ASK Nkatha: A Woman of Paradise
Nkatha was burdened by this story and wept at the thought that this girl had not been convinced that her poor mother would be able to pay for her education. “Coming from Tigania, I know I should have gone through FGM because that is our culture. That is what I know women have to go through for them to be valued, for them to be respected. But my parents chose to educate me and show me that I didn’t need the approval of anybody in the community as long as I used my brains. I have relatives and friends who have gone through FGM and now it has become an epidemic because thousands of girls were dying. That is what attracted the BBC to my village. They had to isolate the case to show the whole world that really the stigma is so bad in that community that fourteen and fifteen year old girls are cutting off their own genitals.”
She shared the article with the HIV/Aids task force and her mentors at Heifer International. She then went to different nonprofit organizations and shared the story with them. Everyone encouraged her to do something about it because, as she found out, the World Health Organization had established that the most successful campaigns against cultural practices have to be spearheaded by members of the particular community in which the practices are carried out. Nkatha was challenged. Her father, who is a prominent member of his community, had already done a lot to help them in different areas. Concerned people from Tigania approached him and asked him to encourage Nkatha, who was already in the limelight because of her music, to become an advocate and do something about this terrible situation.
She wasn’t sure if she could do it. However, she knew that she had a choice and an opportunity to make a difference. “If I didn’t do anything, I would actually become a hindrance to my community because they need people to do something right now.” That is how Woman of Paradise was formed.
“We’ve been educating girls, giving them alternative rites of passage.” The stigma in Tigania is among the highest levels of stigma in Kenyan communities that practice female genital mutilation. In some communities, women are not even recognized. She narrates the painful story of a community that was asked who a woman is, and was told, “A woman is nothing in a community. If a man comes to a house and asks who is in, if it’s only the women and children, a woman is supposed to say nobody is home.”
The alternative rites of passage that Nkatha and organizations like Woman of Paradise introduce are seven-day workshops where young women are educated about sexual health. Prominent women in society who come from this community but have resisted this practice share their stories and encourage the girls to pursue their education. Myths such as “If a woman is not circumcised she will be too sexual and therefore able to rape a man” are dispelled and the mothers of these young girls are empowered with social entrepreneurship skills and capital to start small businesses that can contribute to the family income and therefore enable the women to participate in family decision-making.
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Beautiful story and very inspiring. Keep it coming siz….don’t let nothing stop you! You are a blessing to this generation. love ya!