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Wedding Gifts

10/Jul/2011 14:30 Filed in: Life in Timbuktu
Wedding Gifts
It is the responsibility of the bride's relatives to see she has as wedding gifts all the necessary equipment to run a home. Oh the groom will probably furnish the house with things like mattresses a bed, a wardrobe a television/entertainment center any of the big fancy stuff that he wants and can afford but the, rugs and blankets and sheets and kitchen utensils will come with the bride. They will also go with the bride if she gets divorced, which is a good thing since this is a one time deal. Any future marriages by the woman will be modest affairs attended only by the couple the imam and two witness and gifts are limited to the dowry and any other thing her husband wishes to bestow on her. Read More...

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Women in Mali

10/Jul/2011 09:05 Filed in: Life in Timbuktu
Madame the vice-mayor of Timbuktu
Many articles and reports have been done on the condition of women in Africa or in Islam or in Muslim Africa and so on. I have often been asked my opinion either on the veracity of said articles or on the condition of women in such circumstances. My response is that it is much more complex than can easily be summed up in a 500 word article. It is also my feeling that such articles written by outsiders are often biased.

I will not deny that there is inequality of the sexes in Mali and I will discuss them. But other factors play a role. We must look not only at how our perceptions cause us to misjudge cultural differences but also that some issues that women face are not so much intentional discrimination rather they are the result of a very poor country with too few resources to meet the needs of its population. The final aspect of this question is that we in the west must first examine our own women's equality before seeking to accuse others. Let not those living in glass houses throw stones.
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