Being a woman: a permanent challenge

08/03/2010

In addition to hoping to be a good mother, wife and housekeeper, today’s woman, be she Cape Verdean or not, also wants to be acknowledged as a professional and live a healthy life, which obliges her to “multiply” herself into various different people.

Life stories

37-year-old Emily Monteiro, who is married, believes that “it isn’t easy being a mother nowadays, when we try to teach our children one thing and society teaches them another. I transmit certain teachings to my daughters, but their schoolmates say I’m old-fashioned and they often end up following what their friends say.”

With the love of her husband, Emily Monteiro says that there’s only one thing missing for her to feel fulfilled: earning a degree in the culinary arts. “My dream was to be a nurse, but I got married, had kids and put my education off. Now, as soon as my youngest daughter turns two, I want to go to Brazil to earn a cooking degree, even if it’s only for my own personal satisfaction.”

Noemi Sousa’s case is different. With a degree, two small children and fifteen years of professional experience, her challenge is fulfilling her professional commitments without neglecting her role as a mother and wife.

“I can’t always count on my husband’s solidarity to take care of our children, because he has his own professional commitments. What’s more, as opposed to what happens in certain other societies, the company where I work doesn’t really take into consideration the fact that I’m a mother and demands the same level of availability of me as it does of men,” affirms Noemi.

As a result, Noemi has put off her dream of continuing her professional education in public relations. “With young children, it’s hard to leave the country to continue your studies, as our country doesn’t yet offer graduate courses in the area in which I want to earn my master’s degree. I just have to wait until they get a little older.”

The mother of three children and a grandmother to five, 62-year-old Isabel Cruz faces other challenges as a woman. “When old age comes along, we need a lot of special care to remain well,” says Cruz, who exercises three times a week and periodically consults her physician to see “if everything is alright.”

At her age, illnesses such as osteoporosis, cancer and arthritis afflict many women, lowering their quality of life. “My health problems don’t keep me from being happy,” affirms Isabel Cruz, who, looking back on the past, is only sorry she never went to college. “Back then, things weren’t as easy as they are today.”

Politicians celebrate women

Early celebrations marking International Women’s Day were held yesterday in the city of Assomada, on the island of Santiago, where Prime Minister José Maria Neves stressed the fact that Cape Verde has more women in its cabinet than any other country in the world – eight of the fourteen government ministers are female. More importantly, the Prime Minister wants to see gender-based violence eradicated in Cape Verde, where the problem is rife.

Opposition leader Carlos Veiga, in an event promoted by female members of the MpD in Tarrafal, stressed the role of women in Cape Verde’s development. According to Veiga, as women constitute the majority of the population of the country, it is urgent for public measures aimed at improving their lives be taken.