YOWLEE Update: Moiyattu Banya (YOWLI 08) on Helping Organize the 2011 YOWLI Monologues

Moiyattu Banya during her monologue performance
Photo Credit: Chiedu Odogwu

Feminist theater is something I have always been involved with and admired. Since my first experience in 2005 during my college years wherein I was a part of Eve Ensler’s, Vagina Monologues, I realized that this was a space that women can tell their stories in a very dynamic and unconventional way to provide for a platform of information sharing, and a network of healing and sisterhood. My experience during the Vagina monologues was an unforgettable one. The experience was my introduction to feminist theater as I learned a lot about putting a script together from start to finish.  However I always felt that the voice of women of color, let alone African women, was limited in the script. A moment of clarity I had was  when I was asked to stage manage “ Yoni Ki Baat”  a show very similar to the Vagina Monologues, but specifically for South Asian Women written by a South Asian woman.  I realized that there needed to be such a script for African women; I yearned for there to be such a space for women like me, for African women. How it would look and who would be in it, I had no idea about, so I made a wish that one day I would be a part of a movement where African women performed a monologues script that represented our voices.

My YOWLI Experience
My wish came to be, when I attended the Young Women's Knowledge and Leadership Institute (YOWLI) conference in 2008. At the end of the conference, myself and a couple of the participants thought it was a great idea to put on the “V monologues” - the Nigerian version of the Vagina Monologues, written and produced by KIND; an organization in Nigeria. The experience was one that we as participants would never forget, and I played an instrumental part in co-producing the show along with my colleagues. I knew more could be done with this concept. After our performance during the cultural night event, the cast talked about how this could be replicated in different spheres, and how could we make monologues even more specific to our experiences. Thus the YOWLI monologues was born.

An Opportunity to Give Back

In March 2011, I received an email inviting me to be a participant and organizer for AWOMI’s event at the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women, wherein I was charged to help organize the monologues which we later called the YOWLI monologues. I was very excited to be a part of this process because monologues are something I am extremely passionate about.  I began the process by asking all participants to submit monologues specific to the topic areas of the day, these included climate change, sexual health and reproductive rights, and youth leadership.  A week before the event I worked very closely with AWOMI program coordinator Jemila Abdulai and Nwannekka Nnoli, a colleague of mine from YOWLI 2008, to arrange the monologues together into a script, by editing, and organizing them. The entire process of putting the monologues together initially was very digital and of course with this came challenges, with various time zones and every ones commitment levels it was difficult to get all of the monologues in time. Despite these challenges, the team of participants worked diligently together to send in monologues that were specific to their lives.

Coming Together
The most exciting and powerful moment of the monologues production was when the entire cast came  together in the United States and rehearsals began. I was excited to meet everyone on the cast who were from the recent YOWLI 2010, and my alumnae colleagues from YOWLI 2006 and 2008.  From practicing the monologues repeatedly, to continuously re-editing the script to make it more accustomed to the topics for the panel discussion the participants were a part of, a lot of time and energy went into bringing the script alive. The cast was so engaged not only in our own monologues but specifically in those of our fellow cast members. This I believe played a major role in the energy that people brought to their pieces. After days of practicing the monologues, and in addition to other obligations, everything was ready for debut at the United Nations. The first piece was performed by Esther Sheehama from Namibia titled “Life and Me” which focused on a woman living with HIV and the impact that the climate change has on her health, and overall well being, and its impact on her family. More monologues followed that dealt with very intense topics such as female genital circumcision (FGM), drought, sex trafficking, brain drain and its impact on the global economic crisis. At moments the room was silent, as the crowd listened intensely, at moments the room was filled with laughter, at moments with anger, a combination of valid responses from the crowd. The monologue I recited was written by Nwannekka Nnoli who was not able to attend the conference. I was able to edit versions of the monologue to make it more true to my experience. I performed a monologue titled “Why not pass the baton?” This monologue was the story of a young woman who had returned from the United States after receiving an ivy league degree and was still frustrated because she was not able to get a job, due to corrupt leaders who shuffle positions across the government and other sectors, in her country of origin. The monologues were diverse, engaging, and powerful. They represented the voices of African women, and provided a platform for attendees to ask questions and engage in conversations afterwards.

The Essence of It All

What I took away from this experience was that monologues can help validate anyone’s story, the structure can be replicated into other communities. Monologues can also serve as a means to share information about the challenges and triumphs that a group of people, in this case YOWLI participants, are facing in our communities. We plan on posting the videos of the monologues on You Tube for them to serve as a means for other African women to utilize and make their own to then post on the web or perform in their own communities.  The monologues are something I will continue to be a part of organizing and participating in either through YOWLI or other avenues in Africa. Feminist theater has proven to be a great platform for women and should continue being utilized as another means of having our voices heard in very intentional and focused ways specific to our experiences and voices. 

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Written by Moiyattu Banya. Moiyattu is a YOWLI 2008 graduate from Sierra Leone. She recently helped organize the first ever YOWLI Monologues during the 55th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.