I wanted boys

"I wanted boys -she said-. When I became pregnant, I was sure I didn't want to have any girls. In my country, girls are second class. I thanked God both times I gave birth to boys.
When girls are young, they have to take care of their brothers, tidy up their things, take them to school. Later, they cook for them, often they don't even go to school. The best food is always for the father, then for the other men in the family.

Older girls then marry and they become almost their husband's property. Husbands mistreat their women, sometimes only verbally, often they beat them. The women work, the men send the children for beer to the shop and they drink.  I was lucky my husband didn't beat me. I thanked God when he one day just disappeared. I thought: you were there for me to have my children, but I don't want my children to be like you.
Eight years I have been in this country, and I've had my children four years now. They make their beds, they tidy up their things, they go to school. I work twelve hours a day but this is my life, they are my children. I don't go begging to the social worker. I can work hard, so I work. The children are mine, I raise them the way I want. The only thing I fight for is their education."
(Immigrant woman to me, today)

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