Artifact #4: Female West African Immigrants in the United States: Challenges and Empowering Strategies

Mamadou M. Seck surveyed 19 female African immigrants. Most of these women had large amounts of their family back in Africa. Also it's important to note that many of these women were married but their husbands had worked in different parts of the US in an attempt to make more money for their well being. Many of the women had entered the country illegally (only 5 had entered legally and were documented) . However, for those worried about potential issues amongst these women none were documented as having an criminal record in their home country. Many of the women studied stated that they held their collectivist ideas and would send large sums of money back to Africa to support family and provide a better life for them. One of the women was stated saying, "At home people count on us, we are poor over there". It gives an emotional plea as well as an example of how these women are human and retaining their culture even in an new environment. It is important to note that much like in the Edmond J. Keller book, and stated by our guest speaker, here women are taking on the role as the matriarch to support their family. To improve their situation Seck says that more educational as well medical treatment needs to be provided for these women. Many have to work jobs that are laborous and underpaid. This means that work conditions would also be worse for them.