Political instabilities leave many Kenyan people to face forms of repression and violence. Life is even more difficult for people requiring special support or being at threat.
Notwisthstanding legislation, Female Genital Mutilation is still widely practised among the Kisii, Kalenjin, Maasai, Somai, Embu and Meru ethnies. The practice is deeply embedded in cultural values and traditions of the practising societies. Girls not undergoing the cut face tremendous pressure and face the risk of being stigmatised and excluded by their community. It is estimated that 3 million young girls under the age of 15 are at risk of being the victim of this practice (WHO, 2010).
Female Genital Mutilation infringes women’s physical and pschosexual integrity, leading to numerous health complications with short and long term physical and psychological traumas.
Wounded Healer, Kalafu is the first advocate of her generation to rise for rescuing girls from genital mutilation and forced early marriage. She has founded a residential school that provides them shelter, education and medication.
We will support these girls with our books, so to restore their hope in life and empower them to learn skills to make a living. We also want to run online training workshops for the caregivers.
Hearing disability puts one more at risk of relational and mental health problems. A study in special units school in Nairobi county shows that deaf and hard hearing adolescents are at highlighted risks of stigma, language barrier, poverty and adverse childhood events [1]. The young ones struggle to feel accepted, failing to get a sense of belonging. Most often, their parents do not know sign language and send them out for labour as a form of punishment.
We will support these young ones with our books, to help them overcome their wounds of separation and empower them within their communities. We also want to train youth mentors to our approach and have our support material translated in sign languages to expand our reach to more communities in need worldwide.
Our actions in support to the Maasaï girls and hearing impaired groups will be managed by Joan Mutahi, psychologist from the College of Health Sciences at the University of Nairobi.
[1] Psychopathology, resilience, and risk factors among deaf and hard of hearing adolescents : a mixed methods study of the special unit schools in Nairoby county, Kenya, J. Mutahi, MsC thesis, Univ. of Nairobi, 2022.
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