A girl who demanded school Kakenya Ntaiya

there’s a group of people in Kenya

people across oceans to go see them

these people are tall they jump high

they were red and they kill lions you

might be wondering who atmosphere for

these are they massage you know what’s

cool I’m actually one of them the

Messiah is the boys are brought up to be

warriors the girls are brought up to be

mothers when I was five years old I

found out that I was engaged to be

married as soon as I reached puberty my

mother my grandmother my aunt is the

constantly reminded me that your husband

just passed by

cool yeah

and everything I had to do from that

moment was to prepare me to be a perfect

woman at age 12 my day started at five

in the morning milking the cows sweeping

the house cooking for my siblings

collecting water firewood I did

everything that I needed to do to become

a perfect wife I went to school not

because the Messiah’s women or girls

were going to school because my mother

was denied an education and she

constantly reminded me and my siblings

that she never wanted us to live the

life she was living why did she say that

my father worked as a policeman in the

city he came home once a year we didn’t

see him for sometimes even two years

whenever he came home it was a different

case my mother walked had in the farm to

grow crops that we can eat she read the

cows and the goats so that she can care

for us but when my father came he would

sell the cows you will sell the products

we had and he went and drinked with his

friends in in the bus because my mother

was a woman she was not allowed to own

any property and by default everything

in my family anyway belongs to my father

so he had the right and if my mother

ever questioned him she beat her abused

her and really it was difficult when I

went to school I had a dream I wanted to

become a teacher teachers looked nice

they were nice dresses high heels shoes

I found out later that they

uncomfortable but I had my edit

but most of all the teacher was just

writing in the board not had work that’s

what I thought compared to what i was

doing in the family so i wanted to

become a teacher I worked hard in school

but when I was in eighth grade it was a

determining factor in our tradition

there’s a ceremony that girls have to

undergo to become women and it’s a rite

of passage two women would and then I

was just finishing my eighth grade and

that was a transition for me to go to

high school this was the crossroad once

I go through this tradition I was going

to become a wife well my dream of

becoming a teacher will not come to pass

so I talk I had to come up with a plan

to figure these things out I talked to

my father I did something that most

girls have never done I told my father I

will only go through this ceremony if

you let me go back to school there is on

why if I ran away my father will have a

stigma people will be calling him the

father of that girl who didn’t go

through the ceremony it was a shameful

thing for him to carry the rest of his

life so he figure out well he said okay

we’ll go to you’ll go to school after

the ceremony I did the ceremony happened

it’s a whole week long of excitement

it’s a ceremony people are enjoying and

the day before the actual ceremony

happens we were dancing having

excitement and through all the night we

did not sleep the actual day came and we

walk out of the house that we were

dancing as we danced and danced we

walked out to the courtyard and there

were a bunch of people waiting they were

all in a circle and as we danced and

danced and we approached this cycle of

women men women children everybody was

there there was a woman sitting in the

middle of it and this woman was waiting

to hold us it was the fast they were my

sisters and a couple of other girls and

as I approached her she looked at me and

I sat down

and I sat down and I opened my legs as i

opened my leg another woman came and

this woman was carrying a knife and she

carried the knife she walked toward me

and she held my the clitoris and she cut

it off as you can imagine I bled I blit

after bleeding for a while I fainted the

after it’s something that so many girls

I’m lucky I never died but many died

it’s practice it’s no Anastasia it’s a

rusty old knife and it was difficult I

was lucky because one also my mom did

something that most women don’t do three

days later after everybody has left the

home my mom went and brought on us we

were taken care of three weeks later I

was healed and I was back in high school

I will so determined to be a teacher now

so that I can make a difference in my

family well while I was in high school

something happened I met a young

gentleman from our village who had been

to the University of Oregon this man was

wearing white t-shirt jeans um camera um

white sneakers and I’m talking about

white sneakers is something about

clothes I think and shoes after my

sneakers and this is in a village that

doesn’t even have paved roads it was

quite attractive

I told him well um I want to go to where

you are because this man looked very

happy and I had my at that and he told

me well what do you mean you want to go

don’t you have a husband waiting for you

and I told him don’t worry about that

part just tell me how to get there this

gentleman he helped me while I was in

high school also my dad was sick he got

stroke and he was really really sick so

he really couldn’t tell me what to do

next but the problem is my father is not

the only father I have everybody who is

my dad’s age male in the community is my

father by default my uncle’s all of them

and they dictate what my future is so

the news came I applied to school and I

was accepted to randolph-macon women’s

college in lynchburg virginia and I I

couldn’t come without the support of the

village because I needed to raise money

to buy the air ticket I got a

scholarship but I needed to get myself

here but I needed the support of the

village and here again when when they

man had and the people had that I’m

woman had gotten us an opportunity to go

to school they said what a lost

opportunity this should have been given

to a boy we can’t do this so I went back

and I had go back to the tradition they

believe in our among our people that

morning brings good news so I had to

come up with something to do with the

morning because there’s good news in the

morning and in the village also this one

chief for an elder who has if he says

yes everybody will follow him so I went

to him very early in the morning as the

Sun Rise first thing he sees when he

wakes opens his door his it’s me my

child what are you doing here well dad I

need help can you support me to go to

America I promised him that I’d be the

best girl I will come back anything they

wanted after that I will do it for them

he said well but I can’t do it alone he

gave me a list of other 15 men that I

went 16 more men every single morning I

went to visit

they all came together the village the

women the men everybody came together to

support me to come to get an education I

arrived in America as you can imagine

what did I find I found snow I found

warmer the vacuum cleaners and lots of

food in the cafeteria hours in a bland

of 20 I enjoyed myself but during that

moment while I was here I discovered a

loan a lot of things i learned that that

ceremony that I went through when I was

13 years old it was called female

genital mutilation I learned that it was

against the law in Kenya I learned that

I did not have to trade part of my body

to get an education I had a right and as

we speak right now three million girls

in Africa at risk of undergoing through

this mutilation I’ll and that my mom had

a right to own property I learned that

she did not have to be abused because

she’s a woman those things may be angry

I wanted to do something as i went back

every time I went I found that my

neighbor’s girls were getting married

they were getting mutilated and here

after i graduated from here walking and

worked at the UN i went back to school

to get my graduate work the constant cry

of this girl’s was on my face I had to

do something as I went back I started

talking to the men to the village and

mothers and I said I want to give back

the way I had promised you that I would

come back and help you what do you need

as I speak to their women they told me

you know what we need we really need a

school for girls day because they had

not been any school for girls and the

reason they wanted the school for girls

is because when a girl is raped when

she’s walking to school the mother is

blamed for that if she got pregnant

before she got married the mother is

blamed for that and she’s punished she’s

bitten they said we wanted to put our

girls in a safe place as we moved

I went to talk to their fathers their

fathers of course you can imagine what

they said we want a school for boys and

I said well there are a couple of men

from my village who have been out and

they have got an education why can they

build a school for boys in our met bill

the school for girls that made sense and

they agreed and I told them I wanted

them to show me a sign of commitment and

they did they donated land where we

built the girls school we have I want

you to meet one of the girls in that

school Angeline came to apply for the

school and she did not meet any criteria

that we had she’s an orphan yes we could

have taken half of that but she was

older she was 12 years old and we’re

taking girls who were in fourth grade

Angeline had been moving from one place

because she’s an offer and she has no

mother she has no father moving from one

grandmother’s house to another one from

auntie’s to auntie’s she had no

stabilities in her life and I looked at

her I remember that day and I saw

something beyond what i was seeing in

Angeline and yes she was older to be in

fourth grade we gave her the opportunity

to come to the class five months later

that is Angeline a transformation had

begun in our life Angelina wants to be a

pilot so that she can fly around the

world into a difference she was not the

top student when we throw cash now she’s

the best student not just in our school

but in the entire division that we are

in that Sharon that’s five years later

that’s a Evelyn five months later that

is the difference that we are making as

a new dawn is happening in my school a

new beginning is happening as we speak

right now 125 girls will never be

mutilated 125 girls will not be married

when they’re 12 years old 125 girls are

creating and achieving their dreams this

is the thing that we are doing giving

them opportunities that they can rise as

we speak right now women and not being

beaten because of the revelations will

at it in our community

I want to challenge you today you’re

listening to me because you are here

very optimistic you are somebody who is

so passionate you are somebody who wants

to see a better world you were somebody

who wants to see the war and no poverty

you are somebody who wants to make a

difference you’re somebody who wants to

make our tomorrow better I want to

challenge you today that you be the fast

because people will follow you be the

first people will follow you be bold

stand up be fearless be confident move

out because as you change your world you

see change your community as we believe

that we are impacting one girl one

family one village one country at a time

we are making a difference so if you

change your world you’re going to change

your community you’re going to change

your country and think about that if you

do that and I do that and we’re going to

create a better future for our children

for your children for our grandchildren

and we will live in a very peaceful

world thank you very much

you