#genderandeconomicdevelopment

[gendereconomicdevelopment-blog]

Maternal Death in Developing Countries: Preventable?

In a developed country like the U.S., maternal death is rarely the first thought that comes to mind when a woman announces she is pregnant. Nor is it the biggest worry when she goes into labor; more often family members are worried about how much pain the woman is in and what the baby will look like. For most in the United States, having a baby is an exciting experience full of celebrations and preparations. This is not the case in developing countries like those in Africa, where thousands of women die every year from preventable pregnancy complications. According to a documentary by EveryWoman, most deaths are caused by infection, bleeding, and obstructed labor. All of these complications are preventable if caught early enough and if someone knowledgeable is around to help the mother. Yet in countries where higher education is most often reserved for the elite and male citizens, midwives and doctors with thorough knowledge of birth and how to treat complications are hard to come by. Typically, women’s education is not valued nearly as highly as men’s, and yet in many cultures birth is taboo and to be handled by the women. Therein lies the source of the problem. 

EveryWoman and other documentaries have listed countries finding solutions to this epidemic. Many governments allot a certain amount of spending towards a program which trains midwives to handle common birthing issues. These programs would not qualify the midwives or doctors to work outside of their country, thus keeping the knowledge base where it is needed. While this may sound unfair to the workers, many of these women would be unable to attain a higher education applicable in other countries to begin with. Thus the women are being given economic and educational opportunities while helping others to have healthy, successful births. 

I think such a program could be implemented elsewhere in healthcare as well as infrastructure. Men and women could receive training and education in basic knowledge of architecture, modern farming techniques, common illnesses and treatments, etc. and then take the knowledge back to their villages to improve the standard of living for the community on multiple levels. These programs would raise the standard of living while also offering economic and educational opportunities otherwise unavailable to the poorer population.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD533COME4A

[gendereconomicdevelopment-blog]

Changing dialects in response to changing surroundings

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s ability and execution of changing accents depending on her audience in Madame President struck a chord with me. Sirleaf described how she would often use sing-song Liberian English when addressing her country’s people, but would switch to full English when addressing foreigners, typically representatives of countries (i.e. U.S. Congress). As someone from the southern United States, I relate to Sirleaf’s swapping of accents. Many northerners and corporations associate the “southern drawl” with a lack of education, sophistication, and self-discipline. Even negative terms are applied to people with a strong southern accent: rednecks, trailer-park trash, hick, etc. Yet to rural populations with strong southern accents, an outsider lacking such an accent will often be called a Yankee or a libtard and will be asked why they think they are so high and mighty. I have witnessed such reactions in my hometown (a rural, southern town) to outsiders as well as the reactions of outsiders to my hometown. 

Yet having grown up in such a place only to move away towards more urban areas, I learned to drop my southern accent in most situations, particularly during interactions with strangers whose opinions of me mattered (employers, teachers, government officials, etc.). Since I am a minority in terms of gender and sexuality, I know I must alter my physicality where I can to parallel societal desires. I began to pick up an accent not particularly from anywhere, and have been asked if I am Dutch, Northern, Californian, or from another English-speaking country. Every time the questioner refuses to believe I grew up in the rural South and have not lived anywhere but the South, and on occasion I have been complimented as intelligent simply for my accent lacking that “southern drawl”. However, I know when I visit my hometown, I must return to my original accent if I wish to fit in and not be criticized. To describe my family’s phonics, my grandmother refers to canines as “dawgs” and people as “all y’all”. My mother pronounces the nearest large city as “Burmy-ham”. Were I to use the grammar approved and dictated by most of society, “Bur-ming-am” would sound foreign to my family, and I would be told I was sounding like “them city folk”. Thus I have learned to drop my accent around everyone I wish to view me in a positive light, and pick it up when I return home. I have used it so little I must actually put effort into conforming with my hometown while visiting.