On #WorldEnvironmentDay we joined S.A.F.E. Alumni Manyunyu Community B. Organization to plant mangrove seedlings, pick up plastic waste and learn about the importance of mangrove forests to local ecosystems. Congratulations to everyone involved in organising such a fantastic event. ... See MoreSee Less
A Happy Madaraka Day to all Kenyans around the world. ... See MoreSee Less
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Andrew Kasuku of the Daily Star came to see SAFE Samburu in action and observed Project Manager Francis Lemoile facilitating a Leaders Meeting for his article on the need for men to support FGC abandonment. See excerpt and a link to the full article below.
'The speaker, Francis Lemoile, young enough to be their son, has to keep pausing to engage the opinions of each attendee to project a demeanour that will make him address the elders throughout the discussion.
“You know these are elders and traditionally, it's they who are supposed to advise me and not vice versa. So you have to be very cautious and project respect to win their audience,” Lemoile says.
While the key discussion is centred on FGM, the three-day session has to include other more acceptable topics to lessen the tension of having to talk about the violation with the elders.
“Today we started with discussing the coronavirus, then we will talk about HIV-Aids before we delve into FGM matters. It’s a strategic approach to drive the message home since FGM is not anything you want to talk about without any plan, especially if you are against it,” Lemoile says.
www.the-star.co.ke/news/big-read/2021-05-26-they-get-cut-for-you-and-it-ruins-their-lives-fgm-wak...' ... See MoreSee Less
Happy International Day of the Midwife. S.A.F.E. celebrates the role midwives in the communities our fantastic teams are in. The Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) have been very important in creation of the Loita Rite of Passage in parntership with SAFE Maa.
The TBAs are also key stakeholders in both S.A.F.E.'s HIV awareness and FGC abandonment project's in Samburu. Key TBAs are leaders in behaviour changes which are improving the health and wellbeing of their communities.
Today we share the story of Namanu Lekarkaraule, a TBA from Samburu.
" My name is Namanu Lekarkaraule and my role in the community is that of a traditional birth attendant (TBA), this means that I look after women as they are giving birth, some TBAs are also traditional circumcisers who perform FGC on the girls. Practices such as early marriage and polygamy are putting the whole community at risk, especially the young girls. I had very little knowledge of HIV until I attended a SAFE Samburu workshop, I didn’t even know that as a TBA I was at a high risk of exposure to HIV. The workshop gave me the knowledge I needed to keep myself safe. I immediately went to the local health centre and requested gloves for protection. I also now advise women to give birth in the hospitals.
SAFE Samburu also empowered me to speak out against FGC. I know many women who have died because of FGC, one girl died only three hours after she was cut, however, we never spoke about it, I believed it was a curse. TBAs will never admit to cutting, most of the TBAs who practice FGC now in the community come from far and do it in secret. After the workshop, I spoke to my sons and told them a slight cut was all that was needed, this could even be done on a girl’s leg. I also spoke to my husband and told him that we should focus on our daughter’s education and even marry her outside the Samburu tribe if it means not cutting her. My daughter, now in form 4, has always resisted being cut, threatening to go to the police if we try to. I try and speak to other women, and tell them to encourage their daughters to stay in school too.
I believe that the practice of FGC will gradually change and end because girls and women have so many problems after being cut. I thank SAFE Samburu for all that they are doing, they say that girls should be able to practice and take part in the culture without being cut and I agree with that. SAFE’s approach is very good, they do not use force – when you use force, no one will listen." ... See MoreSee Less
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