“Resisting is accepting to take responsibility for yourself” – Kadiatou Konate (Guinea) – 1/3

We are in conversation with Kadiatou Konate, a Guinean feminist activist for girls’ rights and against gender-based violence. In this interview, Kadiatou tells us about her adolescence and her commitment to girls’ rights, as well as her first acts of resistance. She also talks about the situation of girls in Guinea, the challenges she faces, her motivations, and the impact of her actions (Part 2). We end the conversation with insights on her activism today, and her dreams for girls (Part 3).

Kadiatou was interviewed by Françoise Moudouthe in late 2019 as part of a global project documenting girls’ resistance. The conversation was edited into this three-part interview by Nana Bruce-Amanquah and Chanceline Mevowanou 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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Thank you for being part of this conversation, Kadiatou. Let’s start with a question to get to know you better: How would you introduce yourself?

I’m a bit of a crazy girl. I don’t like being frustrated or angry. I always do my best to smile, which allows me to have a different vision of the world. Whatever issue I may have, I have a smile on my face. All I have to do is see another person and I start to smile. Beyond being that smiling girl, I sometimes feel like I am too demanding of myself, and the people who are close to me. I want everything around me to be better. When I meet someone, I push them to be better.

When did your teenage years start? How old were you? What event would you say marked the start of your adolescence?

When I was little, I liked birthdays. But one day I was invited to a birthday party, and I didn't feel like going. My mother looked at me and said, "Oh yes, little Kadi is grown”. That made me think and I realised that I had grown up. I was twelve years old. But I think I skipped the fun stage, which is what I mean by adolescence. I started my club activities when I was fourteen or fifteen, so I didn't enjoy my teenage years. The moments that I did enjoy were during my siblings’ birthdays at home, my cousins' birthdays, or when we had a recreational activity in the club with the girls.

Who were the important people in your teenage life? How did you get along with them?

There is my mother, my father, and my brothers. Then there is my coach. He is the one who guides me, helps me frame what I am doing, advises me, and guides me when I get lost. He tries to keep track of everything I do, my actions, my communication, and everything that follows. I met him in 2015, right before the creation of the club, through Hadja Idrissa Bah. Without exaggeration, I find my life incomplete without him. Beyond our professional relationship, he created a trusting relationship. When I fall ill, he is always at my side. When I want to talk to someone, and I think no one is there to listen to me, I just pick up the phone. When I call him, he starts to smile, which makes me smile too.

Then there are my friends from the Guinea Girl Leaders Club (in French: Club des Jeunes Filles Leaders de Guinée). The girls of the club are a whole other world to me. Whenever I am with the girls… if I am not in a good mood, just seeing the girls from the club is enough to make me start giggling. We've been through so many hard times together! When I think about it, I’m like “WOW”! We were able to get through it together, and now we're all here. When I'm with them, they give me strength. When I feel like giving up, I look at the girls around me and tell myself «Go ahead, Kadi, you have no reason to give up. A whole group believes in you”. 

Now, I’d like to talk about your resistance. What does resisting mean to you? 

Resisting is to disagree with an ideology that’s not mine. So, resisting is accepting to take responsibility, and refusing to be influenced by others. That means that to resist, it is imperative to be clear about what you want and understand the needs of others.  That’s when you’ll properly resist. It’s about respecting your ideologies and commitments and staying focused on your goals. 

During your teenage years, were there people around you who embodied this resistance?

Hadja Idrissa Bah did. Despite the cyberbullying, she resisted and continues to fight against FGM in Guinea. She’s often criticised and insulted, but she told me that she wouldn’t give up. These people give her the strength to go on. Giving up would let them get the better of her fight. She doesn’t want to give them that chance. She’s confident in her actions, the content she shares, and the message she conveys.

What about you? Could you tell me what your first act of resistance was? 

The first time was with the club. It was the first time I had to handle a case of early marriage. We had just founded the club, and a friend of mine came to tell me about a forced marriage. Hadja Idrissa Bah, the club’s president was on a trip, and I had no experience in handling cases like that. We were doing our best, but I didn’t have anyone supporting me. No one would listen to me. People advised me to give up. We called the girl’s parents, but instead of helping, they threw her out on the same day. So, I told the girl to come and live at my parents’ house without their consent. While she approved, my mother didn’t think it was a good idea to have her in our house without the consent of the girl’s parents or the police. 

My resistance began at this point. My mother, on her way out, told me that she didn't want to find this girl at home without a consent document when she came back at night. But the girl stayed with us for three days. I told my mother that I couldn't put her out. So, I resisted, and that’s how it started. The girl, seeing that there was no other way out, agreed to get involved in the process, and together, in less than two days, we were finally able to talk to her parents who canceled the marriage.

Can you tell me about what you do at the club?

I’ll give an overall definition of the club. It is a non-profit that promotes girls’ rights while fighting against gender-based violence.

The club is called "Guinea Girl Leaders Club"?

Yes, the club is called the Guinea Girl Leaders Club. I devote a lot of time to it. We often have activities in tailoring workshops, in classrooms, and in direct contact with the community. I spend more time on the club's community service projects than on other activities such as skills building, research, project development, fundraising, working with partners, traveling to represent the club, and other administrative work.

Was the club your first civic engagement experience or were you already involved in other initiatives?

The club was the first organisation I joined. Before that, I had the ambition, in 7th grade, to start an NGO to help children. It was while trying to create this organisation that I met Hadja Idrissa Bah, who suggested that we work together. And that's how we set up the club.

What made you want to create an organisation?  What motivated your involvement? 

It was to defy my father who said that young people could not do anything. The challenge was to show my father that young people could be dynamic, responsive, and hardworking. In the meantime, I had already seen Hadja Idrissa Bah on television and I had told my father that I was going to meet her. At first, it was a challenge that I wanted to take up. But later on, seeing certain things and having certain information, changed my motivations.

In the second part, we will discuss the situation of girls in Guinea, the challenges that Kadiatou faces, and her motivations to keep resisting. Click here for this next part.