Island Chic’s Babble

To my absolute horror, the truth which then unveiled not only broke my heart but it lead me to such infuriating anger and helplessness that I had no idea how to even begin to console her.

Though I’ve known her for a few years, never have I imagined that she was physically abused so much, so often and by so many including her own mother!

Aisha’s father left Rugiyya and married someone else when Aisha was 4. That’s when the beating started! She was physically beaten almost every day of her life, till she was 19, which was when she came to Male’ to work for a family. Let’s hear the story of her life on the island.

She gets beaten by her mother for every little thing she did, most of which she could hardly comprehend. She did physical labour since she was as young as 7 and lived like a maid in her own home. Her mother eventually got married after a series of men who came in and out of her life. Rugiyya then had more kids. However after two kids, the second husband left Rugiyya. The beatings became worse for Aisha, not to mention that Rugiyya completely ignored the younger kids and they became Aisha’s responsibility completely, even though Aisha herself was still a child.

Aisha went to school, cooked, cleaned, looked after her siblings and tried everything possible to avoid her mother’s beatings. To her absolute dismay, it never stopped. Finally, she got accustomed to the pain. She was unusually underweight, her hair was weak from numerous jolts that she had received frequently and she was almost always nervous.

Then came Faroog! Faroog was the son of a rich, ‘beyfulhu’ family in Male. He was sent to the island for 5 years to serve a sentence which he claims was due to a ‘political’ mishap. No one really knew or cared why he was sent to the island.

Faroog lived like a king on the island. He showered the women with expensive gifts as there was no dearth of money. He slept with most of the single women and some married ones as well. One of those women happened to be Rugiyya.

Faroog goes to Rugiyya’s house often and spends most of his day at her house. Aisha was 13 then. As Rugiyya had a job at the island office as a sweeper she goes there in the afternoons and Aisha was left alone at the house with the 2 younger ones and of course Faroog! It started has Faroog simply touching parts of Aisha’s body. She was so scared and tried to run away every time, however she couldn’t leave the two kids in the house. Aisha then started avoiding staying at home and taking off with the two kids to a relative’s house. But Faroog would follow her and tell her in public that her mother wants her to be at home and to take the kids home.

Few weeks since the start and Faroog finally had his way Aisha. She was raped while the two younger kids were in the adjacent room. After that she was repeatedly raped for months and then years… Aisha tried hinting it to her mom on many occasions but couldn’t. Faroog was her mother’s ‘manfriend’! Not only will Rugiyya deny it but it will cause probably worse beatings! Aisha was right.

Nine months later, Aisha finally told her mother because she couldn’t take it anymore. By then she was already 14 years old. Rugiyya not only shout and scream but poured the mug of hot tea she was drinking when Aisha gave her the news. From then onwards, Aisha NEVER spoke a word of it to a living soul till she married Ali and to me last August!

She was abused till Farooq finally left the island when she was 18. She had never run away…she stayed and looked after the little ones, mainly for fear that they may not be spared from Faroog’s inhuman acts.

A year later, she had come to Male’ to ‘work’ for a family. As Faroog had now left, her mother needed to look for others means of income. Aisha never passed her exams at school and was expelled at in Grade 9. Her mother says she will never be able to get a job that pays well, so go work in a house in Male’.

The ‘beyfulhu’s did pay her some money every month. However, the man of the house also paid in kind! Once again Aisha had to face brutal sexual abuse. She had no way out for months. Finally she changed to a different house with a friend she met in Male’. She met Ali when she was living with her friend, they became good friends. Ali had shown the most kindness anyone had ever shown to Aisha and after a lot of pushing she finally agreed to marry him.

Now the marriage…it isn’t working. Why? Aisha has been beaten so much since her childhood that she cannot let a man touch her without cringing. She has been destroyed by years of sexual abuse and is unable to lead a normal life with a man. She is unable to sleep at night because of endless nightmares. She has finally been to a doctor and learnt that she will never be able to have a child because of irreversible damage caused due to prolonged abuse. Ali did try to be supportive at first however gradually he’s losing interest. The one thing that was good in her life, she is about to lose that too

She has no where she could turn for rehabilitation, there is no judicial system that could serve her any justice. The society will probably bring her more shame. People would probably blame her for the incidents that destroyed her life… and yeah, she needs four eye witnesses even if she begins to think about bringing Faroog to court!

When she asked me that day, do I have anything to live for, is there a reason why I should be alive now? I had no answer

The Maldives’ recent announcement to invest in a fund that will enable us to seek land abroad as a back-up plan for the worst case climate change scenario, has drawn considerable attention to otherwise ignored tiny dots on the world map.

Now, it is a further step closer to international recognition and support in our fight for survival. President Nasheed’s announcement of the Maldives’ intention to go carbon free by the year 2020 has once again put the Maldives on the map.

If i understand this correct, unlike most other countries like the Vatikan, Norway, Costa Rica etc., Maldives isn’t planning to go carbon-neutral. Rather we are aiming to go carbon free. This is to say, we are not off-setting the use of any of our domestic carbon usage by investing in forestry and the like. Instead we hope for a rapid switch to renewable energy sources for all our domestic uses through an eco-friendly scheme which is to cost an estimated $110m a year for 10 years.

Many would feel that this is a close to impossible target for a struggling economy that’s barely able to make ends meet. Why? The reasons are many. Firstly, it is a time of major economic peril for the whole world. The Maldives is operating on a heavily deficient budget, with a dearth of major investments in provision of basic services and negative trends in social stability which requires considerable investments in building social institutions. We are dependent on foreign aid to an anxious level and we do not have a history of successful renewable energy projects in the past save for a handful.

Although this outlook may seem gloomy, we are hopeful. I respect President Nasheed’s inspirational and highly ambitious target and seriously wish that our development partners will support the Maldives on this one. It is one that will set an example for the rest of the world, one which will inspire the major players in this dirty game of climate change.

Of course we are aiming for the sky here. Although in aiming for the sky, if we reach the roof it will still be a bigger achievement than many of the giant carbon intensive economies have ever achieved so far! So bravo the Maldives, here’s your chance to shine.

Photo By : Caroline von Tuempling
Related Stories: New York Times, The Guardian, Haveeru Online

Scary thought…nations are spending millions of dollars on counter terrorism programs and spending endless man-hours and funds on protecting their people from terror. However, it doesn’t seem to be doing us much good.

The issue of terrorism cannot be tackled by nations or groups of nations how powerful they may be politically or how huge their military is. Terrorism definitely disregards all borders and has become a global problem. A more collective global governance approach is needed to tackle this issue.

Instead of being reactive to terror and training huge armies, there needs to be more in depth thinking towards addressing the root cause of where the problem is coming from. Peace and harmony fueled by belief in co-existence, tolerance and mutual respect are no longer relevant as frustrations mounting for years due to discrimination, racial tension, religious differences have given way to something more powerful than any of these beliefs or ideologies.

Whether small or big, rich or poor, powerful or weak, it is time for nations and people to work ‘together’ to eradicate terrorism. Exchanging lists of ‘people who shouldn’t be allowed to travel to your country’ does not necessarily count towards major counter-terrorism efforts.

What we need is nations and multi-national groups co-existing the same way diverse micro-groups of people can live together in a dorm, sit in a university classroom or enjoy a heated academic argument on mutually exclusive viewpoints. It is possible, but only if we all put in a little bit more effort into understanding the views, ideas and lifestyle of people who are different or even contradictory to that of our own. We could call it greater ‘tolerance’!

LAURA by Laura Biagiotti
INTUITION by Estee Lauder
ALLURE by Chanel
N° 5 by Chanel
RALPH LAUREN by Ralph Lauren
ROMANCE by Ralph Lauren
OMNIA by BVLGARI
ENVY ME by Gucci
HYPNÔSE by Lancôme

Unless a woman with very specific taste in perfume, you will not disappoint them with any one of these!

The decision to nullify the existing Ministry of Atolls Development and moving its staff to various provinces is aligned with this principle of decentralization is definitely a positive step towards democratic governance. It also makes more sense to have decision makers and support staff physically positioned where their services are most relevant to, rather than keeping them at a central work station.

This being said, it is also important that the government looks at the issue of transfer of more than 100 civil servants from the capital Male’ to the provinces in a rehabilitative manner with the least economic and social damage to the people affected as well as the society as a whole. Even though their transfer will most likely have a positive impact on the country at a macro level, looking at the individual circumstances and constraints, such a step may well put the welfare of a considerable number of civil servants at jeopardy.

Currently, more than one third of the Maldives’ population lives in Male’. Centralization of resources, facilities and even basic services has forced increasing numbers of islanders to flock to the capital Male’. With much difficulty and sacrifice, they establish lives on this tiny island as it provides the best health facilities, education and income opportunities in the country. Despite the sheer desire of some islanders to escape the ‘concrete jungle, constraints and limitations in availability of opportunities and resources have crippled them, forcing them to live in Male. This could be ‘n’ number of reasons such as employment opportunities, marriage, kids’ education, family’s heath needs etc.

Such reasons make it highly inconvenient and close to impossible for many civil servants in Male’ to pack their bags and leave Male’. When the government decided to close down the particular office/department and distribute its staff to the provinces, staff members are left with an ultimatum, i.e. transfer their lives overnight or retire from the civil service with an allowance which would not only be insufficient for a healthy life but also incur unreasonable costs to the government at a time of major economic peril. This has been causing a rise in frustration levels of staff members and the usual blame game has started, with petitions, public statements and negative reports.

However, it has made me wonder about who we should blame in this matter, the government, Civil Service Commission or the staff members? The way I look at this situation, government has the best interest of its people at heart and the Civil Service Commission does not have the capacity to offer luxurious rehabilitation to the staff that may have to transfer. Therefore why not look for a mutual solution within the broader picture of civil service?

At the heart of efficient service delivery, lays the notion that talent be positioned where it is needed most. Why don’t civil service transfer Atolls Ministry staff who are unable to move to the provinces, to other government offices in Male’ where additional staff is needed? Unless some of the officials are highly specialized in terms of education and skills, transferring them within the civil service to other organizations is a practice carried out in many of the efficient public service systems such as Singapore and New Zealand. Before announcements for recruitment of new staff be made public for government agencies, if other staff within the civil service are interested, they could be given priority as they are already well acquainted with public service. This could also help balance talent and numbers of staff within the service.

On the other hand, there may be some civil servants already working in Male’ who are interested in voluntary transfer to the provinces for various reasons. If these people are given priority (with due consideration given to required skills and qualifications of the provincial offices), it could help solve a problem which may otherwise escalate in terms of individual as well as collective social and economic discomfort.