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'Lilian rounded a corner and saw, in the distance, the outline of her aunt’s hut. Her stomach tightened. Her sisters had met with Afia when their bodies began to change. What had Afia told them about becoming Sabiny women? Lilian had wanted to know her aunt’s secrets so badly, but now that she was on her doorstep, she wasn’t so sure. Knowing was dangerous. It would make her one of them: a woman. And becoming a woman meant stopping school. Women didn’t have time to read books. They had to weave mats and sell cassava and cook and dig. They had to have babies and hold onto husbands.’
Description Lilian has learned to shrink herself to fit other people’s ideas of what a girl is. In Lilian’s village in Uganda a girl is not meant to be smarter than her brother. A girl is not meant to go to school or enjoy her body or decide who to marry. Inspired by true stories, I am Change is the tragic but empowering story of how a young girl finds her voice and the strength to fight for change. |