Creaw Portal

SUNDAY NATION

December 7, 2008

Her face contorts in dis­may as she remembers the battle she lost the previous day to community elders when she tried to stop the marriage of a two-year-old girl to a man her father's age.

Still, Mrs Irene Leshole is opti­mistic that one day she will see to the end of a cultoral practice that extols female genital mutilation and forced early marriages.

Before men

"If I managed to get an audience with my community elders yet women are not allowed to speak before men, then it's only a matter of time before we conquer other cultural rites that hinder educa­tion and economic growth", said Mrs Leshole, a soft-spoken cru­sader for the rights of young Samburu girls.

Mrs. Leshole says the nomina­tion of Maison Leshomo to Parlia­ment has made it easier for wom­en's voices to be heard among the Samburu, and boosted the onslaught on cultoral practices that have consigned girls to a miserable life in the pastoral community.

Following a weekend spent in her rural home, the images of girls being circumcised and mar­ried off disturbed her so much that she could hardly concen­trate at work. Mrs Leshole, the first-born of the former Speaker of national assembly, Francis Ole Kaparo, quit her well-paying job and decided to help young girls from her home get education and hopes of a bright future.

She founded the Nainyoie Community Development Or­ganisation to achieve this end. For close to three years, she has embarked on campaigns across the vast Samburu district to en­light the community on the need to allow girls to go to school.

Mrs.rene Leshole, founder, Nainyoie Community Development Organisation.

Through her efforts, she has listened to women,shared ideas and saved hundreds of girls from facing knife.

However, it has not been easy. A week ago, she planned a 3-day-tour in South Horr for a group of 100 peopler. "I have encountered stiff resistance from some elders.

Mrs Leshole, an auditor by proffesion has made great inroads for the first time in the history Samburu  as she has been able to get about 50 women returned hom.

Traditional medicine from healers and senior elders.

The community relies heavily on medicinal plants for its health care, but the knowledge about herbal remedies has long been the preserve of men. Also, the Nainyoie Organisation, with the help of donors, has been able to reduce child labour in urban cent­ers such as MararaI while creat­ing economic opportunities for women. "We have realised that most children are bread winners for their families. So, we have to economically empower their par­ents for the children to be allowed to go to school". Mrs Leshole, a mother of two children, said.

For the last three years, the organisation has worked closely with the International Labour Organisation to implement pro­grammes to safeguard child rights in marginalised regions.

Cattle rustling

Frequent cattle rustling and ethnic clashes in Samburu have greatly reduced the opportuni­ties for the community. Young girls are enticed by morans from a tender age, and with the urging of their poverty stricken parents, they end up getting married and pregnant from the age of 10. To aggravate their suffering, the cul­ture prohibits a moran from mar­rying an uncircumcised girl.

"My greatest challenge is ensur­ing that these young girls do not marry either elders or morans,but that they continue with edu­cation",she said. When they are educated, she believes, it becomes difficult for men to lure them into primitive habits.

The organization has also em­barked on campaigns to stop FGM in Kirisia, South Horr and MararaI. "We are seeing the fruits of educating the society as they mostly do not regard girls opting for alternative rites of passage as outcasts," she said