QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Each Man is the Architect of his own Fate."
-- Appius Caecus

How Mauritian women have evolved over the past 40 years

It was way back in the 1950s that I set foot in Mauritius. Coming from a highly developed country such as South Africa, I found it very difficult to adjust to local conditions during the first few years. At the time an essential service such as electricity was a meagre commodity; indeed most of the countryside remained in complete obscurity whereas the areas occupied by the white community had all the facilities as regards these services. Just to illustrate this point further it was only after two years that our application for an electric cooker was granted.

The opportunity of coming into contact with women living in the villages came through the vehicle of the Mauritius Child Care Society which was established in the late fifties. Here I found that most of the women kept cows and goats and went out in the mornings to collect fodder for the animals, leaving toddlers under the care of barely five year olds. The milk obtained from the animals would be sold and the money collected would go towards supplementing somewhat, the family income. Sadly, because of their poverty, the children could not be fed on this precious and nutritive commodity.

We visited these centres over weekends and held talks on elementary hygiene as well as tried to raise the sensitive issue of family planning. Most of the mothers frankly and willingly discussed this important aspect of their lives, many of whom had children (as mentioned above) ranging from toddlers to 5 years old. Unfortunately the husbands were totally against such suggestions and even threatened to prevent their wives from attending our meetings. This was thus my first experience of the plight of women living in the villages.

My encounter with women living in the towns came much later. Here, I found the educated and intelligent middle-class women rather conservative, the majority content in being housewives and mostly involved in religious and ritualistic activities. These ceremonies were performed by pundits in Sanskrit and Hindi although neither Hindi nor Bhojpuri were spoken in the majority of these homes. In fact where Bhojpuri was spoken, there was a mixture of Creole and Bhojpuri in much of the conversations among families. I quote a few examples:

'Hum lopitale gayli, daktar nay rahal ta dawai nay milal'

'Hum boutique jat hain'

'Thoo laikake lecole Ie jay be?'

It was in the late seventies and eighties that Hindi and Bhojpuri gained popularity. With the introduction of regular feature films on television the interest to study Hindi (both spoken and written) was clearly visible. Programmes in Bhojpuri included Dramas, documentaries etc. while important social issues such as drugs, diabetes, family planning, water shortage etc. were discussed on TV with a live audience in attendance. Today Hindi features as an important subject of choice both at the primary and secondary school level, while news in Hindustani and Bhojpuri is relayed regularly both on Radio and T.V with much panache by professional news readers.

It took me some time to acquaint myself to the living conditions and life-style of the women of the other communities.

In time, I discovered that the Chinese community followed a highly traditional way of life based on family and community loyalty. The women and young girls helped in their commercial enterprises as most of the business concerns were run by the Chinese both in the towns and the countryside at the time. Education was also part of their tradition as girls attended both primary and secondary schools. They were justly proud when a scholarship was awarded to a young woman student in the fifties who then proceeded abroad for further studies. During the following decades girls have excelled in winning scholarships both on the classical and science sides. They have become more outgoing and socialize with other communities although they continue to maintain their traditional way of life.

As far as the Creole women are concerned I have found them generally very friendly with an openness which gives you the impression of sincerity and warmth. They are regular church goers and owe complete allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church. They once considered the word 'Creole' as derogatory but within the last decade the community has developed great pride in calling themselves Creole which they now rightly consider as part of their heritage. The women themselves show extraordinary confidence and independence at all levels of life whether professional or otherwise. They travel abroad, visit family settled outside Mauritius and enjoy life as a whole. They pride themselves as having among them prolific women writers and others who have contributed extensively in the field of education.

The Franco-Mauritian women I noticed continued to live a lifestyle that had been handed down to them from colonial times. In the fifties they seemed to move in what I would term as an extremely' closed-society', kept very much to themselves, occupying residential areas which were generously equipped with civic amenities. It was the Franco-Mauritian nuns who brought about a significant change in the mind-set of the women. Together with the NGO' s they worked for decades taking up the cause of the poor and needy. In this on-going task they also laid stress on the importance of education raising the consciousness of all the communities.

Independence has brought in its wake a significant awareness of the plight of the less fortunate and much is being done to find ways and means to raise the standard of the people living in poverty - stricken areas. Recently a protest march against sexual abuse of women and children was organized and led by a Franco-Mauritian women in the capital with a large following of men and woman of every community.

As regards the way of life of the middle class Muslim women, I think that it can be justly compared to that of the middle class Hindu women. At the time, they too followed a strictly conservative life-style, the women quite content in running their homes, taking care of their children's needs and very much devoted to their religion which the elders practiced at home while the children attended madrassas as part of their religious education. 

However, some leading educationalists stressed the intrinsic value which a western education would provide and it was only in the 1940's that children began to attend primary and secondary schools, followed by the sixties when more women began to take an interest in pursuing academic studies. This led to the success of the first Muslim woman who won the much coveted English Scholarship and became a Laureate in 1961. Today Muslim women have broken all barriers and are prominent in leading professions such as doctors, lawyers, social workers etc.

During the past two to three decades there has been a drastic change in the educational and social outlook of women throughout the island. In the field of educational and academic achievement women of all communities have progressed in leaps and bounds. Besides winning State Scholarships there are today in the professional field a number of lawyers, doctors, university lecturers as well as Heads of organizations such as the Mauritius College of the Air, the Mauritius Institute of Education and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute although not many women wish to enter into politics. A well-known writer has this to say about the role of women in politics.

Quote:

'Theirs is not the role of sabre-rattling with political opponents and give to Party what was meant for mankind.' Unquote.

At the village level there has been a revolution brought about by the introduction of free education in 1976. It was therefore most heart-warming to find a labourer's daughter from one of the villages top the list of scholars some years back. Among the not-so-well -to do families, I young women and girls find employment in the textile factories, commercial centres etc. Having now become financially independent they are thus no longer a burden to parents as regards early marriage. 

But alongside with the above, financial emancipation has brought in its wake changes in social attitudes and disregard of essential values. Women have less time to devote to household responsibilities while young children find themselves making, do with fast food and take-aways as parents find themselves running out of time for the preparation of home cooked meals. Elderly members of families often find themselves ending their days in old peoples homes as the once extended family network has all but broken down. 

Conclusion  

Mauritius is internationally recognized for the remarkably tolerant and pluralistic society it has nurtured since its independence. Let us hope that in the 21 st century it will achieve another remarkable landmark, that of reconciling the benefits of material progress with the preservation of spirituality and a strong sense of community.