WUNRN
FGM – KENYA RIGHT OF PASSAGE PROGRAM TO END FGM &
PROMOTE GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT
Tumndo Ne Leel Support Group (TNLSG) was established in Eldoret, Kenya by Dr. Susan Chebet. Its aim is to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) throughout the North Rift Region. The group challenges cultural demands for FGM by proposing alternative rites of passage ceremonies for girls. Additionally, TNLSG: 1) sensitizes community leaders and elected officials on women’s rights and harmful traditional practices such as wife inheritance; 2) advocates for legislation enhancing women’s access to resources such as land and education; and 3) economically empowers women through its business skills trainings. https://tumndoneleel.wordpress.com/about/
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/impact/success-stories/62-general/2105-what-it-takes-to-end-fgm
KENYA – ALTERNATIVE
TO FGM
By Lydia Holden, Communications Lead for
Grassroots Girls Initiative. Photo credit: Lydia Holden
Bouncing around in the back seat of the car, we
descend potholed switchbacks into a dust bowl valley ravaged by commercial
mining. Dr. Susan Chebet, founder of the grassroots organization Tumndo ne
Leel, explains over the roar of dump truck drivers grinding the worn gears as
they ascend, why this little village matters so much in her fight against
female circumcision, also referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM).
“This area was a last bastion for female
circumcision,” says Dr. Chebet. “People from the highlands would come down here
to have the ritual performed. It was critical to introduce another rite of
passage in this area to stamp out FGM in Kenya.”
Organic solutions are growing at Tumndo ne Leel, but
more resources are needed. Dr. Susan Chebet and the girls want to know:
What creative activities can adolescent
girls engage in at the Centre for Social Transformation and Empowerment to help
them learn about their sexual and reproductive health?
Dr. Chebet observed that after the government limited,
and then banned FGM, it didn’t stop the practice, but instead forced it
underground: “FGM would even still be practiced in the church, but they would
cover up the girl’s cries by singing hymns.” Knowing that there needed to be an
alternative rite of passage to replace the traditional ceremony, Dr. Chebet
wrote the curriculum “A Coming of Age Concept.” Girls are given lessons in
empowerment, self-esteem, morals and hygiene, incorporating effective
traditional lessons with modern ways of thinking. Girls still learn the
important lessons passed down from generations of women, but replace the
physical act of cutting with a graduation into young womanhood ceremony. “We
are circumcising our hearts and minds, not our bodies,” says Dr. Chebet.
We arrive at the basin of the valley and slowly drive
through the dry village, which has experienced total crop failure for the last
two years, to the school. “Girls in this area have limited access to
education—very limited compared to boys,” says Dr. Chebet. “When girls turn 12,
the family expects them to provide labor for the family and domestic
responsibilities take over. That’s when FGM usually happens. Early marriage,
for girls about 16 years old, and pregnancy are other factors that keep girls
from finishing school. Those who support girls’ education are ostracized.”
Dr. Chebet and I are invited into one of the
classrooms where a group of girls are waiting to share their stories with me.
In the upper primary there are 45 girls; only four girls remain in the freshman
year high school class. I ask the girls about the Tumndo ne Leel program and
the recently opened Centre for Social Transformation and Empowerment, where
women and girls gather for the trainings and find support.
“I want to go into the Tumndo program because my life
is very hard and they will help,” says Sandra Cheruiyot, 15. “The program can
assist me in the importance of education and how to stay a girl and not follow
men around. If you get pregnant it is the end of education. Or the parents may
chase a pregnant girl away from the home. Tumndo will help us know our bodies
and stay healthy.”
We drive back across the river, that trickles but no
longer flows, to visit the Centre for Social Transformation and Empowerment.
There a group of women show me the Centre and give me a tour of the
grounds—where they are planning to grow mangoes, build a fish farm, garden and
keep bees to earn money for their girls to stay in school. They hope to add an
office to the building and a library with computers as a safe space for girls
to go after school.
“This is a model that has replaced FGM
without force or coercion and communities are embracing it themselves and have
turned it into a new tradition,” says Dr. Chebet as we slowly drive up and out
of the valley. “The women are looking toward a modern future and use the Centre
to continue to educate each other, their girls and the community."