JENDA: A JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND AFRICAN WOMEN STUDIES ISSN: 1530-5686 Issue 6 (2004)

Ginette Curry

Torild Skard’s Continent of Mothers, Continent of Hope: Understanding and Promoting Development in Africa Today is an interdisciplinary analysis of the dilemmas that African people face today and how they deal with the economic, political, social and health problems that beset their societies. It is also a detailed description of a continent in change and it has a series of suggested solutions at the individual, community, national and international levels to achieve an African Renaissance.

During the 1990s, for about four years, Skard was based in the capital of the Ivory Coast, Abidjan, as the Regional Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for West and Central Africa. Part of her job description required extensive travels in the region and she acquired knowledge of several African countries. Her eyewitness account and information about African history, politics and economy provide the readers with a deeper insight and understanding of the daily human reality of Africa.

While the author’s study is a global analysis of challenges related to everyday life in Africa, the title reflects her special interest and commitment to African women and children. It also illustrates her hope that the African continent will have a better future and that African women can be the main catalysts of its development.

The book is divided into three parts: “Working with Women and Children,” “A Journey into History and Society,” and “Conclusion.” They illustrate her gender-focused approach to health care, education as well as child welfare issues.

The Problems

In the first section of the book, the author introduces the readers to the demises that affect children and women in Liberia, a country torn by civil war. Through her eyewitness point of view, she explains the economic, social and political situation of Liberia in the 1990s. According to her, its level of poverty together with the degradation of its social structures contributed to making women but mostly children special targets: “It is estimated that two million children were killed in wars globally during a decade, most of them in Africa. Six million were seriously injured or permanently disabled. Twelve million became homeless” (21). Consequently, her analysis focuses on the plight of child soldiers, the harsh conditions they live under and the hardships they experience when they try to reintegrate their society. In addition to the vulnerability of these children used in times of war, Skard explains the particularly precarious situation of girls. Among the examples chosen, the author explains that they are not only used in battles but also for multiple chores. They experience sexual abuse as well as other forms of exploitation.

The second challenge that Skard analyzes is the AIDS epidemic in West and Central Africa. Though she acknowledges that the rate of infected people varies greatly from one country to the other, she realizes that in Africa, contrary to the West, women are infected in much greater numbers than men. She explains that “most infected women get the virus from straightforward sexual relations with their regular partner” (32). According to the author, such proliferation of the disease is partly due to the family structures. For example, husbands can have several wives or can marry the wives of their diseased brothers. Consequently, when women are infected, they may transmit their disease to their children, especially if they breastfeed. The transmission of AIDS is also accentuated by the lack of proper health services and in some cases by nutritional resources that weaken the resistance to infections. Specifically, Skard analyzes the lack of women’s control over their sexuality by focusing on how sexual relations are perceived by African women in traditional societies. Some of them do not even know they are infected. In addition to the devastating effects of the illness on the families, Skard explains the impact of its stigma on the general population and how great an obstacle it is to overcome (37).

Moreover, the African population faces other health challenges such as the attempts at eradicating polio, malaria and the Guinea worm disease. Skard comments on some of the problems faced by many countries in West and Central Africa:

In Africa, as in the West, the medical profession is dominated by men. The health centers frequently have a male health worker and a female midwife. It is particularly delicate for male health workers to deal with female patients…In societies that are clearly segregated according to gender, there are often strong norms related to the female body (63).

Each chapter in the first part of the book is vividly illustrated by testimonies from various branches of the population, women and children as well as from outsiders such as representatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), UNICEF, other international agencies and the author herself. The illustrations are particularly evocative and gripping when Skard quotes women or young girls who experienced what she calls genital cutting. She explains that due to historical and traditional beliefs, this practice is not easy to eradicate unless it is proven that the practice is harmful to the health of women. She exposes the reality that “Here it is observed in 28 countries, from Senegal in the West to Somalia in the East, affecting from 5 to 99 per cent of the female population” (67). She concludes that despite effective measures that have been implemented in different African countries, the practice will not disappear quickly because there are a lot of traditional taboos to overcome (70).

The author also analyzes the reasons that prevent girls from attending schools in some areas of West and Central Africa. Mostly in the rural areas where the onus of work inside the house and in the fields is on women, it is difficult to implement programs that involve a greater participation of girls and women. The challenges are many and according to Skard. One of them is to develop other alternatives to standard forms of education. She explains that many top African officials do not want to promote other forms of learning among the population because they cannot imagine schools that do not conform to the standards established by the colonial powers (84).

In the last portion of the first section of the book, the author tackles the problem of child slavery in such countries as Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Ghana and Gabon. She primarily focuses on the plight of the “vidomegons” (child maids) who are sold by their family and sent to other countries to work as maids for strangers. Contrary to what happens in some Asian countries, she comments that “In Africa, much of the child labor is invisible, necessary and moreover, socially accepted. Most take place in the rural areas, where the children are unpaid family, workers in agriculture, help with household chores and contribute to small family enterprises” (99). She also adds that children are used in the mines to extract gold, diamonds or iron as well as to collect garbage. In the worst cases, they become prostitutes or beggars.

The Solutions

Torild Skard advocates different solutions to all these endemic problems faced by African countries. Though the issue of child soldiers is multi-faceted, Skard believes in the effective role of UNICEF in preventing the enrollment of children in wars and in quickening their demobilization. However, she acknowledges that the rehabilitation of those children is a hard task. Among the solutions, she suggests the use of traditional rituals as a form of purification, healing and strength to treat war trauma among children who may be rejected by their families after the war. This could be the first step towards a reinsertion into society. In the case of women or girls, she comments that rehabilitative centers have been created in such places as Liberia. “Sara’s Daughters’ Home” is one of them. It is supposed to help these women to reintegrate their environment through counseling, childcare, legal advice and other forms of training (26).

The author also believes that the only way to stop the AIDS epidemic is to change people’s behavior. She argues that it may be more effective than preventive measures such as information and publicity campaigns. She acknowledges that behavior change is difficult to achieve because of the influence of traditional, social and economic factors. The example of Senegal is a success story because far-sighted planning, the involvement of UNICEF, local administrations, voluntary organizations and youth/women’s groups combated the pandemic. She concludes that “By the end of 2001, the spread of AIDS in Senegal was among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa with less than one per cent who were HIV-infected in the adult population” (38).

In the case of other diseases, the author proposes to prioritize the interventions according to the most pressing health issues of the population and to increase immunization coverage from 50 per cent to 90 per cent in West and Central Africa despite the persistence of deeply-rooted traditional beliefs (51). Another solution that brought about positive changes related to health is the “Bamako Initiative” that started in the late 80s. It resulted in the creation and revitalization of 10,000 health centers in West and Central Africa through the active participation of local communities. Torild Skard explains her deep involvement and commitment to such initiative while she was Regional Director of UNICEF in West and Central Africa. In addition, according to her, the only way the practice of genital cutting can be discussed and may be abolished at the local level is if the decision comes from the group, the community as a whole. However, she is aware of the cultural factors that impede such process. She advocates more involvement of women in the elaboration of the health services in Africa. Specific efforts should be implemented to strengthen the social and economic status of women. It is one way among others to reduce maternal mortality.

Skard argues that finding new solutions to the lack of education is very important. She suggests a new and different type of school to be introduced, following the initiative that was started in some West African countries. As the representative of UNICEF in Africa, she says that she tried to develop new forms of schooling in the villages that emphasize life skills, particularly the training of women. For instance, the “Tostan programs” and NAFA (meaning “useful” or “advantageous”) centers were experimented in West African local communities, specifically in Guinea (87). The overall concern is also to increase the education of girls in an effort to reduce the gender gap that “from 1990 to 1998…increased by 10 to 12 percentage points for net enrollment in primary schools in sub-Saharan Africa” (91).

Likewise, one way to stop the propagation of child slavery is to give children access to schooling and to improve their environment. Other suggestions related to the fight against malnutrition are proposed: among them, the iodization of salt that fights iodine deficiency among the population and therefore improves the diet.

History and Society

In the second section of her book, Torild Skard explains how important it is to know the historical, cultural and social conditions of Africa and to get acquainted with its oral traditions. She pays tribute to novelists such as Ama Ata Aidoo from Ghana, Mariama Ba from Senegal, Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa from Nigeria as well as several male writers such as Birago Diop from Senegal by using quotes from their works throughout her book. These excerpts illustrate quite effectively and evocatively the points that she tries to make. The use of various African quotes to back up her views is quite a propos. She explains that better insight into African history and society can provide answers to pressing issues related to the condition of women and children in regions such as West and Central Africa. It also contributes to a better understanding of an extremely varied and dramatic reality. She first recalls the great African empires of the past such as those of Ghana, Mali and Songhay. By giving the readers a very detailed description of the historical facts related to these periods in African history, she triggers the curiosity of her audience and also forces it to go further into its investigation. The comments about Timbuktu’s magnificent past and Skard’s conclusion that a lot of documents in Arabic and Songhay are still to be studied and analyzed constitute a challenge for historical research and an opportunity to look into the lives of people’s cultures. She also analyzes the impact of the slave trade on African history by mentioning the lesser known participation of Scandinavians in the slave trade. She adds that domestic slavery also existed. Slaves were acquired by “conquest, taxation or purchase” (133). Such historical facts had repercussions in the social infrastructure of African societies where many former slaves and their families still have a lower status in society that results in lower economic levels in today’s Africa.

Skard then analyzes the colonization of Africa and the role of the missionaries in various parts of the African continent. While acknowledging the positive effects that colonization may have brought (more peace and stability than before with clear, defined boundaries) (135), she stresses the loss of African sovereignty and independence with the exploitation of its natural resources and other assets by the European powers. Even after the African states acquired their independence around the 1960s, Skard explains that Africa continued to be economically subordinate and dependent on the western countries that formerly colonized the continent.

In addition, in order to understand the situation of African women and children, the author gives background information about their heavy workload, especially in the villages. This has been intensified by the migration of men to the cities or abroad, economic and political crises, and increased poverty and urbanization. According to her, these debilitating factors worsened the situation of women and children and were added to the pre-existing effects of polygamy or levirate marriages (144). She comments that “By the year 2000, about one-quarter of the households in sub-Saharan Africa had a female head of household” (145).

The author states that Africa has a lot of resources but paradoxically is ravaged by poverty. She accuses not only the western countries that continue to exploit Africa but also the heads of African states and their policies of “anti-development” (152). The whole notion of democracy in Africa is raised and questioned. Contrary to the widespread belief that this western concept can be applied to Africa, Skard expresses her skepticism. Instead, she suggests another type of democracy for Africa corresponding to more traditional forms of government that better fit its complex environments and local political structures.

Furthermore, she argues, part of the democratization process lies in the hands of women. The author reminds the readers of the roles that women played in the past and how central to African societies they still are.

Questions Raised

Torild Skard’s analysis of the current situation in West and Central Africa together with her critical survey of African history and politics is very detailed and well documented. Her acute observation as an eyewitness adds to the relevance of her study. She shows, through the use of poignant testimonies, literary quotes and proverbs her commitment to her work as former Regional Director of UNICEF in West and Central Africa and her particular concern and interest for African women and children.

However, some questions have to be raised concerning some observations she makes. The first point that needs to be clarified is what Torild Skard calls “A special type of child labour” (99). She refers to the present situation of Senegalese children called “talibes” (Muslim students or disciples) who have been left by their family under the supervision of marabouts (Muslim priests) for their Koranic education. According to the author, there is no point of having children begging in the streets of Dakar (the capital of Senegal) because they do not learn anything. Instead, Skard argues that they experience all kinds of sufferings:

Most of the children, usually boys, are under 15. They live under unbearably harsh conditions with regard to nutrition and sanitation and regularly suffer beatings and other forms of physical mistreatment. Education, whether religious or any other form of instruction, does not take place and the children become the victims of dangers and violence in the streets (99).

The issue that needs to be addressed is whether the “talibe” phenomenon is a manifestation of poverty or a cultural specificity. In order to understand exactly the cultural context and the reason why some children in Senegal go through such experiences, it is important to rely on Senegalese sources, specifically works that have been written by Senegalese experts on the subject such as Cheikh H.Kane Ambiguous Adventure (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 197).

Cheikh Hamidou Kane, the well-known Senegalese writer, grew up in Senegal. He started his education at a koranic school before going to the western school and then becoming a university student in Paris. In Ambiguous Adventure, his partly autobiographical novel written in 1961, he describes the life of seven-year old Samba Diallo who is brought up along strict Islamic lines. He is sent to a famous marabout (known by his family) to receive a koranic education. The beginning of the novel shows the mistreatment that Samba receives in the hands of the marabout:

He had seized Samba Diallo by the fleshy part of his thigh and between his thumb and index finger, had given him a long hard pinch. The child had gasped with pain and begun to shake all over… (Kane 3).

Kane explains that in the Muslim tradition of Senegal, it is considered as an honor to send his/her children to marabouts (Kane 8). Once the children arrive at the marabout’s place, they are the sole responsibility of the teacher:

So it happened that in the following year, Samba Diallo, accompanied by his mother, went back to the teacher, who took possession of him body and soul. Henceforth, and until he would have completed his classical studies, he belonged no longer to his family (Kane 12).

Kane shows that the purpose of children attending the koranic school is to learn the Koran by heart and beg in the streets all day to sustain themselves. Therefore, the begging and the poor conditions of living are to be expected by the “talibes.” It also offers to the other Muslims the opportunity to practice charity. This is the reason why the parents of the “talibes” send them to the marabouts:

Under the morning wind, Samba Diallo improvised edifying litanies, with interpolations by his comrades, at the closed door of his cousin, the chief of the Diallobes. The disciples would go about so, from door to door, until they had collected victuals enough for their day’s nourishment. Tomorrow the same quest would begin again. While seeking God, the disciples would know no other way of supporting life than by begging whatever their parents’ wealth might be (Kane 14).

Furthermore, Kane adds that Samba would pick up the leftovers and then squat in the dirt to eat this scanty meal (Kane 14). Contrary to the humanitarian concept that a child should not live in deplorable conditions and be exploited by adults, one of the foundations of such koranic education is to teach not only the Koran but also humility, even mortification in order to prepare the children for the hardships of life:

The teacher believed profoundly that the adoration of God was not compatible with any exaltation of man. But, at the bottom of all nobility, there is a basis of paganism. Nobility is the exaltation of man, faith is before all else humility, if not humiliation…His harshness toward the boy was in ratio to his impatience to rid him of all his moral weaknesses…(Kane 23).

Therefore, Skard’s previous assertion needs to be reconsidered in light of the cultural and religious context of the country she describes, specifically Senegal. As the former Regional Director of UNICEF in West and Central Africa, Torild Skard should be mindful that many marabouts have large followings and any attempts to alter their religious teachings may result in a large public response of discontent from the African Muslim population.

In addition, the book may have needed some structural adjustment. Specifically, most of the background historical and societal information Skard describes is presented in the second part of her book, after the analysis of the problems that affect West and Central Africa nowadays. Maybe it would have been more logical to start in the first section of the study by providing the readers with such background information. That way, it would have followed a logical sequence from past to present times.

Deeply rooted beliefs and traditions are no doubt an intrinsic part of African societies. Skard explains that African Renaissance is possible despite the political, social, economic and health hardships that African people experience. She advocates several solutions to the problems, among them the combined efforts from the International Monetary Fund, those of African and European nations, and the strengthening of African identity through a cultural liberation from Western countries.

Maybe, expanding on the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s quote that “The future of this planet depends on women” (227), the real solution to African development is to improve the economic, educational, social and health condition of African women. They are a source of hope for the future because they have the potential to overcome the many yokes they are under and they can become catalysts of Development. African women already planted such seeds by being involved in a variety of projects at the individual, community and national levels. Through the reading of Continent of Mothers, Continent of Change: Understanding and Promoting Development in Africa Today, Torild Skard truly reveals her commitment to improving the plight of women and children in Africa. She is a quite convincing advocate and champion of change. The following Kiganda proverb from Uganda illustrates the key role of women in Development that is a central theme of her book: “If you educate a woman, you have educated a population.”

Citation Format:

Ginette Curry. “Review of Continent of Mothers, Continent of Hope: Understanding and Promoting Development in Africa Today,” JENDA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies: Issue 6, 2004.

Copyright © 2005 Africa Resource Center, Inc.