Nanja Secondary School Visit

So an update on the human rights project is probably due since the last time I talked about it was over a week ago. Last Thursday, the two other volunteers and I joined two members of HIMS and headed to Nanja Secondary School, a Maasai school an hour and a half outside Arusha, in order to discuss the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) with some Maasai girls. Set, just off the highway to Dodoma, the school sits in the middle of a vast plain, with the school buildings scattered about and a volleyball court sitting with a football pitch in the centre of the school.

When the introductions were done, we began to talk with the sixty or so girls who were about fourteen or fifteen about the issue of FGM. The first questions was if anyone supported the practice and, not surprisingly, not one hand was raised. We assumed that all were against the practice but it could be that some were not willing to show their support for it in front of the other girls. We followed up with the 'why' question. The answers were those of educated young women: loss of blood, psychological implications, transmission of HIV. We then asked them what their male peers thought of the practice. They replied that some of their male friends were against it but the decision makers in the tribe were all men who supported the practice. We were immediately suggested to go and speak to the leaders of the clans in order to tell them to educate the young men of the clans. However, most felt that their male counterparts supported circumcision and want their wives and daughters to be circumcised as it is their culture.

We then began asking questions in order to find out the prevailing attitudes towards FGM from the girls and what they thought the solution was. The girls spoke remarkably good English and one of the more vocal girls was quick to stand up and give her account of what she thought needed to be done. She argued that there are things in Tanzania that women wanted eradicated, the two main ones being FGM and forced marriages. She suggested that education was the key to stopping FGM and said that, for those who supported the practice in order to keep their culture, “culture is dynamic”. After, we asked about whether the girls were circumcised or not, some were and some weren't. Focusing on the ones that had not been circumcised yet, we asked them if they had any plans as to what would happen when their time came. A few had plans to run away and find NGOs and other authorities who would be able to help them but many others were resigned to having it done to them without their own consent. Some said that they would have it done in order to be respected within their society and were unwilling to fight it due to the lack of support from others within their clan especially the elders, who are all male and pro-circumcision. She said the only thing that gained a girl respect, other than circumcision, was education, secondary school at least and beyond to university.

There were brighter stories though regarding what they would do to find a husband without being circumcised, with one telling us that her tribe does not force them to marry within their own tribe so she could marry someone who did not support the practice of FGM. Another told us she would become a Catholic nun as a solution. When we asked how they would be able to escape the circumciser if they came suddenly to prevent her running away and one girl told us that there was a long period of celebration leading up to the ceremony and that she would use that time to educate her parents in an attempt to get them to stop the ritual.

Another point that kept cropping up as a way of circumventing the ritual in terms of respect and marriage prospects was education. A girl told us that many Maasai parents did not want their daughters to be educated and celebrated when they received bad marks. My final question to them was where else in the world was FGM practised. One girl said Kenya although she got the type of FGM incorrect, another said America.

Unfortunately, time ran out and we had to return to town but we had found the day useful even if it did not really tell us much that we had not already been told. It was nice to hear it from the girls themselves, though. The truth of it is that these are extremely well-educated girls, whose English was extremely impressive who know about the health implications of the practice and are able or willing to fight against the practice in their own tribes. Some may go to university and become professionals through which they will be able to gain respect and a significant dowry for their family. Although some of these girls will inevitably fail in their quest to educate their parents and elders, a large majority will probably not even attempt to resist. Additionally, none of those girls we interviewed will ever be major decision makers in their tribes. It is the young men, the leaders of the next generation that we must engage with and educate.