May 9, 2012
I first met Madame Anna Namarat Enole Sina of the 20,000 person Ogiek Tribal Nation of Kenya - at the Tribal Link Project Access Global Capacity Building for Indigenous Peoples Training Course, held May 2012 in New York City; USA. Anna founded the Natodua Jua Kali Women's Association in Kenya in September 2010, and the English translation of the first three words means 'One who has seen hot Sun'...a very apt description for anyone who works very hard and it applies to the difficult lives most indigenous
women lead - and it is for women such as these that the organization was formed. I think it is also an appropriate name for this article to use to describe Madame Anna, rest assured that by the time you have reached the end of this page you will know why; and will concur with me without hesitation.
Madame Anna did not have an easy life, as a child she was a victim of female genital mutilation; it may
seem shocking to be hit so hard so soon in this article by a personal revelation of what is perhaps one of the
most heinous of 'cultural practices' in the world...but it was freely admitted to me, and I prefer to provide you with an ugly reality so that you may decide to help this good woman to change it for the better....rather than write a fictional account that omits a gut-wrenching reality - in order not to assail your emotional senses.
Please, for the next few minutes; try to imagine yourself as a young Ogiek girl of 9-12 years old. How would
you feel if your mother, aunts, father and grandparents tell you that 'the time has come and you are now
ready to become a woman'...the thought of 'graduating' from playing carefree games with other children one
day - and satisfying the lust of a grown man the next day is terrifying enough...but that is not all. Your mum,
aunt, maybe granny as well ...will first hold you down and 'cut-off your bits' (as some 'sanitarily' describe
it)....usually with a piece of glass or razor - which may or may not be new or sterile.
It is terrible enough when one imagines the screams of these little girls who are forced to submit to this
trauma against their will...but what may be worse, is the fact that many other girls voluntarily submit to this
crime against the dignity of womankind - because they are convinced BY THEIR OWN FEMALE ELDERS that if they do not 'they will not become a real woman' or get a husband.
You see, in this society the girls who are circumcised wear a different attire to the not-yet circumcised girls,
and the men know that a girl is 'ready' to be taken as a wife when they see the change in attire. To make
matters worse, these poor girls do not even have a choice in who will take them to be his primary or
'additional' wife! It could be a young man, or some geriatric one that acquires them - as though they were a
mere commodity. Don't think it can get any worse at this point ? Think again!
Let us put this into an abbreviated and sad perspective:
Robbed of a childhood, physically tortured and scarred for life by members of your own family, traded like a
commodity to a man you do not know or love, essentially raped and physically damaged before you have
even become a teenager, and beaten at will by your husband for the rest of your life without even the
possibility of ever enjoying physical intimacy if you are ever lucky enough to find your true love one day -
which is one of the most natural and beautiful things that two human beings can share in this life.
I am a father of two daughters myself, and I support most traditions; but circumcision, domestic abuse,
arranged marriages & under-aged marriages are NOT 'traditions' I can or would ever support. When a
traditional practice which is as morally reprehensible as female genital mutilation is being practiced - and
survivors like Anna are trying to stop it, I think the onus is on ALL of us to do everything we can to support
and help her; only a demented person would try to justify this crime under the guise of 'cultural practices'.
NO 'traditional practice' that causes such permanent damage to it's victims should ever be allowed to
continue into the 21st century.
This has been dubbed the 'information age', so let us support local heroes like Madame Anna in their work to inform the ill-informed of the world - so that millions of baby girls born this year and in the future will
NEVER have to suffer as millions of innocent girls have in the past and present.
Tribal link is one such compassionate entity that has stepped up to the plate (to use an American Baseball
expression) and IS actively supporting Anna's Natodua Jua Kali Women's Association, the grant they
provided in September 2010 allowed for a workshop to be held which educated 75 indigenous women.
The Women's Association does a lot more than work to eliminate female genital mutilation, they also teach
the women to learn craft-making skills which helps them to earn a supplementary income, educating
communities about HIV and AIDS - even to providing food to HIV positive mothers and taking their
children to school!
This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg however, for Madame Anna should get the Nobel Prize for
'Multitasking'! Madame Anna is ALSO:
Chair lady of the Women's Rights Body in the Narok South District in Kenya (a body supported and
recognized by the Government of Kenya), a leader in the Council of Elders of the Ogiek Tribal Nation of
Kenya (fighting for the government to recognize the land rights, better housing, access to water, access to
secondary and tertiary education), Head Treasurer of the district Hospital, Head of the board of the district
Secondary School, Treasurer of the District Board of Education, Government recognized Peacemaker and
Social Welfare activist in the District, Chair lady and National Treasurer of her Church (Covenant
International Church), and in her spare time (a miracle in itself that she even has such a thing!) she teaches
the youth in her tribe to sing traditional songs. Madame Anna used to compose, sing and dance traditional
Ogiek songs for Kenya's first President Jomo Kenyatta - and his successor President Daniel Arap Moi; just
for the record!
In Madame Anna's own words:
"I am happy to be here at the United Nations Permanent Forum, but I did not come to see tall buildings made of glass... I learned that we are not alone in this world, that there are other indigenous peoples just like us all over the world who are suffering. I found out from the Tribal Link training course that this United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the place where Indigenous People's have a real voice to
discus our issues with the best hope of finding solutions. I thank Pamela Kraft and Tribal Link for making it
possible for us to be here - and for giving us this Global Capacity training...we very much appreciate it; it
has opened up the world to our people. You know, my people have never met Pamela...only heard about her, but everyone knows her name and says she is a good woman for what she has done - and continues to do for us and so many others."
No comments:
Post a Comment