Do They Hear You When You Cry

Author: Fauziya Kassindja & Layli Miller Bashir
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date Started: 17 April 2021
Date Finished: 23 April 2021

I bumped into this book while reading an article about an Iranian woman filing for asylum. I also recently read a paper about FGM and I thought this book would be a perfect fit.
Fauziya's story starts in prison. Fauziya Kassindja grew up in Togo, one of the African countries, protected by her father and mother, who believed in educating girls and rejecting some of the cultural practices like FGM. She is one of the 7 children.
After Fauziya's father died, her aunt and uncle evict her mother from the house and promises her as a 4th wife to a 45 years old man, who wants Fauziya to go through FGM. Fauziya illegally flies to Germany while escaping with the help of her sister and then lands in the USA seeking asylum. While in Germany, she befriends a German woman Rudina who helps Fauziya for two months. She meets Charlie, who is also from Africa, and helps her escape to America with his sister's passport.
Fauziya is stuck in jail for asylum for more than a year. Her struggle to get through the system, hearing, and jail conditions are horrendous. Her cousin Rahuf tries to help her by getting the lawyers. Fauziya meets the lawyer Layli Miller Bashir, who practices Bahai faith and is aware of FGM, works hard to get Fauziya out of jail. In the book, Fauziya talks about every jail inmate she came across and everyone who helped her. She speaks highly about Layli, who was with her every step of the way.
The author also shows how bad the system is and how corrupted the entire system is. The medical facility, the quality food given to the inmates, and not to mention the solitary confinement without any explanation.
I liked the character of Layli, who tried everything she could to get Fauziya out of jail. Layli's efforts to get the experts to have a say in the case, relentless efforts to find people who can help Fauziya's case show her determination to her work and ethics.
The book was an eye-opener in many ways. Fauziya who practices Islam talks about her faith and some of the rituals of Islam, which were very interesting to know. The book also gave enough background on the culture and practices of African tribes. The book was long and the story was narrated well. There were a lot of repetitions and towards the end, I felt that the book could have been at least 50 pages less than it is.
Favorite lines from the book:

• Someone suggested 'Fauziya' - Supreme Success - which my father thought was perfect.
• My parents, however, were strong believers in educating all their children in both madrasah and secular schools. My father saw education as consistent with being a good Muslim because Islam emphasizes the importance of attaining knowledge.
• We (Muslims) believe that people who die while observing Ramadan, go straight to heaven because they die sinless.
• I believe God determines everything and has His reasons for everything, reasons we don't always understand.
• The Bahai's believe parents are obligated to educate all their children, but if parents must choose between educating a son and educating a daughter because there is a lack of money, they educate the girl first; they feel that since girls grow up to become mothers and mothers are the first educators of children, their education is particularly important to the well-being of both family and community.
• She saw the poverty, she saw the hunger. She saw how women were often abused and exploited in a typically patriarchal African culture.
• Suddenly I realized that when the policeman had hit me on the wrist with the baton, my watch must have taken much of the force of impact. It was Yaya, still protecting me.