Vol. 9, Issue 1 ---------------------------------------------------- FGM Report 2003
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FGM REPORT 2003 FROM OUR KENYA TEAM
(Pictures of recent meeting at Mt. Elgon, Kenya following text)
The hour had come, it was 5 o'clock in the morning of December 13, 2002. Thirty-six young girls paraded in the morning chill to be initiated into adulthood through the painful act of chopping off their clitoris. Looking scared but determined, they walked slowly to the designated point under a big tree with round smooth stones seemingly prepared for the occasion. It was dead silence for a while then suddenly came a shrilling voice from one of the older women a sign probably that the ceremony could start. During the day and for the past three weeks the girls were in camps where they were allegedly being taught how to be brave and go through the knife. They looked tired having been paraded in the village the whole afternoon and been crowned as hero's through dance and traditional songs. Dance broke out as the women gave the signal and all those attending started singing in a frenzy with vigor kind of like possessed by some evil spirit. Fingers were being pointed at the girls as the words of the songs encouraged them not to fear or cry as the evil spirits and death would follow those who cry or who shy out of the exercise. In the dark of the morning, a woman could be seen preparing her small paraphernalia from a small leather bag. We tried to move closer in order to have a glance at what was being prepared but we were told not to move closer than we were and one woman reminded the rest that we were strangers and yes the three of us had talked to the women leaders to allow us be part of the ceremony and after a whole week of deliberations they had accepted that we were to be present but with strict rules to follow. Within a few minutes the signing died off to pave way for action. We were then requested to move further behind and a deliberate attempt was being made for us not to see the next moves as the woman who was preparing herself come forward to start her work. The first girl was then quickly ushered in front and made to sit on one of the stones with her legs well apart. Pain and agony went through the face of this little 9 year old girl as the FGM surgeon reached out with her razor blade and with a speed that surprised all of us swiftly did away with the unwanted part of the little girl's body. Even at a distance we could see the jerking of the girls body due to pain inflicted on her and the shock made her faint. The women on stand by lifted her off the area for others to get a chance to go through the ritual and could be seen to be slapping the fainted girl perhaps to wake her up and stop shaming them but in vain. As she was being carried away blood was flowing from her wound. As the next girl was being brought to the slaughter, I had developed cold feet and my joints could not carry me any more. The pain had gone through my spinal system and I was feeling dizzy. Philomena who was with us had been hard hit too and was on her knees praying and our third colleague had moved far back and had been affected so bad that she was actually vomiting and shaking. Enough was enough and we could not seat to watch all the thirty-six go through it and so drove off to the home we had camped at. This and many more instances are what happen to young girls in various parts of Kenya during the period of circumcision. Worse so in the Mount Elgon area.
Actions Implemented During The Year To Stop FGM
FORMATION OF COMMITTEE
Four-community committees from different sub locations were formed with a mandate to liaise and work in collaboration with TEMAK in trying to educate the community on dangers of FGM and will be used as the entry point to the community. The committees will mobilize and coordinate all activities geared towards eradication of FGM. The members would act as role models and inform and educate the community and especially the girls on dangers of FGM after them being trained by TEMAK. Six committee meetings were held during the year to plan for all the activities that took place and to strategize for the year 2003.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT STRUCTURE ESTABLISHMENT
The entire community leadership of the four sub-locations was reached a sensitized on the programs to be carried out amongst the young girls. Tremendous goodwill was established that helped the program achieve successes.
COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS
1. Eight community focus group discussions took place to try and get the cultural implications and drive of FGM in this area amongst the community. Several important issues emerged from the discussions. The following are some of the major areas of concern.
2. The community takes very exceptional pride in Female Genital Mutilation.
3. Those that do not accept genital Mutilation are outcasts and a taboo to the whole community and a total disgrace to their families and risk being cast out from the community and despised by their peers for life.
4. Girls who do not go through Mutilation cannot be married from the same community by Men of the same community and thus are of no benefit to their families since the lucrative dowry paid during marriage can not be fetched by the family.
5. Girls in this community who refuse Mutilation are subjected to humiliation and shame from all the women of the village and are given humiliating names to distinguish them from other village girls.
6. If they die no burial ceremonies are accorded to them like the other village women rather they are buried hurriedly outside the compound of the home symbolizing that she has been thrown away.
7. Those who despise the practice and do not participate in any way are seen as traitors to the community and are cursed by the elders to undergo suffering in their entire life.
There are many traditional and customary laws and myths associated with the practice of FGM in this area.
1. FGM is the only way to giving birth and that without it you are infertile.
2. You will die at an early age if you do not go through circumcision.
3. Your children will die or be deformed if you give birth without being circumcised.
4. You will smell and produce bad odor if you do not receive the cut.
5. You will turn into a prostitute at teenage and continue the practice into marriage.
6. Bad Omen will follow you and the entire community.
7. You will not satisfy your future husband sexually.
8 You will never get a husband.
With this in mind, the little girls feel it is their obligation to go through the practice innocently thinking that they are making their future better not really aware of the consequences of the practice which they are never told about.
SEMINARS FOR GIRLS UNDER 13 YEARS
The seminar for little girls attracted Thirty-eight young girls from the 4 sub locations chosen for the project.
For 4 days the facilitators took the girls through teachings that would remove the Myths by teaching them of the consequences of FGM. The participatory approach method used in the seminar helped the girls to synthesis the teachings and be in a position to make informed choices at the end of the seminar.
SKILL TRAINING FOR UNDER 24 YEARS
One hundred fifty girls gathered together for this strategy that worked so successfully. The objective here was to be creative enough to bring young girls together for various skills that will enhance their economic status while taking the opportunity to teach on the dangers of FGM. Skills offered included Artwork, painting of guards, Creative needlework, Creative sowing, Candle making, Herbal soap making, Calligraphy, Card making, Jewelry and wire products making. A total of 150 young girls below the age of 24 participated in the one week training, which was conducted by other young girls already trained in these areas as facilitators. This unique approach made it easy to pass the message on FGM amongst participants. Within their smaller groups, the facilitators well taught on issue of FGM carefully made it known to the girls that FGM had no value and its end results were dangerous. Every evening the whole group came together for a review of the days training and teaching and here again one facilitator would make clear certain areas taught during the day and participants allowed to ask questions with all the facilitators available to answer.
It is important to note that the young girls in this program did not only gain knowledge on FGM but got valuable skills to help them earn a living. With intensive marketing of the products taught being done by TEMAK, the girls have gained total economic independence and have a skill to live on. Our hope is that they be an example to the rest since the strategy is such that they continue to train the other girls who showed interest in the training but did not attend due to the over enrollment of participants while passing on the message on dangers of FGM to all young people of their age especially girls.
FAMILY APPROACH
As the year progressed it was important that the families preparing their children for FGM be approached and reached to try and give them information through dialogue hoping that in the process they will see sense and not let their children undergo circumcision. Forty-six families were approached. Only 25 families were targeted for this strategy after the rest refused to be involved where community committees and volunteers visited and had sessions with the families on a weekly basis. Dialogue, Friendship, family visits, spiritual counseling both for the children in the home and parents, interviews and in-house training were part of the strategies employed to try and convince the families not to involve there children in FGM. It is encouraging to note that this very risky, time was demanding, patience testing and time consuming strategy managed to convince 13 families to change their minds and withdraw their children from going through the knife despite the community pressure and the risk of loosing their status in the community.
THE SPIRITUAL APPROACH
The word of God has been found so powerful as to be used to change lives, attitudes and behavior. It is for this reason that as a first approach it was decided that 3 schools be chosen and the Christian Union clubs be used as an entry point to the Christian youth both in school and out of school. 4 mainstream churches too were sensitized and will be extensively used next year as a pivot point to involving Christians in the fight against FGM. The successful strategies employed in Kisii which saw great involvement and participation of he Church will be employed in the year 2003. Meanwhile the sensitization process continues as a number of Church minister are approached to be part of the next years team that will formulate strategies for implementation.
SPECIAL EVENTS
One cold and chilly morning of December 6th, a group of young people confronts one of the TEMAK community committee members wanting to know why she is involved in the crusade against FGM while she herself is circumcised. Noticing that she was in danger she knelt down and asked for forgiveness and mercy from the angry youths. Being a market day, she was frog marched to the market place and made to publicly denounce those whose are out to destroy this 'beautiful culture' as the youths put it and immediately quit being a member of the team and a crusader against FGM. TEMAK then lost one of the best crusaders.
On the 8th of November after a successful visit to some of the schools targeted for campaigns against FGM, while the team members were having a cup of tea in a small food kiosk, they are confronted by an old man who starts hurling abuses at them for going against the traditions of the land and bringing foreign ideologies to ruin their culture. The old man points a finger at the local administration who he accuses of collaborating with us to ruin the land. It becomes a little scaring as the old man begins to chant and sing in his mother tongue which attracts a huge crowd many of whom join in the songs. The vehement singing and the vibrations of the sharp and shrilling sounds in the middle of the songs and the dance makes it almost look like a celebration of some sort. It is in this confusion that the team members got organized and jumped into their vehicle and drove off amidst shouts of shame, shame coming from the crowd.
A circumciser is cornered at her home by two members of the team and after a long talk is asked to abandon her long time practice at which she retorts 'This is a calling only compared to being the president of the country since I'm the eye and the pride of this community a privilege that can only be revoked by our ancestors. Let them (ancestors) proclaim from their graves that I quit and I shall do so'. She then asked the visitors to leave her compound with immediate effect.
The team members are informed of a private circumcision exercise taking place at a home of a civil servant working in Nairobi who traveled all the way with his family in order for his 9 years old daughter to be circumcised. Pausing as guests the three take a central place in the house and join in the feasting and celebration taking place in the home. The one to perform the circumcision is a nurse in one of the local clinics who has been well paid to see the exercise through safely. She goes into the private room to start the operation and within 20 minutes walks out looking confused and in a hurry to go. The elder women around sense danger and rush into the room only to find the little girl had passed out besides her a huge pool of blood.
In a church service one Sunday, the team members are invited to tell the congregation about their mission and strategies. After the service, some members of the congregation get concerned and even feel confused since the entire church leadership has never condoned the practice and as a matter of fact their children all undergo circumcision. But to the team members, the fact that they allowed them to speak in the first place is a great step ahead and a great success in the crusade Against FGM.
FORWARD STRATEGIES FOR 2003
The year 2003 will see the activities start early in the year in order to be successful with the campaign. The following has been planned.
More involvement of youths and young girls themselves through activities and teachings.
Community involvement through already existing community structure e.g. farmers groups, youth groups etc.
Christian unions in schools and church groups, trained and sensitized including Church leaders.
More youth activities especially for girls and skill provision for income as an entry point for teachings.
Formation of community counseling and information centers.
Seminars and workshops for the health professionals and community leaders.
Support to the girls who denounce FGM including provision for educational support.
Teachings for the circumcisers.
Community focus group discussions.
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Girls listening during a teaching
session on the dangers of FGM
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Two of the cooks ready to serve
food during the campaign.
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Girls performing skits, songs with drama on the dangers of FGM
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Girls learning different skills
during the campaigns
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Joab teaching during the campaign
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Ladies displaying their certificates after the campaigns |
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