By: Madeline Taskier, Strategic Partnerships Associate, Women Deliver
When Kakenya Ntaiya was 5 years old, she was engaged to be married. Growing up in Enoosaen, a rural Maasi village in southwestern Kenya, she helped her mother tend the farm and cattle, take care of her siblings, and gather water from the river. She rarely had the chance to attend school; only when her chores were completed.
In her village, like many others in Kenya, girls are expected to undergo female genital cutting (FGC), a coming-of-age ritual signifying womanhood at the age of puberty. After the ceremony has concluded, she is deemed ready for marriage. But Kakenya did not want to be married yet. She had dreams of going through primary and secondary school, going to college and becoming a teacher.
At 13, she brokered a deal with her father that allowed her to delay marriage and continue school if she underwent the FGC ceremony. After finishing high school, she negotiated another deal, this time, with the village elders: if they allowed her to go to college in the United States, she would return to Enoosaen and build a school for girls.
In 2004, Kakenya received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Studies from Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Virginia. By 2009, the Kakenya Center for Excellence (KCE), the region’s first and only primary school for girls, was opened. And in September 2011, Kakenya received her Doctorate in Education at the University of Pittsburgh.
One of 130 million girls and women worldwide who have experienced FGC, Kakenya is the first woman from her village to attend college, though it is unlikely, due to her efforts, that she’ll be the last. As of January 2011, 94 girls were enrolled in grades 4 through 6 and KCE will continue to matriculate 30 to 35 new students per year. The school is comprised of four subjects, four classrooms, and a dormitory for girls whose families are located far from the school.
By igniting a passion for learning and keeping girls in school, KCE naturally delays marriage, emphasizes FGC prevention, and underscores girls empowerment. Additionally, the school’s sexual health programming educates the girls about the risks presented by FGC and young motherhood. For instance, girls who have undergone FGC have higher rates of teen pregnancy, increased risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and a myriad of reproductive health difficulties later in life.
As a result of Kakenya’s hard work, keeping girls in school and increasing community involvement, fewer girls are being cut. It is the voices like hers the shift cultural attitudes toward this dangerous practice for girls. In September 2011, two groundbreaking anti-FGC laws were passed in the Kenyan parliament making it illegal for anyone to practice or procure the cut. The penalty for breaking this law: a seven-year jail sentence and 500,000 Kenyan shilling fine; or a potential life sentence for the cutter if the woman were to die during the procedure.
Today, Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya, is preparing to return to Enoosaen, where she will continue to grow the Kakenya Center for Excellence and expand its programs for the school and community. “Now all the village women want their daughters to stay in school. African girls might forever be altered through education, empowerment and leadership," says Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya. "This is my dream."
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Kakenya’s story, produced by Vital Voices.
More on Kakenya via National Geographic Explorer here.
Entry Comments
Simply awesome, simply inspiring. Educated a girl and you educate a nation.
Education remains to be the best method for women to learn and become more independent. Kakenya Ntaiya was brave enough to be a leader and make the path for many other girls to pursue education and delay marrying. Education also promotes health in women related to child bearing and in this case female genital cutting. By allowing and promoting women to gain an education it allows women to be able to practice a healthier lifestyle and prevent the number of women with maternal deaths, sexually transmitted diseases, and the number unhealthy newborns and many other situations that can significantly change the life of young women. Women are now encouraged to have a future, a career, and start a family but on their own terms.
The fascinating story of Kakenya Ntaiya’s journey to fulfill her dreams of becoming a teacher is a good example of how her personal sacrifice and determination paved the way for not only herself but for the future women in her village. By making a deal with her father to delay her own marriage by undergoing female genital cutting (FGC) to receive an education, Kakenya Ntaiya was able to give back to her village and open up a school just for girls. As a result of the new school, the girls in Kakenya’s village are able to stay in school resulting in delaying marriage, learn about FGC prevention and gain independence. In addition, as part of the sexual health program more girls are learning about the risk associated with female genital cutting such as higher rates of teen pregnancy, reproductive difficulties and increased risk of complications during birth. Education promotion was the a huge factor in this true story which facilitated many attitude changes in Kakenya’s village and empowered women to further their education and become more independent.
This is really awesome!! Its very important to educate girl, as she educates automatically every member in the family becomes literate!!
I met Kakenya when she first graduated in Virgina and then consulted for the U.N. Population Fund. Her story is the first in my book, 34 MIllion Friends of the Women of the World. I am so proud of her and we remain in touch. And I do give a small amount every year to her Center for Excellence. You should too!!!
I read the whole content and found that Kenya are being altered as a result in a change of cultural experience.
That’s the right step towards Maasai Girls and women.