She can't help being a girl

She refuses to make eye contact with anyone. Though she has one of the highest ranking position in the room, she speaks while looking down. She remarks on how difficult it is for women in the workplace, how her opinion is overlooked… how she will never be considered an equal. But she made it to district manager level.
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“Nafi… Nafioo” my host mom calls to my eight year old sister. She is always called away from the other kids to do house work. She is always called away from the other kids to do housework. She is the only girl still living at home and therefore the sole person to assist her mother with chores. Every morning she is up sweeping the courtyard while her brothers are still asleep. Every night she cooks, cleans, and watches her two year old brother. Her life is different from her six brothers and the expectations of her future are also- she is to marry, bare children and manage the home. Most women in the village do not know French because they stopped their studies to help at home. But Nafi is the only one of my host siblings who studies French every night.
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Yes you are a woman but you are American and therefore you opinion matters. Welcome to the 3rd gender of Burkina. You are not quite as good as a man, especially not an American one but you are definitely treated better than a Burkinabe woman. You have to learn your role and place in this “archaic” world. But you are here and you make a difference, especially because you are female.