For a free pdf download of this resource click here.
Meal suggestion:
Brown rice with fried bananas. (The recipe is available from the links section of the Youthwork website.)
Grace: God of our daily bread, Thanks for the people who made this food; who worked the land, planted the seeds and harvested the crops. Remind us of our connection and responsibility to each other, that every single one of us is known and loved by you. Amen.
Starter – meet Elvira Miguel
Elvira, known to her friends as Vivi, is 22 and lives in Angola. She looks after her four brothers and sisters every afternoon while her mum is at work. In the morning, she goes to Girls Building Bridges, a project run by Christian Aid’s partner Women’s Christian Union. Girls and women in Angola bear the brunt of poverty – they are often expected to raise children and do all of the household chores alongside going out to work. Angolan women have a one in 39 chance of dying in childbirth, compared to one in 4,600 for a woman in Britain, and young women are three times more likely to have HIV than young men. At Girls Building Bridges, Vivi and her friends learn life skills, practise decision-making and discuss the issues they face that they feel they can’t talk about anywhere else. Learning about the dangers of HIV and early pregnancy is vital, but is not necessarily enough to help girls avoid these. The girls must also understand their value and rights, and practise making the decisions that they might face in a society that doesn’t always value women as highly as men.
Now that Vivi has been part of the project, she wants to go to university, study economics and finish her education before she thinks about having children. She is also hopeful about the future for Angolan girls: ‘Women used to not be visible but now they are. Before, you could only work at home or be a domestic maid. A woman couldn’t make any decisions. It was only the men who made decisions, the head of the household. Now women are visible in society. There are even women who are capable of ruling a country.’
Main – chew it over
• Do you think men and women are treated equally in the UK? What about worldwide?
• Why is it important for the future of Angola that its women feel able to speak out and contribute to decisions?
• How does inequality affect your lives? How can we show all people they are important?
Coffee – take action together
On 8th March, it is International Women’s Day. Plan something special in your group or church to mark the occasion. When asked what makes her happy, Vivi replied: ‘To see other people happy makes me happy.’ Think of one thing you could do this week that would make someone else happy – then do it.
Visit Christian Aid for more resources.
