MY BEAUTIFUL SISTERS

When I think of security, the first thing that comes to my mind is physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing of every individual in this world. That includes all the young girls, women, boys and men. As I grew up I discovered that men are more secured than girls/women because all aspects of our society favors men more than us.

I was born in Northern part of Kenya, in a pastoralist community that lives in a beautiful desert. I have very beautiful sisters-the women and girls of my community. They are blessed with inner and outer beauty. Women who have so much strength in them to just absorb all the environmental, economic and social cultural shocks/ issues. Young girls who wake up in the morning menstruating and feeling so much period pains but just put on a great beautiful smile, rap up an old lesso around her lower body parts and continues with her daily activities including fetching water and looking after animals with no pads and panties but still appears so strong, charming and lively. The desert sand is her pads and panties as she sits on it the whole day to drain her bleeding. Happy but where is her security? Does she really have the peace of mind?

I have sisters as intelligent as their beauty but will never get the chance to step in a class. They are engaged as young as four years, some beaded and married as young as twelve. To my community educating girls is a waste of time and delaying their chances of giving birth. Being married as a child they go through all the challenges associated with a young bride which includes domestic violence. Can a young kid able to raise up another child well? As she struggles to grow into a woman she faces a lot of emotional and psychological torture which trickles down to her child. They struggle alone to raise their children as men are mostly oblivious to their problems because she is a woman and she will overcome as they always believe. Doesn’t my sister have a right to learn just like any other girls? Doesn’t she have a purpose? Doesn’t she have a dream or a desire to dream big and work for it? Does she have to depend on her husband’s animals always without any asset of her own? Why can’t she learn, fly high, develop her career and lead like any other girls? By denying her education was her economic and social security considered? My beautiful sister needs to learn, support and protect her family.

My beautiful sister undergoes female genital mutilation. This involves total mutilation or cutting off some part of her genitalia. This is done without any anesthesia and at home by old women exposing her to so much pain and risk of some bleeding to death. This is because the culture demands so for every girl without considering her emotional, psychological and physical security. Mutilation has so many negative effects on her including her sexuality, problems during child birth but she is just expected to be available for a man’s sexual needs every time and even deliver at home very far from a health Centre. The communities from my area are nomadic pastoralist, they just move and settle anywhere mostly very far from town/health Centre. So my pregnant young sisters just deliver at home leading to high maternal mortality rates. Why mutilate young girls when it has no importance? Why can’t our young women get access to health centres even after they are mutilated and some sewed up?

My desert is beautiful but some areas have crawling animals like snakes and scorpions. Most of my nomadic community members have no access to toilets/latrines/sanitation centers. People just help themselves in open areas mostly behind bushes. I am worried about my young sisters who walk for long distances from settlement and behind bushes to just help themselves. They are so much exposed to a lot of harm from animals than men especially at night because they can’t see what is on the ground as they squat.

I am worried about the security of my young sisters who spend their days very far from home looking after animals with men who are not related to them.  Some of them end up pregnant during such times but the society condemns them so badly. Most of this girls are very young so whatever was done happened without her consent. After the pregnancy she is totally rejected, disowned and chased away. As young as she is she faces life alone with her unborn child with nobody to lean on/support her. She ceases to be part of her community but the responsible guy is cleansed, nothing happens to his status in the community and he is allowed to marry any other girl. Her decision does not count because she is just a girl. Her sense of belonging is destroyed and she is exposed to so many risks including health and emotional torture. My beautiful sister struggles every moment of her life.

As we celebrate international peace day, I would like all of us to remember my wonderful sisters in our beautiful desert. Can we have a society where every girl’s personal urgency and security is respected and valued? Can our girls’ decisions be heard? Can they have equal rights to matters concerning their lives?