A number of years ago when I was working at one of the boarding schools here in Toowoomba, I met this wonderful student called Daisy. It's now been 17 years since Daisy left school. When she completed her studies, Daisy returned to Papua New Guinea and went on to study law. Since Daisy left school, we have kept in touch and last week, when she was here in Toowoomba (to spend time with her future sister-in-law), we met up for lunch.
David made lunch while Daisy and I reminisced and she shared some of the things that has happened in her life since we last met. She shared how difficult it can be for women in Papua New Guinea where there is a strong patriarchal society and women, regardless of education are expected to adhere to the customs and culture of the village. I imagine this may be particularly difficult for women such as Daisy who have been educated in another country. In some ways she reminded me of my own children who felt they were cross-cultural children, having been born in Australia, spending their 'middle' years in Scotland and then returning again to Australia in their teenage years. They didn't quite know where they belonged - something instilled in them by their own feelings for 'where they were not' and those of their peers around them.
For Daisy and others like her this must be so much more intense and difficult to work through. Daisy and I discussed the book INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali which amongst other things describes the author's youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and the Netherlands and the 'smeddum' of a woman who knew in her heart of hearts that to 'fit in' would have been a betrayal of not only who she was but of her basic human rights not only as a woman but a human being.
Glennie School where Daisy and I met.
