'He is free'

These words glowed against a neon background in the early morning hours last Wednesday and for the first time in days, my jaw relaxed.  I hadn’t even realized that I’d been clenching it, convinced as I was that I had yet to process the information that precipitated this text.  Let me fill you in.

The Thursday before last, my uncle was abducted in Nigeria. Honestly, I’m still not sure I’ve processed this information. Perhaps it’s the incredulity of the situation. A group of thugs took a 70 yr old man out of his house, stuffed him in a trunk and demanded a ransom of half a million dollars.  Half a million dollars, from a retired university professor, no less!  We were warned not to involve the police (who incidentally have a shoot-to-kill policy for those suspected of kidnapping).  And so began the phone calls - across Nigeria and across the world. 

Six days later I would receive the text from my mother, as celebrations began to welcome my uncle home.  The cost of his freedom in dollar terms was $14,000.  Who knows what price his health has suffered, having been forcibly confined, chained and bound and used as a human ashtray?

My first reaction was to tell my father that this event marked the end of his plans to retire in Nigeria.  Security has always been an issue traveling there; during our visit last year our family did not move around freely because of the threat of kidnapping.  Another of my uncles has described Nigeria as the “paradise of hell” and for the most part I think it’s an apt description (sorry dad).  Nevertheless, it is where I have family and I’ve a place where I will always plan to return.  Last week was the first time I began to doubt that.

Women's Day

I am in Arusha because we are hosting a 3-day workshop on regional integration and professional standards.  Over yet another buffet breakfast (things on that front are getting dire), a delegate from Uganda asked me: “are you celebrating today?” Self-absorbed as I am, my first reaction was how do you know its my birthday? But then I realized – it’s International Women’s Day.

Although they are not related, I have always felt proud to be born on International Women’s day.  We do, as the Chinese proverb says, “hold up half of the sky” (I also highly recommend the book of the same title).  What’s more, I have the privilege of having some truly remarkable women in my life, whose achievements I aspire to, determination I admire and whose capacity for love and generosity we should all aim to emulate. To those of you who are reading this: happy Women’s Day.

On a broader level, this morning’s breakfast conversation got me thinking about the differences in how Women’s Day is commemorated around the world.  At home in Canada, there is inevitably an reception hosted by the law society or LEAF about equality and inclusion and of course the achievements of women in the legal profession and beyond.  So when my companion told me that in Uganda Women’s Day is not only a public holiday, but also a day where men are supposed to do special things for women, I was genuinely surprised.  This is a celebration of women on a much more personal level.  Unlike Mother’s Day, its scope includes us all.  Obviously biased, I am drawn to this – mothers or not, all of us do things that are cause for celebration.  In development studies, time and time again it is affirmed that if you invest in a woman, the benefits to a community are manifold.  These accounts aren’t of women who have changed the world, they are women who have changed their worlds and consequently have improved the lives of others.  A celebration of their individual contributions, how fitting.

To every woman, may today your burden be light.