Where We Work
ShareThisShare this page with a friend or add it to Del.icio.us, DIGG, Reddit, and more.
Ashreat Al Amal- Tune In
Story Lines
Ashreat Al Amal addresses the issue of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting through three key female characters: Al Shoul (negative role model), Awatif (transitional role model), and Rugaia (positive role model).
Al Shoul, a local midwife, is a negative character who makes her living circumcising young girls. When she and her husband El Dai have a baby girl, Al Shoul circumcises the baby, who then dies of excessive bleeding. Al Shoul and El Dai divorce over this unfortunate event, and she turns to the street, selling tea and alcohol. As the story unfolds, Al Shoul remarries Hamid, a supportive man, and becomes pregnant. While in labor, Al Shoul experiences birthing complications, since she herself was circumcised, and requires a blood transfusion. When Hamid’s blood is screened for transfusion, he is found to be HIV positive. In turn, Al Shoul learns that she is also HIV-infected. Her newborn baby girl is also HIV-positive, and dies of AIDS. Angry over the death of her child and her HIV-positive status, Al Shoul loses her mind, and her body is found floating in a pond.
Awatif (a transitional character) is a sacrificing and hardworking wife and mother. She is exhausted by the burden of taking care of her six children. Awatif’s husband, Hassan, refuses to assist Awatif in raising the children, and so she is forced to continue working far into each pregnancy, becoming physically weak and anemic. Faulting Awatif for her weakness and constant exhaustion, Hassan takes a second, much younger wife, leaving Awatif all by herself to care of all of their children. When Hassan has second thoughts and wants to return to Awatif, she demands that they start using family planning methods. After visiting a clinic together, and receiving sound advice from Rugaia, a local reproductive health educator, Hassan and Awatif become adopters of birth control.
Rugaia (a positive character) is a devoted community advocate and resource person for information about reproductive health and family planning. She does community outreach activities in rural areas, providing people with health information and encouraging healthy practices, such as not circumcising girls, spacing births, and practicing good nutritional habits during pregnancies.
Through the stories of these three women, listeners of Ashreat Al Amal heard the importance of eliminating the harmful traditional practice of FGM/C, and protecting the health of the mother to ensure greater opportunities for her children.
