In some communities in Baringo County, female circumcision is seen as a girl’s transition to womanhood. After undergoing the cut, they are married off and exchanged for livestock.
However, some girls from the Pokot community have been given a second lease of life, thanks to a retired Anglican priest who has rescued hundreds from the archaic practices and provided them a home.
Reverend Canon Christopher Chochoi has established a home to host girls who flee forced marriages as well as outcasts who are ostracised by their families for resisting FGM.
The home, known as Cana girls’ centre, is the only one of its kind in Baringo County. It provides refuge to victims of abuse and defilement. Some come from as far as Samburu, Turkana, Ilchamus and the Tugen communities.
Speaking to the Nation , Canon Chochoi narrates how he was prompted to start the centre nearly two decades ago. He had been called to pray with a young girl who had ingested poison to end the misery of her abusive marriage.
“In 2001, I was called to go and pray for a 14 year old girl at Nginyang’ Dispensary who had taken rat poison. She was a victim of a forced marriage and the husband was abusive towards her. I prayed with the girl but she later died. It was so painful seeing a young soul die due to retrogressive cultural practices. It was during this difficult time that the idea for the centre came upon me.”
He notes the Pokot community does not value women, who are only seen as a source of dowry.
“In the Pokot community, women have no voice. In fact, they are grouped together with children and play no part in decision-making. It is quite unfortunate.”
The retired cleric started the rescue centre in 2002 and he formally registered it with the ministry of social services in 2005.
“I started with one girl who had fled forced marriage in Churo, more than 100 kilometres away. She trekked the entire way just to seek refuge. At the time, I hadn’t completed putting up the structures so I hosted her in one of my houses. Shortly later, she was joined by five others.”
A British donor built for him a permanent house which housed more than 12 girls. Later, another donor built another house which accommodated 48 girls.
“The rescue centre has since grown and now we have two modern dormitories which accommodate more than 68 girls. Since its inception in 2002, more than 200 girls have passed through the home. Some have since graduated from the university.”
Canon Chochoi has won accolades especially from the anti-FGM crusaders. Presently, there are more than 15 girls in various secondary schools and many more in primary schools. The centre caters for all their needs in addition to paying school fees.
“Those girls are my responsibility and I should provide for them ranging from food to schooling. Because they ran away from outdated cultural believes, I will not let them down. I am determined to prove o the world that it is important to educate the girl child.”
His move to protect the girls from retrogressive cultural practices and educate them has greatly helped to change the mind-set of the illiterate parents who now see the advantages of educating their girls as opposed to marrying them off to old men for a few cows.
“In the rescue centre, I clothe them, provide food and other personal effects and ensure that they are enrolled in various institutions. Through this, I am happy that some parents from the Pokot community have now seen the importance of education and have taken their children, especially girls to school.”
The father of five admits his journey to provide a home for the girls has however not been a walk in the park.
“I have made an ultimate decision to give a ray of hope and smile on the faces of the abused and vulnerable girls who ran away from social evils such as forced or early marriages, female cut or abused by relatives.”
The institution mostly relies on well-wishers, churches and non-government organizations that have been of great help. The local administration also assists with food items and some girls have also completed their secondary education through the support of the constituency bursary funds.
“My prayer is not only for these girls to prosper but the entire community to embrace women in the society and treat them in a proper way. To achieve this, together with churches and non-government organizations, we have been holding forums to sensitize and change the mind-set of this community and other neighbouring pastoral communities.”
According to the priest, uncircumcised girls are considered ‘unripe’ and are outcasts who cannot be allowed to mingle with the girls who have endured the knife.
The allure of getting over 50 cows as bride price for a circumcised girl as compared to less for the uncircumcised ones continues to push parents to engage in the practice as a way of increasing their livestock.
Canon Chochoi notes the practice is rampant during August and December holidays in the remote villages such as Ng’oron, Kolowa, Kakapul, Gulel, Atirir, and Kongor among others.
He adds persuading the locals to abandon the retrogressive practice is dangerous. For instance, the center’s matriarch came face to face with furious and armed male relatives of one of the girls stormed in to the centre two years ago. They demanded the girl be handed over.
“We’ve been facing a lot of hostility from parents who come to the rescue home demanding to take their daughters back home to undergo circumcision forcing us to seek the help of police and members of the provincial administration.”
In many setting where FGM is practiced in Pokot, it is justified because there is a social consensus that if households or individuals do not perform the practice on their girls or women, they risk being excluded, criticised, stigmatized or the household would not find a suitable partner to marriage for their daughters.
The region records high cases of mass female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced early marriages school holidays. Hundreds of girls aged between 10 and 16 years are always subjected to FGM in the region.
“Especially along the border areas, the practice is still very rife. For instance in the remote areas like Lokis, Akoret and Tirioko areas where there are no schools and churches,” says Canon Chochoi.
