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Mrs. Sarafina woke her seven children up at 3 a.m. every day of the week.

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As always, Mrs. Sarafina woke her seven children up at 3 a.m. every day of the week. The night before, they had soaked and taken off the skin from the beans in preparation for blending. The next morning, they used the grinding stone to blend the beans they would use for bean balls (akara) that their mother would sell. In the rural community they lived, there was no access to electricity and the machines that could blend beans. The children spent hours laboring over the grinding stone to produce a smooth paste from the beans. Mrs. Sarafina placed a huge frying pan outside the family home which fortunately for her was on a busy street and fried the bean balls. These bean balls were a convenient breakfast for adults and children who did not want to go through the trouble of cooking. Sometimes, people did not have enough time to make breakfast. Not every family was like Mrs Serafina’s who woke up in the “wee” hours of the morning to cook. As she fried, the children stood beside her wrappin...
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The desperation of a mother who never gave up.

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A young boy in Nigeria was sent away from school because he did not pay his school fees. When he got home, he told his parents what happened. His dad, husband to four women simply shrugged his shoulders and said,” Stay at home until I get money. Your other siblings are at home too.” His mother grabbed his hand and marched to the school with him. She was illiterate and asked her son to interpret to the principal for her. When they got to the principal’s office, the mother went on her knees and told the principal her son had to be in school. #2. Why did the father not do the same? She did not get off her knees until the principal agreed to let the boy back to class. Shortly after the incident, the boy was granted full scholarship by the school for the rest of his stay in high school. The desperation of a mother who never gave up!!!! Why did the father not do the same? Pride? Ego? Self-centeredness? Polygamy?
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"If you are asked to choose who to die first, will you choose your wife or you?"

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What do you say to this? A man was asked this question “If you are asked to choose who to die first, will you choose your wife or you? “The man’s response was surprising. He said he will ask to die first. His explanation was that his wife will be in the best position to care for the children because she already does so many things he is not able to do. According to him, if he is left alone with the children, he will be forced to remarry which may expose his children to stepmother “drama”. However, he said on the other hand his wife would never remarry because most men do not want a mother with children as a wife. #2. Can you rationalize this issue this way Secondly, he said his wife would hesitate to expose his children to another father and would give her all to make sure the child
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Prioritization of Males in Families and Communities

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How can we connect the prioritization of male siblings to the experiences of Nigerian women? What impact does this phenomenon have on Nigerian women and the larger discourse of gender equality? Does the role assigned to the gender of a person determine how the family treats them? Does it have any impact on gender equality? Do families in following the dictates of culture impact their daughters?  #2. How does it feel to be passed over for benefits and privileges? What is the immediate as well as long term impact on female siblings?
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Deprived by my parents from going to school.

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  My name is Koko Aslem. I was deprived by my parents from going to school for some years, but my younger brother was sent to school. My mother told me when she saw me crying that it was very important for my brother to be sent to school because he would continue the family name. I was later sent to live with my uncle in another city. The reason was that my parents believed I needed that strict upbringing necessary to make a good wife in the future. Basically, I was there to be groomed for marriage. I suffered there because I had to do most of the housework though my cousins were older than me. The boys in the house never did any chores in the house. My mom visited me unexpectedly one Sunday morning. When she saw how much weight I had lost and how unkempt I looked, she took me with her back home. When we arrived home, my mother sent me to school. She had to do this on her own because my father said he had no money to send girls to school. My younger brother was given everything he ...
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Welcome to Iyen Productions Blog Page
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