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School's other lessons
Far and Beyon'
Unity Dow
2002
Aunt Lute Books, San Francisco
199 pages
Reviewed by Moira Richards
In Far and Beyon' you will meet Mara who has just buried her two oldest sons who were in their early twenties. The white doctors claim her boys died from Aids-related diseases, but Mara knows better – a diviner read in the bones that her best friend Lesedi has bewitched her and her family and now she must find a way to protect them before her granddaughter and her two remaining children die as well. But that will not prove to be so easy because Mosa and Stan are teenagers, growing up to question traditional ways of life in Botswana. Stan embraces all the newfangled western ideas that they learn at school, while his sister Mosa has mysteriously dropped out of school even though she was a promising student.
In her novel Unity Dow addresses a number of social issues that are pertinent to contempoary Botswana and as a human rights activist and high court judge in that country, she is particularly well qualified to write them into a book. Her novel provides insight into the traditional way of the Motswana people, but she goes far and beyond a cursory feminist critique of aspects of Botswana's social practices. She broaches also the seamier, oft ignored, manifestations of patriarchal practice in her own (and, I expect many another's) country.
No book from Africa can ignore the continent's HIV/Aids epidemic and Far and Beyon' explores the aspects of cultural practices that facilitate the spread of the disease between men and women, as well as from men to young girls. It considers especially, whether changes need to be made in cultural practices – not an issue that yields straightforward solutions to a people who are struggling to retain their identity and values i
n a world that has become increasingly westernised. Ms Dow's story deals with HIV/Aids infection in the context of the perennial challenge to young people everywhere – how much of the new cultures and values, to which their education exposes them, should they embrace? To what extent do culturally accepted practices threaten the survival of the very people that hold them dear? How can people integrate new ideas into the rich traditions they have inherited from their family? Must old ways be rejected to make way for new ideas, or are there ways that both the old and the new can integrate to enrich the lives of young people as well as those of their parents and grandparents? Dow has incorporated these weighty issues in a readable and life-affirming novel that is both accessible to the young adult reader and unforgettable to older readers who might have thought they knew most of what goes on in our world.
"Schoolgirls are often preyed upon and made pregnant by the schoolmasters who should be encouraging them to study"
Far and Beyon' is a tale of how education and a changing world can drive the wedge of misunderstanding between even the most loving of mothers and her children. The author presents the points of view of both generations taking no sides, and Mara and her children begin eventually to understand each other too. They learn how to meet the challenges of their individual lives and to move forward, albeit slowly, without having to cast aside their precious ties of family.
It also examines the problems that pregnant schoolgirls must deal with. Usually forbidden to continue with their schooling, they lose all chance of improving their lot through education. They are often preyed upon and made pregnant by the very schoolmasters who should be encouraging them to study, and the sexual molestation of schoolgirls by various powerful men in the community (policemen, business tycoons, government officials) is tolerated to such an extent that the girls find themselves without viable defence or recourse.
Lest you think that Dow's novel deals with sexual abuse problems specific to her country, I'd like to make mention of a report that The Human Rights Watch published in 2001, which documents research in a broad spectrum of South African schools. It investigated sexual violence towards schoolgirls in the country and the effects that this type of abuse has on the education of girls and young women. The report was based on interviews with teachers, students, parents and social workers.
The report found that one of the greatest dangers that a South African schoolgirl must face is that of being gang-raped. A 13-year-old girl describes how she was gang-raped by her classmates, that no one at the school took her allegations seriously, nor was she offered any support, protection or comfort by the staff. The boys who raped her continued harassing her until she eventually dropped out of school, despite having been a promising student.
Two other boys attempted to rape a classmate, but she managed to escape and eventually agreed to accept their apology and to continue to attend school with them rather than to press charges. She was afraid that if she got the boys into trouble because of their behaviour, that she would be in danger of even greater violence at their hands.
One girl (9 years old) tells how two older boys forced her into the school's toilets and raped her there. The principal helped her to identify and confront the culprits, and he then suggested to the girl's parents that they accept money in lieu of restitution from the boys' parents, instead of pressing criminal charges. Her parents agreed, and the boys continued at the school and were never disciplined or counselled about their crime. This young girl was obliged to attend the same school, even though she was severely traumatised by her experience.
Two high-school students explain how a teacher directed sexual remarks at all the girls in his classes; how he lured each of them separately to his home under the pretence of giving her extra tuition; how he attempted to seduce one of these 15-year-old girls, and how he drugged and raped the other. There is also the story of the 12-year-old girl who was raped in the school's toilets by a teacher who then bribed her with money to not report him - and to consent to him having sex with her again.
In many cases South African schools have no guidelines to deal with allegations of sexual abuse against the students and teaching staff and often they turn the blind eye to protect guilty teachers. In some parts of the country there is even a sense among the male teachers that they are entitled to expect sexual favours from the schoolgirls as a sort-of fringe benefit or to compensate for their low salaries. All the girls affirm how difficult it is for them to attend school and to concentrate on their work, much less excel.
The Human Rights Report only investigated the widespread sexual violence towards girls in South African schools, but it is evident from Far and Beyon' that sexual violence against schoolgirls is perpetuated by the schoolboys and male teachers in more than just one country in Africa.
Mosa, Mara's schoolgoing daughter must deal with just this type of sexual abuse at her school. She finds that she can expect little protection from even the women professionals - nurses, teachers, lawyers whom she turns to for help, because sexual bullying permeates all levels of the society in which she lives. Her brother and the male teaher who mentors him feel too much in the minority to do anything to protect her either. Even Mosa's mother knows no other life than that prescribed by her (hopefully kind and gentle) menfolk.
Mosa cannot change the world in one novel, but she does find a way to deal with her sexual abuse problem and to continue with her schooling and with her life. One knows that millions of young girls and women will have to take many such steps to freedom, and Unity Dow's Far and Beyon' does its share to encourage them along their way and to show the men who care, how they can help too.
An earlier version of this review first appeared in www.gowanusbooks.com. The Human Rights Watch report is available from www.hrw.org
Moira Richards is a South African who reviews feminist writing for a number of print and online publications. She can be found lounging about the staff rooms of womenwriters.net and moondance.org
