Cautious Pioneers

Yesterday I met a ton of fantastic women. This shouldn’t be a surprise given that this is what I’m here to do. However, at first glance Libya, like many conservative Muslim countries, doesn’t seem like the place you will meet impressive women. Not many are spotted on the streets. The ones who do venture out do so completely covered and usually with an escort. At night, more crickets than women are spotted…

I went to the Libyan General National Congress yesterday to meet some of the women who were elected. We drove up to the impressive pre-Gaddafi's demise structure that was built to lavishly host African Union leaders with plush couches, gilded mirrors and opulent chandeliers. Apparently only one section in the back was damaged during the liberation of Tripoli, because a few of Gaddafi’s hardliner (and ill-fated) guards hid out there for a fleeting moment. The rest stands perfectly preserved. With some hesitance, the new Libyan government is taking up residence.

In what seems to be a constant theme in Libya right now of “opposite-world,” I met with the first elected women leaders in Libya’s history. In the extraordinary aftermath of “liberation,” a history teacher, a chemistry teacher, and a couple of housewives now run the country. How does a housewife in a conservative culture get elected? I’m still not sure of the answer. The conversation could have gone better. They are warm and eager, but they needed help. Not monetary support, but rather skills support. They are pioneers sure, but they’re not exactly celebrating their status as the first elected women in Libya. They are not treated badly by their colleagues or husbands, but they are frozen in terror of their actual tasks at hand. Libya’s inventing democracy. Right now. It has never been present and it is alien. Their concerns were not “how do we codify women’s rights?” “how do we make sure women have access to healthcare?” “how can we make sure women in rural areas gain skills?”

Instead, they needed help making decisions. “We’re afraid. We don’t understand legal issues. We are not lawyers. The men are confused too. We need help doing our jobs.”

Hmm, not exactly the women’s issues I was expecting to tackle. At the end of the meeting, one of the housewives made a beeline for Halima, our Libyan-American staffer. She asked her for a recommendation for a babysitter. Halima was floored. She could not imagine these very important, pioneering women so fixated on ordinary issues. We launched into quite a conversation afterwards about how to encourage and support these women. We also realized that before we get issue platforms together, there are a whole host of “government 101” tasks at immediate hand.