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REPORT
F.G.M. |
JUNE 2000-JULY 2001
KISII DISTRICT |
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TEENAGE MOTHERS AND GIRLS ASSOCIATION
PREAMBLE
One of the most hurting and breathtaking human rights violations is when a young girl´s body is sliced off leaving her in pain and anguish. As if that is not enough, the young girl is brainwashed by traditional songs in a bid to help her forget her pain. Everyone around her reminds her not to cry since it is believed to help the pain psychologically does not help. Isolation of the girl which is then the only way to hide their pain and suffering during recovery is like adding misery to these little ones. Isolation, there is room to sob silently without being heard or seen but also the time to come without being heard or seen, but also the time to come to reality with the pain of genital mutilation.
Unaware of the consequences and the life long complications, the little girls file up as a cow to slaughter. Hundred of girls between the ages 4 yrs-13 yrs undergo F.G.M. in Kisii and other surrounding districts. As one of our committee members put it "smell of innocent blood feels the air". This is mainly in the months of November and December. "Where did we loose sanity"?
The past year marked the beginning of interviews that if continued will see a great reduction of F.G.M. in Kisii and its environs. The joint effort of the community group, individuals with special interest, community based organizations, committee members and special committee all helped to see the results that we are documenting today.
COUNSELING TRAINING
The main reason for this kind of training was to identify community members who could enable young girls to make informed decisions about circumcision. Volunteers for this training were very few thus the identification process took longer than expected. Many of those approached felt it was a tough mission and could get into trouble. The project team was however, determined to recruit committed people for the exercise and finally managed to train 35 community members who to date have managed to counsel 185 girls between age 4 8 being prepared for circumcision.
In the eight months crusade, out of those counseled, 153 told their parents they were not ready for circumcision hence, and have actually postponed their cut. The other girls unfortunately went, though virtually 90% of them being those below 5 yrs of age. There were however significant events which were being noted by the counselors for example one girl asked the mother to explain to her why she had to be circumcised. So surprised was the mother that she took sometime before answering the young girl. She finally told the young girl that she will not understand since she was so young to know. "That is why it is so unfair mummy, because I can´t understand and you can´t explain it to me either."
Another 5 year old who went through the process was told by her mother that she had received the best gift a woman can ever get to which the girl answered, "it cannot be a good gift since it is so painful and I bled so much."
Another 4 yrs old cried herself unconscious after bleeding profusely. When she recovered in hospitals three days later referring to the counselor as auntie said "Where is Auntie Elizabeth, she is my only friend because she told me that I was going to feel pain very bad and that it was to dangerous." These events and many more encourage the counselors that somehow they passed the message to these young ones who however could no escape the knife since their fate was already determined by there parents.
The counselors´ homes are therefore being used as village counseling centers. The counselors therefore use every possible means to mobilize girls to their homes. They also visit schools and other homes where they look for opportunities to interact with the young ones. Such opportunities are also found in churches and any other children events. There are therefore 35 village counseling centers with a view to success is being monitored carefully with a view to increasing the number to 100% by the end of these year.
CULTURE TALK FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
One of the most difficult things to do amongst our communities is to go to the village and start discussing a custom they dearly hold on to with a view to making them change. The project team decided to adopt it as a strategy instead of the conventional way of convening meetings in hotels. Even the villagers agreed that it was the most daring approach they had ever seen used in the campaign against F.G.M.
The project team then came together for 2 days in a workshop in Kisii, the main theme of which was to make the team understand the Kisii culture in relation to female genital mutilation. After the workshop, 16 focus group village discussions were organized where administrators, village leaders, circumcisers, etc. were in attendance. The project team had to hire security services for we were warned that this kind of meeting could end up with the team being disciplined for its views on the culture. But to the amazement of the villagers, we were well aware of their culture and were not in conflict with it since we identified that genuine reasons and fears, e.g. of women being promiscuous in marriage, were good reasons and the driving force was to find a solution to the issue. The team discovered that for one´s view to be accepted one must respect other views too and one also must be armed with the knowledge of the culture practice at hand. Out of the 16 discussions, only 4 turned out to be rather tough with heated exchange and accusation from the community. Eleven others were highly successful with the villagers agreed that times had changed and that circumcision was only about 30% of the solution to their fears.
Every session was done such that practical examples could emerge from the villagers themselves such as this one which comes from 20 yrs old divorcee who was circumcised at the age of 8 yrs and married at age of 14 yrs. She drove women to tears when she talked of her school days when her peers talked of relationships and how nice it was to have a man in there life. When she finally got married she had a close friend who was not circumcised and they exchanged experiences in their marriages. In all their talk she noted that there was something she was missing and that was sexual satisfaction from her husband. Not knowing where her problem was, she decided to discuss the issue with her husband, who became very hostile and called her names and put lots of accusations on her. She went silent for the sake of her family then continued to find a solution in her mind and one day cam to the conclusion that her husband could be the cause of her insensitivity and therefore started having extra marital affairs with other young people but never got the satisfaction she was looking for. She then tried older men, thinking the situation could change without success. By this time she was having a very bad relationship with the husband who had found that she was unfaithful leading to their divorce. She concluded by saying that she found the course of her passion when she had lost all she had and destroyed her life totally and felt disturbed that she will never find whatever she had been looking for. At this point the woman in the meeting were in tears for they understood what this young lady was going through, since they are victims of the same. Her final words moved even the strongest men in the meeting when she said, "I am so sickly of late and have been in and out of the hospital. Perhaps in my search, I only found HIV."
ADOLESCENT CAMP
Bringing adolescent girls together for a three days camp opened our understanding of how they feel about the things that affect them in life and how they can cope with it. Twenty eight girls of aged 13 18 yrs took part in this camp, the theme of which was "Think & Understand." Twenty-five of the girls had gone to circumcision while young and the other 3 had escaped due to the fact that they were staying away from home in the cities with people and parents who had very little ties with the countryside. The counselors found time during the camp to talk to the girls on one to one basis to try and understand the complexities that they go through as young people and the confusion in their mind as regards to F.G.M.
The camp findings were:
- 90% did not know why they were circumcised
- 23 would rather have not been circumcised
- Only 3 understood the mental, physical, spiritual and health implications of F.G.M.
- 23 would wish to be involved in crusades against F.G.M.
The reason for young people not being able to help the younger girls is lack of knowledge or ignorance. The culture that promotes F.G.M. has coated it with lots of myths so seducing that most young girls fall into the trap unknowingly and even without questioning.
It was clear from the plan of action that the girls wanted to:
1. Find those of their peers and smaller ones not yet circumcised and educate them and help them make wise decisions.
2. Form support groups for those affected by F.G.M. and thus against the practice.
3. Start a lobbying and pressure group led by the young girls themselves to start speaking about issues of F.G.M. and to bring to the government´s attention to pass a law in our new constitution making F.G.M. a criminal offence punishable by law, for this they see as the only way to stop the hard-line traditionalists.
Can they make a change? Yes they can as demonstrated by their urgent request to be given the resources and direction and they will change the little world they live in.
YOUTH GROUPS JOIN THE FIGHT
One of the major events seen this year is the number of youth groups that have shown interest in working against F.G.M. Groups that have been sensitized throughout the years this time have shown an overwhelming support for the program with many running their programs independently or even working together in networks. This demonstrated the fact that the work done in the previous years is bearing fruit and that the fight is intensifying. In total, 16 youth groups previously trained or involved in any way with efforts were active this year.
THIRTY ONE CHANGED THEIR MIND
A serious and extensive campaign was put in place in the middle of September that went through December. The project team members identified girls already being prepared for F.G.M and vowed to help them see the sense in not going through with the practice. A dangerous exercise indeed that needed lots of facts and caution was executed 39 team members. The target was 80 girls being prepared for mutilation. It meant penetrating into their training camps and out of everyone´s hearing, teach of the dangers and reasons why they shouldn´t go through with the practice. Five such camps were identified with estimated 15 girls each in every camp. After one month of intervention, girls started dropping out of the camps and at the time the F.G.M. was on in December, 31 girls had dropped out. This was a clear indication to the team members that something can be done even at the last hour. This strategy was only employed on the girls and in the following year would apply to the parents of the girls too.
FIVE HELD FOR QUESTIONING
Five girls are held for questioning after they were given a one day teaching on the dangers of F.G.M. and decided to advocate against it in their village. It took tow days of arbitration by three project team members to secure their freedom after which they were asked not to continue with what they villagers called bad influence on other children. However, reports indicate that the five never stopped and continued with their crusade to save others from the brutal act of F.G.M.
SCHOOL´S PROGRAM
Within the year, various project team members visited primary schools and talked to lower primary children on the dangers of F.G.M. The total of 27 schools were visited with emphasis on the lower primary schools. These talks included teachers and, when opportunities allowed, the parents association were also requested to join in and to understand the message being passed to the children. The use of poems and drama was employed and simple illustrations, posters, and testimonies used to pass clear messages to the young ones. The schools targeted were both girls and boys schools, both private and public.
The response from the children was overwhelming with teachers requesting for more performances possibly on a termly basis, since children tend to forget.
DRAMA FESTIVAL GIVES A CHANCE FOR PERFORMANCE
Requested to allow a group that had a drama on F.G.M to perform as guests was rejected on the first day of the festival. After lots of negotiations, the organizers allowed our group to perform as a non competitor and as part of alternative entertainment for the big audience that had seen over 60 shows compete. The drama was well received by the audience and the students. One speaker urged schools to start thinking of drama with such themes so as to educate the young people on F.G.M. and its affects.
POLITICIANS AND GOVERNMENT MINISTERS SUPPORT F.G.M.
The whole nation was shocked to hear prominent personalities and government ministers from Kisii afterwards that supported F.G.M. and urged their people not to stop the practice. This was one of the most unfortunate events in the history of their fight against F.G.M.
This was as a result of growing pressure from different groups opposed to F.G.M. Instead of being discouraged, the pressure groups increased their campaigns, going out with one voice against F.G.M. The project team targeted even more the areas of their areas of representation, concentrating where it was noted that there were fewer festivals and less enthusiasm compared to other years.
PRAYERS HELD
Although prayers were going on throughout the year, a special prayer and fasting for three weeks was declared where 16 churches were involved with a total of 85 intercessors praying. The prayer warriors helped two villages where F.G.M. activities are rampant, violent, and most intensive. The prayers stared three weeks before the beginning of the festival. When the festival started, God´s miracles and wonders started showing. In on a village, the festivals never took place completely. The village elders simply announced that the festival would be postponed giving no reasons but annoying those who had prepared for and traveled for and wide for the festivals. In the other village, it went on in a very low key, while one prominent circumciser who was preparing 32 girls for circumcision received Christ on the eve of the festival and stared preaching Christ to the young girls, leading 17 of them to Christ and not performing the cut to the rest. Our God is alive and remains a miracle working God. We give all the glory and honor to Jesus. At the same time, 4 chiefs and 10 assistant chiefs in the end declared their support for abolition of F.G.M. despite the call by their members of parliament to urge their subjects to go on with F.G.M.
SONGS AS A TOOL
Many songs have been composed by the supporting youth groups that pass correct and accurate messages and not myths about F.G.M. These songs have become a powerful tool of communication among the young people and are used at every opportunity by the youngsters.
MARKET DAYS DRAMA AND MUSIC
Five groups have been actively involved in market day drama and music since last year end and continue to do so today. Within this year, 17 performances were carried out at different points with such success that it is estimated that over 2,000 people watched the performances every time. This strategy shall continue in the coming years.
God has been good to us and enabled us as a team to accomplish so much. We thank all those who supported us financially and materially and made our life comfortable as we went though the intricate and sometimes dangerous interventions. The support from the community was just overwhelming, while the body of Christ and particular churches played an overwhelming role in making this year´s activities a success.
It is our hope and prayer that this kind of effort shall yield much fruits bringing F.G.M. to its end.
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