NY Times: African Girls' Route to School Is Still Littered With Obstacles

[La_Serpiente]

African Girls' Route to School Is Still Littered With Obstacles

KOUTAGBA, Benin — For as long as anyone could remember, the girls of this village had been forbidden to go to school. They were to be educated instead by the local voodoo priest, in a secret rite of passage not to be spoken about to anyone. When they finished, they were to be married. They and their children were to forever enjoy the protection of the voodoo priest.

That was until six years ago, when, with prodding from local government and United Nations officials, an extraordinary deal was struck. Every family in Koutagba could send one girl to school, the priest agreed, so long as it also sent another to him.

The mothers of the village fell on their knees, laid bottles of home-brew at his feet and prayed. Two years ago, two Koutagba girls finished primary school. Today, 8 of the 27 pupils in fifth grade are girls. So is nearly half of the first grade.

The story of this tiny, remote hamlet in the heart of West Africa offers a metaphor for the challenges facing girls' education on the continent.

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African Girls' Route to School Is Still Littered With Obstacles