Yesterday I had the honor to present our projects and activities in Kenya at a monthly talk of Nokia Brazil team members.
I talked about our collaboration with Agnes Gitonga to educate women and girls in remote villages about the dangers and consequences of FGM (female genital mutilation). We showed pictures of our Nasaru Learning Center for Masai Girls and explained how it came to be built.
This dormitory was built at the request of the teachers at Iloshon Primary School, as many girls in the higher grades had to leave school due to pregnancy. Pupils at Iloshon Primary School have to walk up to 10 km to school every day. This poses a great risk of unwanted pregnancy for adolescent girls.
Social control by the dormitory
The pupils in the dormitory not only have more time to study, but also a certain degree of protection against FGM, as the school carries out social control. Pupils who have had their lower teeth filed down in preparation for FGM can be more easily identified there. FGM is an initiation ritual for Maasai girls and is forbidden by law. This ritual marks the end of childhood and the transition from child to woman. As women, they can then become pregnant and married, which means the end of their school career. This sets in motion a vicious circle of illiteracy and poverty.
Great sympathy
The sympathy of the team members for the fate of these girls was very great. The daughter of one of the team members did a school project on the Maasai and found out that there is a group of young Maasai in Kajiado County who are committed to replacing FGM with a non-invasive ceremony with books as a gift to the girl. This initiative was started by the organization PLAN International. As the schools we work with are in the same area, we will now try to get in touch with this group locally.
We also take away something very important from this conversation, namely that we need to talk about FGM and the poverty of these communities in remote areas.
Many thanks to all participating Nokia Team members and especially to Vanessa Iglesias for the invitation!
