That's why we fight for women rights!

My life history is of many challenges since my undergoing Female Genitals Mutilation (FGM), this being the passage of childhood to womanhood or adulthood as per the Maasai community customs and norms. This is an experience I will never forget in my life time, we were twelve girls in number one who were Mutilated on the same day using the same object, after being forced by my parents and siblings who were bitter about my action, in fact I joined the ceremony one day prior to the heinous and shameful operation. The ceremony usually starts on a Wednesday whereby the initiates are released to go round the village passing the invitation massage to the family's relatives as well as friends and once agemates. The the investigations runs from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday when the girls assemble at one of the family's friends home in readiness for the big day, on Saturday morning we all moved to the hosting home after going through a hectic moments including sleeping without food and a strange home which you have never been to - this is usually called empikas, all this period you are half-naked as a sign of ending your childhood. During this period you are abused by everybody with others insulting you until curse why you were born a girl. As I said earlier mine is of different case, I WAS FORCED to undergo it since by then salvation had not taken roots in Maasai land, but none could not hear of it because of the following:

1) They wanted dowry
2) They wanted prestige
3) They claimed that, they could not stand a shameless lot denying them entertainment - brews of different types were in plenty.

We stayed in seclusion for a period of three months indoors thus closing or shutting the doors of education. I was in class six from a rural school thus marking the end of going to school hence dropping and got engaged to someone who was as old as almost the Age of my father in the name of a husband. I ran away from it and joined the Maasai Mara game Reserve for a casual work marking the extention of my rejection by all in the family. The dark side of my life is when I stayed with somebody and got pregnant, just immediately after giving birth the guy deserted me leaving us in desperation so I could not go home, I lost my job while chasing him for the upkeep of the boy, but all ended bitterly, the man disappointed me and disappeared in the thin air completely, all these taught me a big lesson - rejection, insults, trauma, isolation in the name of FGM as a result all these things I took time to reflect on how to assist my fellow women not to go through the path I went.

To be a Maasai woman means a lot but negative: You start your day at 5:00 am in the morning ending at 11:00 pm in the night. The duties include and not limited to the following:
1) Cleaning the calabashes
2) Milking the cows
3) Sweeping the house and cow shades
4) Feeding the family more importantly the husband
5) Fetching water from as far as 5km a distance using your head
6) Looking after the children
7) Fetching firewood
8) Looking after the animals and watering them as well
9) Preparing for food
10) Milking again in the evening
11) Preparing a bed for the husband

You do all these without any body appreciating or valuing your work, there's no single minute to rest and own nothing in the family.

Some of the lessons I have learnt are the dangers of FGM which include :
1) Over bleeding after the cut, others even succumb to it and dye
2) Trauma
3) Difficulty during child birth
4) Rejection by the husband
5) Health hazards eg fistula
6) Left with a permanent scar
7) Costly to the family
8) Fertile ground for school dropouts and encourages early marriages
9) Degrading to the concern girl

Thus the birth of Tareto Maa. All the ladies whom we were circumcised together all of them dropped from school now living under the mercies of their husbands without a say on anything or a source of income. Never again should any girl drop from school thus my slogan SAY NO TO FGM AND FORCED EARLY MARRIAGES. GLADYS NAINGOLAI KIRANTO.