However Long Night Melchings Millions
Molly Melching will be counted as one of those important world women whose life and work made a great difference in improving the living conditions and future of millions of people. She is comparable to Mary Curie, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, etc. Her commitment, dedication, determination, and relentlessness allowed her to face and over come various sorts of odds and obstacles in order to secure better life and health to Senegalese girls and women, then extend the target to other African girls and women. Hers, is not only a success story of commitment and courage, but also of love for her fellow-humans. It is because of her care for Senegal and its population, a country and a people she immediately fell in love with on her arrival, that she dedicated her life to serve them.
Aimee Molloy's book succeeds remarkably in conveying the outstanding personality and character of Molly Melching, along with her sensitive feelings, ambitions, effervescence, wit, humor, courage, determination, and fearlessness!
As mentioned in the review by the Publishers Weekly, the book reads like an engaging novel, thanks to the very clever reconstruction by Molloy of thoughts and conversations among the main 'protagonists' of Meclhing's 'journey', and the events which took place during her young years as a child then a teenager, and after her arrival in Senegal in the 70s.
Another remarkable feature of the book is Molloy's amazingly clear understanding of Senegalese culture, traditions, sensitivities, and taboos. It didn't take her more than a year to reach such clear vision of a country and a society so drastically different from her own. Obviously, Melching must have been the one who helped to introduce her to the complexity and subtlety of African/Senegalese culture.
When most of world news and information - particularly those coming from developing countries - tend to throw one into depressing and dark moods, Molloy's touching and engaging book is uplifting and full of hope. By reading it we become hopeful and confident that the courage and hard work of just few key people at the right time could change the world into a better place.
Fortunately, for several years now Molly Melching's work, as well as that of "Tostan", the NGO she created, have been receiving the recognition they deserve in various forms. Aimee Molloy's book is the latest manifestation of this wide recognition, and I am sure, will be followed by others.
Finally, in addition to its substance, the book has an attractive and alluring front and back covers, with elegant design and wonderful photographs.
BalasHapusIt has been a long time since I have been so moved by a book. Aimee Molloy's However Long the Night is a powerful biography focusing on the tireless efforts of Molly Melching who has worked for decades in Senegal to educate and improve the lives of the women and children of villages across the nation.
BalasHapusMelching originally traveled to Senegal as part of a graduate program study abroad, and was looking forward to learning about the culture and people. What she hadn't planned on was the cancellation of the program. After convincing the university to allow her to study, Melching couldn't help but fall in love with all that Senegal offered. Rather than returning home, however, Melching extends her stay and secures a position as an Peace Corps employee. She starts a school to teach the local children, focusing on them reading stories that reflect their own culture and language, rather than stories of European children who share little with their Senegalese peers. This venture quickly leads to another and before Melching knows it, she has embedded herself into the Senegal culture, learned the language, and established an NGO named Tostan to help educate the women and children of the nation. While she set out to improve the quality of life, it becomes apparent that one issue needs attention - that of FGC (female genital cutting). Remarkably, after much effort, and devoted educational efforts Melching and the women of the villages begin to notice a change in the FGC tradition. The women feel empowered, and slowly begin to convince others that a change is needed.
This powerful book is inspiring, engaging, and insightful. I read it in one sitting, fascinated that I had gone so long knowing so little about Melching and the FGC crisis in Senegal. I have begun to recommend this book to all of my friends and love the discussions that come about because of it. I cannot recommend this book highly enough - it has been a long time since I have been so touched and inspired by a book - Molloy's voice and Melching's devotion make this a powerful story.
Finally, finally, finally this remarkable woman's story appears in book form.
BalasHapusHaving been a personal observer of her programs in Senegal with my wife on two separate occasions, it was evident to me, as a long time activist in trying to help women improve their lot in life, that Melching had embarked on a life journey to put her innovative views to work.
For a Mid Western American Caucasian woman to make this journey will give readers of every political, personal and ethnic persuasion a glorious glimpse at what an open mind, a generous heart and enormous empathy can accomplish.
A trait so evident in my numerous personal contacts with Molly has been her constant willingness to shower the main credit for any advance in this unique program on other people.
Thus I am particularly surprised and very pleased that author Aimee Molloy and Harper One, a division of Random House, have boldly chosen to tell the story of the substantial curbing of this difficult, long embedded cultural practice. Known as female genital cutting (FGC), the book discloses a heartening story which finally can be one about substantial success, not ineffective finger pointing by outsiders that characterized FGC descriptions for years.
Therein hangs the key to understanding TOSTAN's success. By putting the human rights case initially to Senegalese village people, both men and women, Molly and her cohorts (now over 99% of Tostan's staff are Africans) these villagers undertook to spread this critical concept that human rights are for all, both men and women.
Of course, rancor and substantial resistence to overturning any cultural norm is part of the process among all of us. This is what makes this success so important.
TOSTAN's efforts proved it can be done, but only by understanding that change comes from the acquiescence of a community who must be lead by its own leaders, not by preachments from outsiders, who made the culturally ignorance mistake of dubbing FGC, female genital mutilation, which was so accusatory to societies which didn't even discuss the subject and which held its continuing practice as essential to finding proper wives for its men.
Most important, changing FGC attitudes were done step by often difficult step (hence the book's title without pointing blame for a long held cultural practice or accusing anyone of bad behavior. Early on, getting a male imam's indefatigable help in convincing the early abandonment of FGC, was critical to what has become a surge of new freedom and thinking that extends not only to FGC but to other issues such as the education of the children in these nations, trying to emerge into more democracratic governance.
And of course as Molly mkes so clear many others were highly instrumental in the most visible accomplishment of her NGO, TOSTAN's programs, namely causing significant cessation in the long standing cultural practice of female genital cutting in Senegal and in 7 other Sub Saharan African nations.
In Senegal alone, some 5,000 villages have renounced the practice, results which have been confirmed by independent audit by internationally respected agencies such as the Population Council.
On her visits to Senegal, Hillary Rodham Clinton was able to see the fruits of TOSTAN's efforts. Her solid endorsement statement appears on the book's dust jacket, along with other important endorsers including Jimmy Carter.
Reading like a novel, this story will make you realize that the daily diet of dreary news we constantly ingest can occasionally be uplifted by this unique human spirit and those she has influenced.
As a veteran book reviewer, I would hope that a second edition might include an index which allows quick identification of names and places. For example, one could find out without going to page 59 that TOSTAN means in Woluf Senegal's principal language, the hatching of an egg. Such a wonderful description of what it and Molly Melching have accomplished.