Seated in the floor of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, a group of Maasai women are busy shaping beads into beautiful jewelry as they chat and sing in their native Maasai language. Dressed in flowery and multi coloured shukas (cloth), they tell me, “ ours is a story of hope for the African girl and particularly the Maasai Girl child”.
Namayiana a Maasai word meaning ‘blessing’ is a group comprising of about 120 women of different ages who specialize in beadwork for local and international markets. The Maasai who are well known for their deep rooted culture that has been maintained by the community over the years are pastoralists occupying vast lands in Kajiado and Narok Counties in Kenya. However, it is in that deep culture that some women and girls are not fully enjoying their rights. Of particular concern to them is son preference that enables boys to go to school as girls assist their mothers in household chores and herding, female genital mutilation (FGM) a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood which is at 99% among the Maasai. FGM entails a process of cutting and removing all or part of their genitals especially the clitoris and teen pregnancy resulting in high rates of school drop outs. At the age of between 12 and 14 years, a Maasai girl will undergo FGM. Traditionally it is not allowed to get married to an uncircumcised woman, all women must be circumcised in order to get married who in many instances, are married to men older than them. This curtails her right to education as she has to take up motherhood and dictates of a married woman.

With limited opportunity for the advancement of the girl child, a group of women decided to ensure that their daughters went to school. They would no longer sit back and watch their daughters married off in exchange of cows that would be sold to educate the boys. Further having gone through FGM, they were aware of the health dangers it posed to their daughters, so they would protect them from the practice. That meeting of minds saw two groups merge in the year 2000 to form Namayiana Women Group. The women meet every Monday and Thursday where each is allocated work of making a particular number of bead items. The sale proceeds are divided into running of the organization and paying the women who can now ably take their daughters to school. The organization has grown from the initial hut constructed from cow dung and soil to a concrete building where they also hold seminars for their members.

Under the leadership of Agnes Marona and Catherine Mututua, the success of Namayiana has inspired so many women especially within the pastoralist community that girls need an education too. To ensure that their success is sustained, and with partnership of the local community and Presbyterian Church, Kimuka Girls High school was established and currently has over 300 girls wand also offers a boarding facility.

 

Their passion, commitment and a shared vision towards the education of their girls is what keeps the group intact. Though a phenomenal and inspiring group, deep cultural practices are a constant challenge that the women have to deal with. As Agnes puts it, ‘’we have a long way to go to convince the men that women and girls have rights”. Some women from Namayiana have had to house girls whose parents are keen on marrying them off or subjecting them to FGM. This is an increased burden to the already struggling family. We would like to construct a rescue facility where our girls will be taken care of both when in school and during the school vacation. We would also wish to establish a scholarship fund where our girls can be assured of continued education after high school.

• Kenya