Source: All Africa
Rita Kiprotich, 16, had a grand dream - to become a doctor and help the Sabiny access better health services and improve maternal health in the area. At the age of 10, Kiprotich topped her P5 class of 100 pupils.

But she was to be married off to a 69-year-old man, who would give her parents 15 cows as dowry.

"I thought the dowry was in exchange for my aunt," she narrates, tears rolling down her face. But when she learnt that the cows were in exchange for her, she sought the advice of her educated cousin. "I told her I wanted to become an important person in my community in order to help girls who have been oppressed by culture," she says.

Many men in the Sabiny community of eastern Uganda think of their daughters as a source of income. When a man admires a girl, he gives her father 40 or 50 cows in exchange for her. The girl will then be circumcised and given away to the man.

I recently met Kiprotich at her father's home in Bukwo district - tucked away along the Kenya-Uganda border - on a routine field trip to find out how the region is fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). FGM is the cutting of part of a woman's external genitalia. Among the Sabiny, is practice is a form of initiation from childhood to adult. A girl who has not undergone FGM is forbidden from doing certain chores such as milking a cow, fetching water from the village well and entering into a kraal to fetch cow dung for smearing on huts.

In 2010, over 600 girls were reported to have been mutilated in the Sebei region, compared to 220 in the Pokot region. In Uganda, FGM is practised in the districts of Bukwo, Kween, Kapchorwa, Amudat, Moroto, Nakapiripirit and Bugiri.

Foiled escape

On the eve of her circumcision, Kiprotich had planned to escape from home, but she failed to. "A lady called the mentor guarded me like her life depended on it. If I had escaped, she would have been killed, as the culture dictates," says Kiprotich.

On a very cold night before the day of circumcision, Kiprotich was taken to the village well, accompanied by five women, for a cleansing ceremony that involved bathing and shaving her pubic hair. "In doing this, our people believe they are washing away demons. I was also given a herb to make me brave," she says.

Kiprotich did not sleep that night. With 10 other girls who were also supposed to undergo the ritual, they danced the whole night, moving from one house to another, telling relatives that they were ready.

At around 3:00am, Kiprotich says, they were taken before a group of old women. "Using sharp thorns, they pierced my private parts. I felt a lot pain and wanted to cry, but I feared I would be beaten or banished from the community for expressing fear - the custom does not entertain girls who fear. They did it several times until my vagina was swollen and I could not feel any more pain," adds Kiprotich. "I was then fed on chicken, posho and milk to replace lost energy," she explains.

At about 5:00am, Kiprotich appeared before a group of onlookers to face the knife. "I thought I was going to die; I was very afraid. I was brought from the house and wrestled down like a bull about to be slaughtered, amid chants from the crowd," she explains.

Millet flour was poured into her vagina to reduce friction and she was cut. Kiprotich says she felt a lot of pain, but did not show it for fear of being beaten by the onlookers.

The 'surgeon' then pressed Kiprotich's legs together to ease the pain. She was marched to the hut where she would heal over the next three weeks without any medication.

Almost married off

After a week, Kiprotich's 'husband-to-be' was ready to marry her. "I told my cousin that I had already experienced a lot of pain and would not allow to get married to a man fit to be my grandfather. My cousin told me that there was a certain organisation that helps rescue girls who have been forced to undergo FGM and also help them continue with their education," she says.

Without her parents' knowledge, Kiprotich went to the Reproductive Educative and Community Health Project (REACH), a local charity that fights FGM in Uganda and offers scholarships to poor girls through the United Nations Population Fund and other partners.

"I was admitted to Amang High School, but even after this, my journey wasn't easy," she says. Armed with machetes and spears, Kiprotich's family stormed the school and demanded for her.

"We asked them to let her study and marry her off later," says Charles Chemonges, a teacher at the school.

Parents relent

Through sensitisation and dialogue initiated by REACH, Kiprotich's parents have realised that they would have shattered their daughter's dreams.

Kiprotich's will complete S4 this year. Her father, Boniface Yeko, 45, explains that at first he thought his daughter would never get married unless she underwent FGM.

"But I have learnt that FGM cuts short the lives of many girls. Some have died, others contracted infections and many have become crippled," adds Yeko, a peasant, who has never been to school.

Chemusto's story

Every girl in Sebei region has a story to tell, but perhaps none of their experiences is as heartrending as that of 13-year-old Elizabeth Chemusto, a P7 pupil. She vividly remembers the day a 70-year-old man wanted to marry her.

"He promised to give my parents eight cows and demanded that I undergo FGM before the marriage. I cried from morning to evening, but my parents insisted I had to face the knife," she says. Chemusto was mutilated under the watchful eye of her 'husband-to-be'.

"I cried so hard that the man changed his mind. He said he could not marry a coward and left my parents cursing me," she adds.

After one month, Chemusto's parents tried to marry her off to another man who had offered them five cows. "I escaped from home and went to live with my aunt," she says.

Being educated, Chemusto's aunt, welcomed her. The girl was taken to Sipi Secondary School and today, her parents have realised that education is important. "They often buy my uniform and textbooks and give me pocket money," she says.

Chemusto has become a crusader against FGM. "When I go home, I sensitise other girls about the need to embrace education. I tell them that FGM robs one of their womanhood and leads to death and other complications like difficulty in giving birth and HIV/AIDS," she said.

'I was raped before the ritual'

She was only 10 years old when a 71-year-old man took her for a wife at the orders of her father. "I was raped and then circumcised. The man gave my father six cows," Kulany narrates.

After the rape, Kulany bled so badly that she almost died. The man got scared and abandoned her. "I crawled slowly to Bukwo Hospital, where I was rescued by a health worker," she says.

When she recovered and narrated her story to the health worker, he took her to Sipi Secondary School to study for free.

Kulany, whose name means saviour, says: "I found out that despite the fact that many people blame culture for our people's backwardness, poverty is forcing people to mutilate their girls and marry them off early in exchange for cows," she says.

Alice Chekweli, a social worker in Bukwo, agrees. "There was a case where the family had lost their cows to raiders and they wanted to give away their daughter to replace the cows. But after the district offered them money, they let her continue with her education," she says.

Chekweli says some girls have been denied their right to education. "Some parents say when their daughters go to school, they stop listening to them and become prostitutes, who fetch little bride price," she explains.

But there's a ray of hope, as Chekweli says community leaders, the Police and civil society are educating parents that FGM, early marriage and sexual abuse violate the girls' rights. "Local councillors used to be part of the problem, but since the passing of the anti-FGM law, they have denounced it," Chekweli says.

In 2009, Parliament passed a law banning FGM, the penalty being 10 years imprisonment for aiding or facilitating the ritual and life imprisonment for those who actually circumcise or force girls to undergo FGM.

Chekweli says 90% of the girls in the Sabiny community are married off before they turn 15. Over 30% of the girls undergo genital mutilation annually, she says.

A teacher at Amang, Catherine Cheboi, says over 100 girls who have denounced FGM have joined the school. "However, their parents are not supportive and as a result, many drop out and get married due to lack of scholastic materials," she says. 

• Uganda