mens and womens

On Jan. 6th the women in our group met with Rebecca, Margaret, and quite literally - every woman in Umoja, regardless of whether they could speak English or not. It was a sight to see...10 white girls sitting with over 20 beaded and colorful Samburu women. We made it an open forum with Rebecca and Margaret as our translators and each group could ask the others questions. If you see an * at the beginning of a sentence, that means it's a quote from my journal.

Rebecca talked about how she began Umoja in 1990 with a few other women. They decided that they needed a community where they could support each other without having to rely on the men in their lives. Rebecca spearheaded the whole movement and encounters obstacles and naysayers to this day. *So many people were against her, and I feel priveleged to have met such an empowered woman. She spoke not just for women's rights, but for human rights. *She told us about the incredible challenges that women face here in Kenya. Women have no voice over anything in their lives and are considered property. They have to wake up extremely early and get water, make food (if there is any), and take care of the children. The husband wakes up whenever he wants, hangs around with other men, and takes the livestock out for the day. Men are allowed to have multiple wives through arranged marriages, and many times the bride is very young. Families will arrange a marriage for their daughter so that someone else will have to feed and clothe her.

The originals, from left to right: Nakusi, Rebecca, Jen, and Margaret

Female circumcision is also a custom that Rebecca and the women of Umoja are fighting. It is an unnecessary practice and can lead to death and spread HIV/AIDS. Rebecca told us about a woman who was circumcized against her will and fled her village once she was healed enough to do so. When she was completely healed she went back to her village and said, "Give it back to me! Make me whole!" She was ridiculed and criticised, but she had made her point. Every woman in the room with us was circumsized, and Rebecca told us that some of these woman are so emotionally scarred from the procedure that they will never be fat and never be totally happy. It brings tears to my eyes even now. You can read an article about FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) here: http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?IndepthId=15&ReportId=62462

On top of all this, it is extremely hard for females to get an education because school is hard for most families to pay for. And even if they have the money they will usually choose to send a son to school instead of a daughter. If a girl is lucky enough to go to school she may still dropout once she hits puberty. This is because many of them don't have access to feminine hygeine products (or don't have enough money to buy them) and will end up missing school everytime they have their period. Eventually they miss so much school that they can't keep up. I was blown away when Rebecca told us this and realized how many things I take for granted in life. You can help make a difference, and all you have to do is buy Tampax or Always products. Part of your purchase will go to provide feminine hygiene products and health education for girls in Southern Africa. Visit http://www.protectingfutures.com/

During our conversation, an elder named Nakusi asked us if we experienced the same problems in the States that they do in Kenya. None of us knew what to say in response. Jenn managed to speak up and told them how 100 years ago women didn't have it so easy and that it was because of a small, strong group of women that we have the rights we do today. She told them that female circumcision is not a issue, and that none of us have ever felt threatened by a man in our lives (which was a generalization of course, but we were trying to instill hope). Jen also told them about how we curently have a woman running for President, which made them applaude. It was an emotional experience for all of us, and there were tears from both groups by the end. In closing, another elder named Lucy spoke and told us how incredibly happy they were to be able to talk about women's issues with us and that together we can make great change in the world. All of them thanked us many times, and I felt so honored that our presence made them happy. They burst into song and had us follow them down to the river, where we gathered water. They showed us how to dig holes in the sand to gather water without all of the sand, and of course they laughed at us and made fun of our lack of skill. After all of the containers had been filled we walked back to the village in song. *Jenn turned to me and told me how incredible she felt at that moment, and I couldn't have agreed with her more.

Nakusi

Lucy

Jen
Brice

Brice and Jess

getting water
washing

heading back

There was a sight to see when we got back to the village...the 4 guys in our group had been giving the job of watching all of the children. They were running around like crazy and you could tell that they had been counting down the minutes until our return.

coloring

Sean and Monkey Mike