“I have had a feminist side since I was a girl” – Adam Dicko (Mali) – 1/3

Adam Dicko is a social entrepreneur and activist from Mali. In this first part of our conversation, Adam talks about her best friend’s passing and about her decision to get involved in the Youth Action Movement (Mouvement d'Action pour la Jeunesse – MAJ). We also talked about solidarity and the importance of sharing information about sexual and reproductive health (Part 2). In the end, she describes how her resistance impacted the region, her country, as well as her community (Part 3).

Adam was interviewed by Françoise Moudouthe in late 2019, as part of a global project documenting girls’ resistance. The conversation was also edited into this three-part interview by Nana Bruce-Amanquah and Edwige Dro for our #GirlsResistWA series. You can learn more about the series here. 

Trigger Warning: This conversation contains mentions of violence and abuse that may be triggering for readers. Kindly take a moment to decide if you want to keep reading. If you proceed, we encourage you to focus on your well-being and stop reading at any point if you need to.

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When thinking about your adolescence, the period of your life when you said, "I'm a girl", what age range do you think about? And why? 

I think my adolescence started when I was 14. It was truly at that age that I started discovering my body transformation and making decisions as a girl.

What kind of decisions?

When I was 16, I stepped into action after experiencing something sad. A friend of mine died after having an abortion. That’s when I became aware of some things and stepped into action. I was her best friend, and she was a bit older than me. We used to go to school together. When she became pregnant, she told me about it, but I was quite young, which was a bit extraordinary.

Her father was the neighbourhood Imam, and she told me that she wanted to terminate the pregnancy because if her father found out, he would kill her and her mother. I told her that maybe she wasn’t pregnant. Besides, we went to high school with the boy who impregnated her. He denied everything and said it wasn’t his. One day, we both lied to our parents and said we each needed 2500 CFA francs for a school trip. It was actually to go to the hospital to make her get an ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy, which cost 5000 CFA francs. 

We went to the hospital together for the ultrasound. That’s when the doctor told us she was four months pregnant. She didn’t know. She had been falling ill for a few months then, but when she went to the nurse’s office which wasn’t well equipped, she was given paracetamol or Efferalgan. The nurse thought she was suffering from malaria.

She told me that she was going to have an abortion. I replied that I didn’t think it was a good idea and that we could find a solution. One day, I was told she tried to terminate her pregnancy and take her own life. She was taken to the hospital but died before she got there. Her mother found out she was pregnant after she passed. That’s when things got worse.

It was a very difficult year for me. Not only had I lost my best friend, but I also lost the esteem of some of my family members. Since we were best friends and she was pregnant, people thought that I was also sexually active. I was targeted and it was a very difficult time. The school was my haven during classes. Students were more focused on classes than they were on me. During recess, I stayed in the classroom.  

I’m sorry you experienced this. What happened after? Your classes aside, how did you spend your time at school? 

There were many extracurricular activities in which I was involved during events. One day, the school principal sent me to an event. It was on December 1st, and the Youth Action Movement (Mouvement d'Action pour la Jeunesse – MAJ)., the youth unit of the AMPPF [Association Malienne Pour la Protection et la Promotion de la Famille], had invited our school to take part in the celebration of World AIDS Day. When I went, the young participants performed a skit about the use of condoms and contraceptive methods. It was a shock for me. It was the first time in my life that I heard about that. I didn’t know anything about it. At home, we didn’t dare watch our TV when condom commercials were on. We didn’t learn about these things at school either. 

But I thought that if I had known this before, my best friend might still be with us today. She might not have made the mistakes she did if she had access to this information. After the event, I approached the young people who performed the skit and asked them how I could become like them, know all that they knew and be able to talk about it. They then told me about the movement and explained how I could join it. 

Once I was back in high school, I told the principal about it. I told him that I wanted to join this movement. I was in Sébéninkoro and their headquarters were in Kalaban. It was far away. The principal offered to take me there the next day to seek the necessary information to join them. That’s what I wanted: to have the information to start raising awareness in my school. I knew that my schoolmates needed to access his knowledge. So, we went to Kalaban. I was given my membership card and then I was told that the district office elections were being held that same day and I could stay and attend. I replied that I only needed information to start raising awareness the next day in my school. They told me I needed the training to do that.  Upon seeing my enthusiasm, the MAJ coordinator advised me to attend the office elections, to help me understand the movement. My principal agreed.

We went into the election room; I didn’t know anyone. They started with the district president’s position. There were six candidates, all of whom were young men. Ever since I was a girl, I have had a feminist side. I raised my hand, to my principal’s surprise, because he wanted me to stay quiet and listen more to what was happening. I raised my hand and asked if the position was for men only. The instructor told me that everyone was welcome to apply. Each candidate was given two minutes to speak. When my turn came, I introduced myself and said that I essentially wanted to prove that women could also be candidates. Four men immediately withdrew their application and supported me. We eventually held the election, which I won. That’s how I became president of the MAJ of the district of Bamako at 16/17 years old.  

That’s amazing! Your victory reminds me of something. When I asked you to show me an item that symbolized your youth, you sent me a picture of a trophy. Could you tell me why you chose this item? 

I was awarded this trophy in 2014 by the Ministry of Youth because I was the national president of the MAJ. The inscription says “the trophy of hope” (in French: le trophée de l’espoir”). I like this trophy a lot because it’s about hope, and receiving it was a head start for me. Whenever I look at it, I tell myself that I must move forward. Some people place their hope in me, and I can’t let them down.

Yes, you carried great responsibility. Were you always this dedicated when you were young?  What were you like as a young girl? 

Outside the family circle, I was actively committed; but within the family, I was rebellious. Completely rebellious. I questioned everything.

Outside, I was committed. I can even say that I was overexcited. I was doing too much. After I started the training and saw a group of young people sitting around, I would come and sit next to them and ask them if they knew what condoms were. I didn't even know what it was. I had been trained and wanted everyone to know the same thing I did. People were amazed and stared at me. They said I was too young. I would talk a lot until they asked me to stop.

You were fascinating! Did your involvement truly change the negative perception people had of you? Did it stop you from hiding?

Yes. Slowly, there have been positive changes. When I became president of the MAJ at the district level, it required many activities like talks and training. And I, being overexcited, came every day with a list of activities I proposed to the coordinator. She would tell me: "calm down, calm down" (she laughs).

I set up several initiatives. I created a youth club in our neighborhood. I wanted to launch an anti-AIDS club in my school. I asked the AMPPF if they could train us, and they agreed. That’s how the anti-AIDS club was founded.  Each week we had to have seven talks. On Saturdays, the AMPPF representatives would come, and we would show them our notebooks, how many people we reached, and the topics we talked about. I spoke about these issues on radio stations. Thanks to the AMPFF, we equipped our infirmary. So, step by step at school I served as a model. I wasn’t the friend of the girl who had an abortion and died anymore. I built a positive image of myself.  

In the second part, we talk about how Adam grew up and her first experiences with resisting. Click here to read it!