Addressing Domestic Violence and Female Genital Circumcision
“I Am African & I Can” is a women’s empowerment blog highlighting stories of Black women’s struggles and successes.
By Hadiatou Wann | 11/13/2020
As a young girl, Massange Kamara witnessed a woman brutally beaten by her husband. Despite having a face covered with blood, being dragged and humiliated in front of her neighbors, the woman reconciled with her husband and remained married. This memory, along with other incidents, drove Massange to become a social worker and advocate for women.
Massange was born and raised in Beyla, Guinea, after her family fled the civil war in Liberia. Despite living in poverty, she had a dream to one day help others. Early on, she thought that the only way she could help others would be by becoming a doctor. However, because she spent most of her childhood years in and out of the hospital, she became traumatized by the environment and concluded that she could not become a doctor.
At the age of 13, she moved to the United States. While in high school, she joined The Girls Empowering Leadership Initiative, a youth program at Sauti Yetu that helped her bring awareness to Female Genital Circumcision (FGC), a cultural practice she was a victim of while in Africa.
“Female genital cutting is a ritual known to many African cultures as a rite of passage, practiced in many parts of Africa, and other parts of the world. It is a ritual that involves altering the female sexual organs for non-medical reasons. As a participating member of Sauti Yetu’s Center for African Women and Families Girls Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (GELI) in High School, I was fortunate to be given the platform to initiate the Hands Project; a storytelling project that provided a safe space for a dialogue with African young women directly impacted by the ritual of FGC to tell their personal stories regarding the various ways in which FGC have had an impact on their lives as women, both in their home countries and in the United States,” Massange explained.
Although Massange did not become a doctor, she realized that she could make a difference in people’s lives through another profession. Deciding to study at Mount Holyoke College, an all-women’s college in Massachusetts, was one of the best decisions she’s made because it turned into an empowering experience that allowed her to interact with other women and taught her to speak up for herself. She studied Sociology and Africana Studies at Mount Holyoke.
Upon graduating in 2015, she worked at Sauti Yetu as a case manager, where she assisted families who were seeking immigration status. However, she felt limited in this role because some of the women went through some traumatic experiences, and she could not directly work with them because she did not have enough training.
After working for three and half years at Sauti Yetu, she applied to graduate school and was admitted into Columbia University School of Social Work. Once she completed her master’s in clinical social work, she received many offers but chose to go back to Sauti Yetu. “I chose to go back to Sauti Yetu because I wanted to give back to my community, as Sauti had been an organization that supported me in my journey,” Massange said.
Even though she was enthusiastic about becoming a social worker, many in her community attempted to discourage her from choosing that path because they perceived social workers as people who separated families. Still, she forged ahead with the intention to make a difference in her community.
As a social worker, Massange can now help women through their trauma(s) and direct them to services that are available to them. But it can be frustrating when women confide in her about being abused by their spouse and still choose to stay married to their abuser.
Massange’s advice to any woman who sees signs of violence in a spouse is to seek safety and support as soon as possible because the relationship will gradually worsen. “When a man starts being violent, it doesn’t stop because it’s normal to him. When [abusers] are old and can’tphysically abuse you, they will abuse you emotionally and psychologically,” Massange opined. “Domestic violence is not healthy for you or your kids. No one should compromise their safety or well-being in the name of a marriage.”
For a long time, Massange watched so many women stay in abusive marriages because they were blamed and told that the more pain they endured, the more blessed the children would become. This pushed her to advocate for women and educate them on their rights.
Kujegi Camara, Massange’s mentee at Sauti Yetu and now friend, says: “Massange turned from being just a colleague to being a mentor and a close friend. In Working together to provide direct immigration legal services to our community, I witnessed Massange’s deep love for the African community and her ability to inspire and empower the women and families we worked with. She was so nurturing, caring, and empathetic. We worked with women who have been through so much and Massange always had a patient ear taking their painful stories in. I would see clients leave meetings with her all smiles and laughing. She has this wonderful ability to hear people fully and love them deeply and fiercely. Our friendship is one that is dear and close to my heart.”
”Aside from being a fierce immigration advocate for immigrant women, Massange is also an advocate on ending gender-based violence and seeks to inspire and empower women around her. She is a recent graduate from Columbia University School of Social Work, a prestigious university. Massange got her master’s in social work all the while raising her family. She is the epitome of hard work and resilience,” Kujegi added.
What started out as a difficult journey for Massange turned into a rewarding one. She is well off financially but also feels fulfilled because of her ability to add value to women’s lives. Her goal is to continue working in trauma and deepen her knowledge of mental health and treatments so she could open her own practice in the United States and then later in Guinea. Her success story reminds us that one person may not end all the problems in the world, but when each person works on an issue he or she is concerned about, the world will progress in the long term.
Inside the Life of a Social Woker
“In my community, they say that a strong woman is someone who can deal with abuse without retaliating. But I think a strong woman is a woman who is able to take herself out of that situation.”
“Growing up as an African woman in this country, I realized early on that a lot of western women see themselves as our saviors, they tell our stories and speak for us as if we don’t have voices of our own and this could not be any further from the truth. ”
“[To my children], don’t let society define you and your happiness, stand up for what is right even if it means standing alone, you may not always have people, but if you have Allah, you have everything. ”
“I believe as women we are to deal with our own struggles created by society and social circumstances and we are each the author of our own stories and nobody should have to take that away from us.”
Connect with Massange
Facebook: Massange Kamara
Email: mk4128@columbia.edu
Read other success stories here: www.iamafricanandican.info/blog
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