Female Genital Mutilation, FGM is a cultural rite among the Maasai community whose dangers gravely deprive the Maasai girl child her human rights. This practice is characterized by pain, excess bleeding during the cut, contamination due to use of unhygienic and un – sterilized tools, high risks to sexual transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS as the same operation object( knife) is used on different girls, extreme difficulties in giving birth, infectious scars on girls with metallic allergies and social problems ranging from indulgence in risky premarital sex and aggressive approach by men for sex as they are considered as adults after the passage, even as early as 10!
Besides the deprivation of human rights, girls are further forced into early marriages.
This conduct robs the girls the right to choose their life partners, loss of education, engagement into polygamous families and many times with elderly husbands who endanger their sexual organs and who in many times die when the girls are very young due to their age difference thus making the maasai girl an early widow. This creates a vicious poverty circle, illiteracy and low quality life coupled with poor living standards.
Many girls who say no to the practice, are faced by peer pressure from girls who go through it, isolation, fear due to the myths that sorround the practice and loneliness.
Our goal is to build a rescue home for Maasai girls who say NO to FGM, female genital mutilation.
Advantages of the home.
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A rescue place where girls can come to when they feel isolated and left out and they can meet with other girls who have said NO.
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It will create a strong network of girls from different schools and moral support to know that other girls' are saying no.
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The schools does not teach on the dangers of female genital mutilation, and this will be a resource centre, to teach them on the dangers and adopt an alternative right of passage.
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The schools are so far away from each other and so it is difficult for us to reach all the schools. It will be easier to have a central place to have the girls together and teach them and dymisfy myths sorrounding the practice. e.g girls who do not go through the practice have "dirty/bad" blood and are not fit to have children or get married.
Mwavido has established peer clubs in local primary schools from its area of operation and in December 2008 we had 32 girls from our peer clubs saying no to female genital mutilation. We successfully provided sposorship for all 32 girls to be enrolled into boarding schools. Unfortunately, during thier school holiday in April, five of our girls went through FGM because they were intensly peer pressured from other girls in the community.
The rescue home has an integral part in the successful rescue mission for the girls who say no to female genital mutilation.
You can visit our website and learn more about our program at:
www.mwavido.com