Ghirmay, Yordanos

MY name is Yordanos Ghirmay and I am a Ph.D. student at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) at Makerere University. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the College of Arts and Social Sciences Adi Keih in July 2014. 

Coming from a country where almost 80 percent of its population depends on agriculture, the significance of land when it is efficiently managed to tackle poverty and ensure economic stability is explicit. After I joined college, I have the opportunity to do different circular activities that involves tutoring young students who come from different places which plays a significant role in my awareness because it allowed me to meet different people and how they make living. After graduation I worked in Research and Documentation Center during the summer of 2014 that reinforced my interest in the areas of economy and politics. Besides involving in the organization of women in my country confronted me with the obstacles women have basically with patriarchy, economic dependence, and lack of legal knowledge. After joining the Makerere Institution of  Social research MISR, my concept of gender and agrarian studies broadens as it opened a way to see other societies’ struggles for equality. 

It is my ambition to contribute something beneficial and valuable to my society, especially to women of different ages, classes, and backgrounds. Therefore, participating in these thematically-organized lectures will broaden my knowledge as a woman in academics and give me an opportunity to how better serve societies that are marginalized structurally by various sectors of institutions. Besides, I am currently working on gender and land therefore, I believe these lectures will further widen my perspective and knowledge.