightly up my arm, over my neck and pulled my face closer.  I felt his warm breath tickle my neck.

“You have vomit in your hair.”

On my way back from the bathroom, the older child woke up and began to whimper. 
“Mommy, I’m scared.  Sing me a song!”

When I made it to bed, he was asleep.

In the middle of the night, I slowly came awake.  Heaving sounds came from the bathroom.  I got up to find him with the older child.  This time I did the bedding and was amazed to find bright red remains of our strawberry dessert on all three blankets, but not on the top sheet.  Bedding, carpets, pajamas, and child were all scrubbed down, this time accompanied by little whimpers instead of screams. 

It was almost morning as we crawled back into bed, smelling of vinegar, soap and hopefully nothing else.   We tangled our limbs up together and fell asleep.

Again, I woke up to an empty bed.  I staggered out, feeling vaguely nauseated and trying to remember why.

“Good morning!” came from a low voice with the ability to give me tingles on my back.

He was lying on the couch, watching two smallish humans on the floor, listlessly playing with toys.

“I frowed up again, Mommy!” declared the older child.

I stared at their father.  “And you cleaned it all up?  And took care of them all morning?”

“Happy Mothers’ Day!” he grinned.  “Maybe they’ll nap soon,” he whispered as he winked at me.  Then he yawned and fell asleep.

I love that man.

* To be accurate, I didn’t find out Lil’T had thrown up again until after lunch.

Real Life Heroes- locker room talk

I realize that I am surrounded by heroes and heroines and want to write out some examples.

The Pastor L___ from the Pentecostal church in our town used to work in a warehouse.

It was a macho haven, full of big talk.

One of the workers was retelling his ‘exploit’ from the night before.  He described how he was torturing his date, and had held her by the neck out the window.

The other guys were laughing and cheering him on when they noticed L___ wasn’t smiling.  So they turned on him and began to ridicule his lack of humour.

He looked the guy right in the eye and said, “If that were my sister you were talking about, you wouldn’t be laughing right now either.”

Everyone was silent.

I applaud him and all the other men (and women) in my life who don’t laugh at put downs to others.  You are making a difference without even knowing it!

CHEEER!!!!!