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Summary:
While working with women as a volunteer in Mali, Kirsten came face to face with polygamy and female circumcision, both of which are practiced as part of sub-Saharan African Muslim culture. As an American, she struggled with how to respond to what she saw. What is an outsider’s responsibility? Are these cultural practices that deserved to be respected, or a violation of fundamental human rights that ought to stopped? Should aid workers be involved in addressing these issues the way they are involved in AIDS education? Or is it the responsibility of local peoples to make and live with these decisions? Who has the power, and the legitimate authority, to decide?
While Kirsten is not an expert on the subject, she will share her first-hand experiences with Malian family and friends, on the Women in Development Committee, and her reflections on local films that discuss the issue. She will discuss the Malian government’s position on these issues, and the attitudes held by various parts of Malian society.
Presenter: Kirsten Krohn
Kirsten Krohn graduated from Yale University with honors in 1995. Her
major was Psychology. She then joined the Peace Corps and was assigned
to be a volunteer in Mali, West Africa for two years. She served in
the Small Business development sector working with village banks on
development and education and also with women’s groups on business
plans and savings and loans.
After her two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, Kirsten taught
English in South Korea, lived briefly in Hawaii and then moved to Los
Angeles where she got her MA in clinical Psychology. After studying
Spanish in Costa Rica for 3 months she relocated to San Francisco where
she started private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
