Latest / Authentic Living / Gender Equality and the ROR: Return On Relationships (Part 2) with Tacko Ndiaye

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Gender Equality and the ROR: Return On Relationships (Part 2) with Tacko Ndiaye · Authentic Living

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  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have as conversations about
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  things that really matter in our lives.
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  And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
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  Our interview last week was so good that we decided to turn it into a 2 part series.
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  If you missed last week, you'll find the link in the show notes.
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  It's not mandatory that you listen, but we wanna make sure that you don't miss out on this
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  amazing conversation.
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  Hi, everyone.
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  It's Roxanne Durgesh.
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  How are you today?
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  So glad you're tuning in yet again.
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  To hang out with me with authentic living with Roxanne.
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  Today, I have this amazing soul, taco nay, who is, someone that's based out of Rome, and we
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  had the privilege of meeting, at an amazing women's conference where I was exposed to
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  Taco's work.
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  And when I heard the kind of work that she was doing in the world, I thought it was so
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  necessary that she'd come on and have a conversation.
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  With us.
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  Taco is an author and an advocate for women's issues.
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  And most recently, I would say she has put out something in the market that she's just
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  released to help us understand the plight or the stories of women via some of the art in her
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  in her book.
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  So, Taco, thanks so much for coming on today.
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  Thanks, Roxanne.
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  It's a privilege to be here with you today?
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  You said that women are poets, and I I think I mean, clearly, these are powerful stories,
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  Taco.
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  Like, you know, in my career path, my path is definitely with women's issues, but I as a
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  psychologist, I took a different path and I, you know, One of my areas of specialties, as
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  when I practice was, complex PTSD and trauma.
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  Right?
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  So, you know, dealing with sexual assault, sexual abuse of, women.
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  Right?
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  And, you know, nothing like humbling, being put to your knees when you you're unfortunately.
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  And I, you know, I was put there to obviously, guide women and help them heal, but very, very
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  powerful, you know, when you hear these stories and, you know, because there's a part of you
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  that that says why.
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  Right?
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  And what what what can you do?
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  And all I did was use, you know, what I knew to to help healing, but you're right.
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  It's so important going back to your whole concept of what can we do?
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  And you said that in your book, Women came up with solutions.
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  Let's talk about this.
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  Right?
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  Yes.
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  We are.
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  I think we have made changes, but there is definitely more need to rally so that we as
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  women that are privileged, like you said, in in so many capacities, what are some of the
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  solutions that the women in the book came up with that what are some of the top ones that
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  you thought of or innovative ones that you think might be useful, for people to know
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  about?
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  When education always, you know, comes on top, one of the contributors actually, shared her
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  life story because, she was explaining that she's from a polygamous family, and her mother
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  went to school.
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  But when she got married to the father who was already polygamous, she made it clear that she
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  absolutely wanted her daughter to be educated it was a fight, but at the end, she got
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  educated.
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  And now she's a woman leader in her country, and she was praising her mom who, although, not
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  having had the opportunity to go to school, understood the importance of education in
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  against empowerment.
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  And for the mom, the most important was for her to be educated, not not married.
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  So education came before to finding, a good husband, which is very unusual in that
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  community.
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  So education comes first, and one of my paintings talks about girls rising, and it's,
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  it's emphasizing the importance of of education.
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  Of course, also in relation to the kind of work that I do, you know, that there are many
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  commitments their many legal frameworks, the laws, the gender provisions in national
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  constitutions.
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  The commitments are there.
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  The issue is the practice because if you have high levels of illiteracy, women cannot even be
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  the the rights.
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  So you can have the system in place, but the the inability to read and to understand what is
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  being said may may not know that those rights are actually there and could be, you know, part
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  of them if they don't even know what it's saying in those bills, like you're saying.
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  Yes.
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  And and there are many communities where you have, you know, the the the first port of call
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  for a woman in a remote community is the informal justice system because it's difficult
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  for her to reach out to the city.
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  And financially, it is also quite an investment to go to the city and get a lawyer, and she may
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  not even understand all the intricacies of the justice system.
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  So, there are many places where you have this duality between the, you know, the the the the
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  laws, the informal laws in place, the way that communities deal with certain issues, and and
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  the law.
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  So, just to say laws are good, policy documents are good, but we should really make sure that
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  the impact is felt by rural women, you know, in in the small villages.
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  So some of the some of the solutions were also about, this global sisterhood or local
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  sisterhood, the mentoring of women that know, some women take it upon themselves to mentor
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  other women so that they can, they can also rise up and there's also there was also,
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  proposals around gender parity How do you make sure that women also, participate in shaping
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  the decisions that will impact their lives?
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  And in the day, you usually have 2 views.
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  Some some feel that, yes, we should we should bring our chair and sit at the table.
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  Some feel that we should carve our own table if you're not in the main table.
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  Let's carve our our own table.
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  And, something that may be the table is not at all good for us because, we don't want in the
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  mainstream if the mainstream is based on structure in a qualities that shape a system
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  that is fueled within a quality.
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  We don't want people to sit there.
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  So, So maybe
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  it's us that have privilege to, mentoring or or reusing our privilege and our power, to create
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  that global community amongst other women that may be in certain parts of the world.
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  And I know you work globally having worked through the UN that, you know, we may think,
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  you know, in North America, that, we have privilege, but how are we using our privilege?
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  And what what duty do we have?
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  As a global sister heard to your point.
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  I like that term.
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  What can we do?
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  And I guess that's always the biggest thing that I think is how is it that my world in
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  Canada, and your world in Rome, you know, we collide in in Rome because of a, you know, a
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  women's conference, but then how do we then take that forward to make a difference in in
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  some way, in some far, maybe far reaching or maybe in our back yard or backdoor to make a
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  difference with someone that we could mentor.
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  I I think it's it's very important to to support women's advocacy platforms who work on
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  those issues.
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  I think different groups, diverse groups of women are well organized these days.
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  You have all kinds of organization on on many things You have those that support rural
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  women's economic empowerment.
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  You have organizations of human producers.
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  The cooperatives, the union, the produce organizations.
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  You have organizations or human traders, Some try to support, business incubation for women
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  in ugly food value chains, whether it is in the fisheries, the forestry, livestock, crops.
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  So so there is a lot.
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  I think that the women's is is very dynamic.
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  It's, it has a strong voice, and it can, support women organizing around their issues so
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  that country level when governments are discussing, for instance, our national
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  investment plans for the agri food sector I'm just giving an example because of the area of
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  where I'm in, so that those plants would also recognize that the level playing field between
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  women and men is not equal.
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  And that in there, they should try and equalize the access to resources, the opportunities,
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  make sure that there's no gender evaporation because usually, you know, what happens,
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  there's a lot of problematizing around women's issues.
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  Mhmm.
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  You know, you're in the situation analysis.
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  There's a lot about, yes, there's discrimination in access to resources,
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  opportunity services.
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  But when you reach the budget allocation, then there's again the evaporation.
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  And we know that the words only are not enough if you have the mechanisms and the documents
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  but you don't put in the resources.
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  It's it's not going very far.
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  So It's a it's like a fair plan.
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  Right?
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  Like, you can have all these beautiful bells and whistles and, you know, and but we don't do
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  we're not doing doing the basics on the ground to to to to deal with all these bells and
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  whistles.
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  Nothing.
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  If you don't have that connectivity, like you said, small things, education, women reading,
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  other women recognizing that, you know, how can I, you know, in my path help out and versus
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  saying, when we started off the interview, you talked about, I thought we were gonna be
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  further off?
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  And, you know, that's what I wanna speak to next and how your book plays into this.
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  Okay.
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  26 years.
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  We made some movements.
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  Right?
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  I think there has been change.
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  Maybe not as far along as we wanna be Taco.
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  But with your book and for women listening that they're like, I kinda feel a little bit
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  helpless here, Taco.
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  I wanna I wanna do something.
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  I wanna make a difference.
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  Like, whether you're a female CEO listening to this, or a woman that's at home, thinking I
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  could still give something.
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  What what words of wisdom would you give to women out there?
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  That wanna help move you parity forward.
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  Mhmm.
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  Yeah.
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  I think any way we are, there there is something that we can do in action is not an
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  option.
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  I think, We can reach out to networks, to groups that we know do good groundwork.
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  And they're all present on the net.
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  There is there's a lot of communication around different initiatives that are ongoing.
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  So, there's really need to invest in the empowerment of women on the ground, whether it
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  is economically socially culturally.
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  Mhmm.
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  It has to be a package.
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  Sometimes it's not just good enough.
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  We we can be funding.
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  We do a few economic activities, but the woman is battered at home every day.
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  So it immediately, has to be a systemic approach.
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  People can donate.
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  They can donate in different ways to different organizations.
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  The book that I have written, I'll donate part of the proceeds.
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  And the the many initiatives, the the will conference so that they brought a we mean from,
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  different regions, I think it's a fantastic platform that can also contribute, to women's
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  empowerment.
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  So the the different the organizations are there.
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  If you need further linkage to what is going on to the ground, we can support that.
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  But the the organization's doing amazing work on the ground and and and empowering, women
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  every day, especially in rural areas.
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  So, Tommy, as we wrap up, what is your hopes or your dreams for this book, and how could we
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  help you to achieve that goal?
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  Well, first, for me, also personally, you know, it's my first ad book.
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  What happened is I I started painting very occasionally at home, and, you know, these
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  apartments, they're not massive.
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  So at some point, you reach out to a point where storage even is an issue.
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  So, So I wanted to turn it into a project, but I wanted a project that I can I can share with
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  sisters?
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  Around the world because in my 25 years, I've lived in different places, and I've made many
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  friendships and sisterhoods for equality.
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  And I wanted it to be a project that bring different groups of women together.
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  So, So I think the book is the starting of something new.
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  I I like this participatory approach, and probably over the years at a personal level, I
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  want to be in a position where I can go to community and paint together with women in that
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  community and try and sell it.
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  In the international market and the invest in that community.
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  So I I think moving forward in the long term.
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  That's what I envisage.
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  So this is, like, my baby steps, to start working towards, towards that.
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  Because I I
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  really Beautiful.
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  Like, to to go into a community and be immersive.
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  Right?
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  Like, I mean, to really you know, kind of go into the culture.
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  And I would think if I, you know, if I brought you to Trinidad and, you know, you sat around
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  women and, you know, obviously in my culture, like a lot of truths we cook and, you know, in
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  Trinidad, we call it liming, but, you know, you get together and you create a scenario.
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  And then out of that, the, like you said, every woman is a poet.
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  So something comes from, you know, the outpouring from their hearts.
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  And what an amazing experience that would be, right, because women naturally, I think of my
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  my best friends and we get together and we naturally do those things.
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  But to have something come that gets created out of that, that would be absolutely amazing.
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  That would be, you know, what a what a beautiful thing to even think about, that you
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  could go, you know, along the way.
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  So for everybody, we will have a link to the book, go buy the book, connect with Taco.
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  If you want, you know, if you're thinking, like, Taco says there's things online and you
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  don't know where to go.
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  And you or you're just interested maybe her being the 1st place, then maybe she comes out
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  and she does one of these experiences, please, you know, reach out.
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  So, Taco, before I let you go around women's issue, if you can share some of your wisdom
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  about kind of what you do and obviously, you know, you're still working, you know,
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  Internationally with women's issues, but also hunger.
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  What what what what words of wisdom would you leave with us before you go around, the concept
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  of of, women's issues?
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  Mhmm.
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  I would like to say that probably one of the reasons we are still making very slow progress
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  in ending hunger, in ending malnutrition, in ending, poverty, especially in rural areas, is
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  that, also, we neglect this, again, the issues.
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  Because for me, and that's also the advocacy that I I do in my office.
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  I always tell my colleagues We cannot talk about nutrition here and gender here.
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  They're part of the same thing.
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  If you want to be successful, in your work, on nutrition, you have to understand the issues
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  because we know, for instance, that a healthy, educated, and well nourished woman, she's a
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  better producer She's a better investor, and she has healthier children, the stronger immune
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  systems, who will perform better at school.
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  So to lead your goal of of ending meditation.
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  For instance, your smartest shortcut is to invest in women and girls.
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  And I picked nutrition, but it is the same for poverty.
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  It is the same for hunger.
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  It is the same for many other challenges.
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  Thank you so much.
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  Taco.
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  Like, what am what amazing work?
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  Like, the fact that somebody like you and so many others in the world are doing it is so
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  important.
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  Right?
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  And what am I taking away?
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  I guess I'm taking away that We have come, but we need to work more together as a global
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  community.
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  And really as as so much.
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  We have so many privileged, not men, but also women, but also men that are listening.
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  That that could be alongside us.
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  So, reach out to someone, volunteer, mentor, If you don't know much about the issues, read it
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  up, go to the the UN site, We will have some links in here that, Taco will also give to us,
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  to educate yourself about what is it that you can you know, do so that our future generations
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  are better, equipped with a bit more than what has happened like telco said in the last 26
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  years.
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  And, go out there and make a difference in whatever way.
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  It does not have to could be in your community helping out with, like you said, going out to
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  give a hot meal to, you know, giving back a bit of what your expertise is to another woman
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  somewhere.
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  And, we need to get back in order to grow together.
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  So now Taco, thanks so much.
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  The link, like I said, for the book is, will be in the show notes.
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  Please, Tokyo, if they need to get ahold of you, where would you like people to connect
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  with you?
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  I will give you my address where people can reach me, on different social media platforms
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  as well.
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  So I would appreciate that.
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  Thank you.
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  Okay.
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  Well, thanks so much again, everyone.
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  What an inspiring conversation, I look forward to connecting again.
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  And if you're needing to get connected with me, around, authentic heart leaderships.
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  You can go to roxanderhodge.comforward/quiz.
• 22:19
  There's a little mini quiz you can do, and we'll send you many reports Again, thanks
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  again.
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  We'll talk to you next week.
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  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne.
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  Create the space for positive healthy change.
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  Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit
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  roxannederhaj.com/blueprint.
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  We'll see you next time on authentic living with Roxanne.