![]() Currently, the dormitory of the local school accommodates 30 little girls and adolescents, all with dark, troubled looks in their eyes. The Women’s Network welcomes us with songs and dances in a clearing where they plan to build a centre for the girls they cannot put up in their own homes. ![]() We foster mothers support each other in order to provide for them.” When the girls refuse to get married, the family loses the dowry and the girl isn’t worth anything. Notwithstanding their state of poverty, a group of foster mothers, currently 28, takes into their own homes girls fleeing the mutat and early forced marriages. “But do you think the people around here even know it exists?” sighs Susan, who has come up with a more effective strategy to spare girls from the bloody ritual within these forsaken forests. Two laws punish those who perform the cut and those who support it a national Anti-FGM Board was established to oversee the problem and since 2014 a prosecution unit has been investigating cases throughout Kenya. “They are healthy, educated and improve our lives,” admits their spokesperson, Patrick Longureruk. They are extremely brutish and sexist, yet some of them have decided to join the Women’s Network and accepted wives who are uncut. She is talking about the “warriors”, the young men who once fought for control of the pastures. Susan also got a beating from furious fathers, “But if we were able to convince the Ngoroko, we’ll be able to convince everyone else too within a few years,” she says, smiling. Since 2012, the Women’s Network has been committed to educating families on how harmful the burden of infibulation is, and explaining that true wealth is not measured by a dowry in cattle, but by the peace of mind of a girl who studies, can cultivate dreams and learn skills that will help the entire community shake off poverty. This female synergy here is fostered by ActionAid. This is also why she was elected Chair of the Women’s Network that counts 103 active members and two thousand supporters scattered among the manjata, the traditional mud huts along the Suam River. ![]() In Kongelai, she is one of only a handful of women who, in addition to Pokot language, speak a little English and perfect Kiswahili, the official language in Kenya. Like Janet, she also resisted forced marriage because she wanted to finish primary school. Residents bemoan Ogun health centre’s poor condition.Fill vacant positions in health sector, NARD tells FG.How excessive intake of bitters damage health.
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