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| Girls this size in Pokot &Tepeth are already booked for marriage |
The season for FGM is
here. It is practiced during harvest time when food is available to keep
victims indoors for weeks or months after their ‘sweet aerials’ are cut off. Then
immediately, wealthy men – no matter the age, men with animals can ferry these
disabled children off to their dark sleeping chambers; for sex, sex that should
‘according to elders’ taste sweet to only one side – not to the feminine, -only
for the masculine whose pistons are at large.
This is the story of Christine
Naupe. Poor Naupe crossed the border about a month ago after several battles
with her parents deep in Nasal –North Pokot district of Kenya. “I was already
forced into marrying a very old man who offered goats and cattle to my parents,
but the man’s condition made me think of dying instead”. The old man demanded
of Naupe to go through ‘the women stabilising’ initiation process –FGM.
“I could not bear the
pain of being cut because last year three girls died after over-bleeding caused
by the mutilation and about 15 girls in our neighbourhoods disappeared due to
fear of the practice” Naupe told this blog. Even after bargaining for the price
of the girl and convincing the prey into this nasty cross-generational bondage,
the old man in question continued to ask for more.
Naupe said “I was already
set to stay with him because my parents convinced me that the wealth accrued
would help our family. The only thing that made me jump off is the knife; old
men believe that when a girl is not chopped, she can still move out with other men”.
Naupe trekked, crossed
the border from Kenya into Amudat district of Uganda where some of her family
relations exist. “I woke up, got out of the house at about past-midnight and started
to my relatives in Amudat.”
By 10: am of a new day –
a Saturday, the girl was at her aunt’s home in Amudat and by 6:00pm same day, the
boys from Kenya following- hunting for her, also touched the same soil, but; “I
was inside when they arrived and started asking for me. My aunt protected, told
them she didn’t see me and as they proceeded to another relative’s home, I planned
another journey that took me to Loroo and finally to here, to Tapac.”
As we curse, Naupe is
currently trying to forge life eating free posho and beans –sharing with Tepeth
pupils at Tapac Primary school. The catholic mission in Tapac learnt of her
plight and the long journey she cleared before securing for her shelter in this
school. Naupe also reported that she was in Primary two before her breasts
developed eyes. With only one pair of clothing, no shoes –sandals, no beddings,
no sanitary things –basin, soap... she still feels better while here –away from
home.
Naupe is not alone;
hundreds of Pokot and Tepeth girls go through this shameful and painful
experience year in and out. According to media reports, last year alone 169
girls were cut. More 317 girls were abused in the year 2010 and a shocking 500
others were dissected in 2009. Although the percentage is promisingly coming
down, more effort is really needed to hit the last nail on the FGM coffin.
Human rights activists
rightly argue that the practice disgustingly infringes on the rights of women
as it causes terrifying corporal and emotional injuries on them. Doctors also
say a woman who has been cut is at high risk of developing gynaecological
problems which might cause terrible difficulties during child birth. However,
very little is directly being done by our governments to ensure its total
elimination.
Uganda enacted the FGM law
in 2009. It is now up to the people and their leaders to ensure that the effort
to fight the monkey business is taken seriously. For instance in July last year,
36 community leaders composed of kraal heads, religious bosses and LCs of Pokot
Sub region –Amudat district signed a declaration to advocate against the
practice. Such pronouncements should be encouraged and they must be walked and
not merely written or talked.
