Category Archives: Social Issues

WAKE UP FROM OUR UNCONSCIOUS COMPLACENCY

In our last post, we suggested that women in Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, take this year’s International Women’s Day as a day of consciousness-raising for a look back at our social institutions that have historically empowered women – Sande/Bondo. This institution has been passed down to us from generation to generation; but over the years, the overwhelming nature of our socio-economic malaise has caused us to be what we perceive as being “unconsciously complacent” about our plight as women of this naturally endowed nation in which we have been totally left behind.

What we mean by this is that we have slowly grown into a society of women who are focused on our individual problems and achievements. In this unconscious complacent state of mind, we are satisfied with our individual achievements and almost never take collective measures to deal with our common issues. This has left us open to outsiders’ exploitation of our situation for their own glory.

On this international women’s day, we must do some deep self-reflection about how we perceive and approach our common problems as women of Sierra Leone; where we are the silent majority that is not only left behind in education and socio-economic and political achievements, but has been subject to the worst adverse effects of all the ills in our nation. We must seek a deeper understanding of the structure that is already in place, and which presents us with a wonderful possibility for our empowerment.

What is Sande/Bondo?

Sande/Bondo, in the simplest term, is a Social Institution. A social institution, as defined by sociologist Jonathan Turner (1997),

Is a complex of positions, roles, norms and values lodged in particular types of social structures and organizing relatively stable patterns of human activity with respect to fundamental problems in producing life-sustaining resources, in reproducing individuals, and in sustaining viable societal structures within a given environment.

By its principles and practices, Sande/Bondo fits this definition and then more; but Sande/Bondo should not be viewed only on face value, it must be explored for its deeper meaning and essence. The majority of the indigenous ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, as well as in other West African countries, partake in the Sande/Bondo institution.

In more complex terms, Sande/Bondo cannot be easily described, as there are many aspects to it, including its practical, mystical and the public aspect. Sande/Bondo has been in Sierra Leone for ages and its basic function as an institution that trains and molds young women for womanhood has been it cornerstone.

Looking at this institution through the Mende culture of Sierra Leone as an example, Sande is part of the network of institutions called Hale, which provide a worldview for its members. In Mende culture, people are socially and culturally categorized as either Halemoi, those who belong to the network of hale institutions and are initiated into men’s and women’s societies, and Kpowa; those who are not in the hale and have not been initiated in any of the hale societies.

The Mende people, like most other groups in Sierra Leone, pass their culture and traditions down to the next generation through these Hale institutions, including the Sande. These institutions are therefore educational institutions through which a world of knowledge is imparted to all members, who then become enlightened. Therefore, a person who is not a member of these institutions, a Kpowa, does not have the same understanding about the fundamentals of life, as the halemoi perceives it. Rather than respect this perspective, outsiders, particularly Western researchers, have always referred to these institutions as “secret” societies.

So, what is Sande/Bondo? It is a women’s institution that is part of the larger network of hale social institutions, which has, for generations, provided a vital source of knowledge for women in our society and has provided a viable societal structure within which women in Sierra Leone have a societal structure through which we can be empowered to partake in socio-political  transformation of our nation.

We will touch on some of the aspects and essence of Sande/Bondo.

Stay tuned!

In current media reports, women in Africa are consistently presented as helpless and being helped with their problems. Over the years, countless non-profit organizations have been set up and continue to be set up daily all around the globe to “help African women” resolve the myriad of problems that plague them – from health issues to disparities in education. This has etched the image of women in Africa as helpless and unable to resolve their own problems without outsiders coming to their rescue. With this scenario of women’s condition of helplessness, it is difficult to conceive that women in Africa have social institutions that have given them agency to play vital roles in society.

Given the excess of social issues afflicting women in Africa today, including extreme poverty, poor health conditions and the prevalence of gender disparities at all levels of the social and political structures, and as more and more outsiders pour in to help resolve these problems, African women seem to have no agency or ability to collectively help themselves. This issue of African women’s seeming lack of agency and collective capacity today implores one particular question,

• How have African women resolved their own social issues before the advent of non-governmental agencies that are now on the scene to rescue them?

As a woman from Sierra Leone, West Africa, I am keenly aware of women’s capability to resolve socio-political issues through women’s social institutions such as Sande/Bondo. Throughout history, Sande/Bondo women’s society has been the collective medium through which women have played viable roles in society as well as demonstrated their capacity to resolve their own issues rather than wait for others to “save them,” as current media reports would have us believe.

Sixteen tribes have co-existed in Sierra Leone for probably centuries, the Mende, Temne, Loko, Limba, Kissi, Mandingo, Koranko, Soso, Fulla, Kono, Vai, Sherbro, Krio, Yalunka, Krim and Gola. The majority of these groups live in the rural regions. With the legacy of colonization, Sierra Leone has struggled over the post independence years to partake in the global development paradigm. Although Sierra Leone is endowed with a rich tropical climate, fertile soil, abundant marine life and precious natural resources, including diamonds, gold, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore and chromite, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The decade long rebel war in the 1990s made matters worst and recovery has been slow, especially given the chronic corruption and ineffective leadership.

In the face of all the socio-economic problems affecting the country and people of Sierra Leone, it is easy for social institutions such as Sande/Bondo, to fall prey to erosion by western imperialistic agenda. Over the years, rather than strengthen such institutions so that women could benefit from their good practices, there has been a steady campaign to pull us away from our traditional practices. In the case of Sande/Bondo, the western-led global campaign against female circumcision has been mounted, in my opinion, as a campaign to erode the very institutions that have empowered women in our society; thereby perpetuating our dependency on western messiahs to “save” us from our traditional and cultural practices. We continue to be presented to the world as primitive and retrogressive and many of our problems are blamed on these traditional and cultural practices.

The official United Nations theme for International Women’s Day 2015 is “Empowering Women – Empowering Humanity: Picture It!” In my view, African women should ponder this theme very seriously; we should take this year as a year of consciousness-raising for a look back at our social institutions that have historically “empowered women.”

Specifically, women of Sierra Leone must look back at our Sande/Bondo women’s society and uncover the good practice lessons that could be applied today to enhance women’s collective prospects for empowerment in Sierra Leone. Through these lessons, we could counter the discourse of helplessness and lamentation that currently pervades prevailing discourse on women of Sierra Leone and Africa. Doing so would also help us identify the empowering agency women already have that could be used in transforming our current sociopolitical situation into one that truly empowers and helps us achieve social justice in our society.

In the next few days leading up to International Women’s Day, March 8, 2015, we will put the spotlight on Sande/Bondo Women’s Society of Sierra Leone, highlighting the institutions various aspects and potential for empowering women.

Stay Tuned!