Girls from Borabu sub county in Nyamira have accepted to join hands against the culture of the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practice.
This resolve was clearly portrayed on Thursday during a colourful graduation ceremony at Nyansiongo and Esise ward where over 60 girls who have been under a three months girl empowerment training courtesy of the Adventist Development Relieve Agency (ADRA) Kenya organisation graduated.
According to ADRA Kenya’s project manager in Western Kenya Ms. Mary Kwamboka, girls especially in the western part of Kenya have continued to suffer from a cultural practice believed to be a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood yet its negative impact is long term.
While presiding over the graduation ceremony, Kwamboka clarified that this faith based non-governmental organisation she is working with aims at changing the perception of this outdated FGM practice to focus on a suitable alternative means of passage from childhood to adulthood for young girls in the Nyamira region.
She noted that some parents from the larger Gusii area who went through this brutal cut feel that a girl can't become a real and respected woman in the Abagusii community or any other community that practices FGM unless they undergo the cut as well.
She thanked the county government for the stand it has taken to prosecute all those who will be caught involved in perpetrating this criminal offence.
Kwamboka further observed that there has been a remarkable response from the girls in Magenche location since they have agreed to collaborate with parents and other relevant stakeholders in this programme and it has been a great success thus far.
She clarified that this programme of empowering girls teaches them on various life skills, their values, rights, roles as girls in the community, the importance of abstaining from pre-marital sex and how they can influence other young girls like them to decline undertaking the cut.