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Love, Grief and Taking Responsibility - A mothers lament

OPINION - by Waisha Mohammed, 16th May 2004

I sit here today so far away from so many things that are close to my heart. The last few days spent dreaming of being close to family and love. And that longing brings me to such great sadness, not only because of the distance but also because of the circumstance. I think of my children and how I would not be fulfilling my duty as a mother if I do not instill in them a love of their heritage. In that thought I find so many things that bring me horror. This is not right. As mothers, wives and daughters it is our duty to see that our societies do not foster terror. It is our duty to ensure that our home is safe. Yet every one of us questions what we as individuals can do about the situations that we find ourselves in. But it is always the collective voice that speaks the loudest. My deepest sorrows lie in the state of my country. Beauty has been hiding a great monster. As clear as it is that every society has monsters, it is more than disappointing that in my own country where there are so few people there is such a great monster. This monster is not an individual but a system that has festered for too long. For our country to call itself a democracy is misleading since even today it is being run as a fundamentalism blighted nation. The young are being taken by drugs and if not drugs then by an oppression that runs so deep that everyone is afraid to even utter a whisper. Those that do speak are punished beyond reason. Lives ruined. Families destroyed. We as mothers and daughters and wives are left to deal with the devastation. There is a lack of higher education which is unacceptable considering the overall wealth of the country. If you compare the size of our country with the amount of money that flows through it you have to wonder where the black hole is. Why haven't there been more advances? Why haven't people taken responsibility for their society? As much as I understand that there can never be a utopia, I do believe that the women of Maldives can have influence and power to change their societies for the better. It is so easy to live every day life and not think about the horrors that have come to light about our society and so difficult to actually envision taking any steps to make a difference. So I in the relative safety I have, would like to encourage you to be aware. To take an interest. And if the opportunity ever arises, to take the steps to make change. For a place so small every voice is just one more that needs to be heard. Women in Maldives need to stand ground, embrace their beliefs and call for the acts of love that could make our country the place we all know it could be.