Angel on Oprah

Like many whose curiosity were piqued by Studio 23's teaser ads, I stayed up late to watch Angel Aquino appear on Oprah. Tonight's show featured women all over the world -- 30 year old women, to be more specific. What they do, what they wear, how they differ from the Americans, what sets them apart. Very interesting. Wasn't able to watch the Kuwaiti woman's segment though, so didn't really learn much about them, except that they take long coffee and lunch breaks, and they really dress up. The other women that caught my interest were:

1. The Mexican women who showed Oprah the proper way to drink tequila. Not by taking shots of tequila, but by sipping it, pretty much like how one would sip cognac. Mexican women in their 30s say no to gym and no to diets. Yippeeeee!

2. Cuban women will probably have been divorced three times by the time they reach 30. Getting a divorce is easy, as long as both parties agree to it. It costs around $1.50 and takes around five minutes to finish the whole process.

3. Women in Brazil think that it is more important to have a good body than to get married by 30.

4. An Iraqi journalist has a machine gun in her living room. It is not uncommon for Iraqi women to take valium to escape reality for a while.

5. Only 21% of 30 year old women in London are fat. Compared to America's 67%. Whoa! And they have a (gasp!) 35-hour work week. Plus, they have a paid 5 weeks vacation leave. Double whoa!

As for the Philippines, Pinays know how to take a break. And they take coffee breaks pretty much the way Americans do. In fact, we have 67 branches of Starbucks all around the country. (Or was it Seattle's Best?)

Very similar to what the woman from HK had to say about their women. She just said that HK women knew how to enjoy life.

Sayang. Angel's segment did not give any idea at all of what makes Pinays stand out from other women. Starbucks, schmarbucks. Starbucks has several branches in several countries all around the world! The segment could have tackled about famous Pinay voices (e.g. Lea Salonga, Regine Velasquez, Jasmine Trias etc.), or how the average 30 year old Pinay divides her time among work, family and personal time.

But what struck me most of all the women featured on the show was the woman from Rwanda. Oprah's opening line went, "....where women rarely make it to see 30." Genital mutilation was the first reason that came to mind. I think it's being practiced until now and has caused several deaths among adolescent women in some parts of Africa. (Don't really know the exact place.)

Henriette (spell check please!), the Rwandan woman, was a survivor of the genocide that took place ten years ago. She witnessed 16 members of her family killed, one by one. She was raped by several members of the militia until they were so tired that they had to stop. That was when she escaped. Seven years later, she's single handedly raising her son, and has adopted three other children. She looks forward to studying in college, and does not like talking about the incident. Read more about the genocide here.

Wow. I can't believe the genocide happened ten years ago without me even knowing about it. Probably saw one or two news articles about it and didn't bother to read it. Even Oprah admitted that the genocide in Rwanda was overshadowed by other matters.

But I digress. The point is, it's amazing how this woman, after witnessing the deaths of her loved ones, and after being abused so many times, can still have the genuine desire to live. If I had been in her position, I would probably just have waited for the militia to kill me. What is there to live for? All my loved ones gone, my body violated. Ugh! I shudder just thinking about it. But she had the strength and desire to live. And has managed to create a life for herself which brings her joy and happiness.