Alternative Rite of Passage Ceremony
In 2025 we began village visits 3 times per year to build relationships with elders and discuss issues affecting villagers’ lives. We wanted to bring aspects of our empowerment club curriculum to villages, because, while participating children are impacted by the clubs, the children struggle with resistance in their home villages. Villagers have loved the chance to openly discuss issues they care about, and they keep encouraging Josphine to return. She treats complaints from the men with as much respect as those from the women. For example, it is the men who complain about domestic abuse, not the women. Young girls forced to marry elderly men become bitter, and, being young and strong, they are a greater danger to the elderly men than the other way round! When equal attention is given to problems bothering the men, the male elders are more open to responding to concerns from the women as well.
On our second set of visits, Josphine brought up FGM. The ritual is illegal in Kenya, but the laws are rarely enforced in rural areas. According to the Anti-FGM Board Kenya, prevalence of FGM had dropped to about 76% across Samburu County by 2022, but most of the decline was in urban areas. The rate is much higher in the traditional rural areas of the county, though accurate estimates are hard to obtain since no one admits to the illegal practice. Many groups have tried to dissuade villagers from the practice, even threatening them with arrest, but that has only served to create greater resistance. Elders don’t like “outsiders”, even if they are Samburu, telling them what to do. They especially don’t like anyone challenging their traditional culture.
When Josphine brought the subject up, villagers immediately became hostile and angrily told Josphine if she wanted to talk about FGM then she should just leave. She gently explained that she wasn’t there to tell them what to do. They hadn’t been to school, but they worked hard and sacrificed to send her to school (figuratively) and she was just there to share what she had learned. What they decided to do with the knowledge was up to them. That calmed them down and they listened. What happened next was amazing!
As Josphine shared the details of FGM, including risks of the procedure itself and subsequent risks during childbirth, the men were shocked. It is a taboo subject, so men didn’t know! They kept turning to the women asking, “Is this true? Are the things she’s saying true?” The women confirmed what Josphine was saying, and pretty soon an argument broke out–the men angrily told the women they were to blame for FGM because no one had shared with the men what FGM actually entailed; the women in turn blamed the men since women were just obeying their husbands’ orders. Josphine observed the heated discussion quietly, giggling to herself. In the end, the ELDERS REQUESTED that Josphine come up with an Alternative Rite-of-Passage Ceremony (ARP) for their daughters!!!
We happily obliged, and in December 2025, Ramat Empowerment Initiative offered our first ARP to 104 girls. The girls experienced 5 days of teachings based on our Empowerment Club curriculum, and on the 6th day, parents and elders were invited for a celebration that included dancing, speeches, a feast, and blessings by the elders. The only complaint? They had far more than 104 girls ready for FGM, so they want us to offer more alternative ceremonies (which we are happily planning to do)!
In keeping with our values of honoring traditional cultures, we will only offer the experience to girls if their entire village embraces the ARP, and the elders need to participate and bless the ceremony. This is vital if we want the ARP to truly be accepted as a replacement for FGM.
