Cuts For Cutting Are Good

Female castration is one of the most grisly events I have ever seen. I watched as a 2-year-old child, screaming at the top of her lungs was held by her mother, while the Mzee cut the clitoris and labia off. I couldn’t believe a mother could do this, but culturally it has been done for hundreds of years.

Kenya outlawed this practice, however tribes continue to do it.  Bungoma is a town not far from where One Village works. In today’s paper I read that circumcision by 3 of the tribes is getting too costly. It seems for a full ceremony, including the killing of 2 bulls a family must pay 52,000ksh. That would send a child to secondary school for 4 years.

It seems that while the threat of AIDS is one reason they may slow it down, the real reason is that it’s too costly. While I wish it were because the girls are mutilated, I am well aware that changing customs anywhere in the world is not something that happens over night. So I guess I’m glad the cost of female castration has gone up enough that the Sabaot are considering stopping the tradition.

To read the full story here is the link: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/Circumcision+proud+tradition+faces+the+cut++/-/1070/1133200/-/13vnqqbz/-/index.html

We Are Family

We are Family

I guess I’m showing my age. I had had a great day of working on One Village and was coming home from the grocery store. All I could hear in my head was Sister Sledge singing “We are Family”, Ah the Disco Years. I realized yesterday, after a hectic week of working with so many people on One Village activities that that is what we are. We are family.

When I started OVAAT back in 2002 we were far from that. I was OVAAT and the burden was pretty great. I would lie awake nights wondering if I could find donors to carry on supporting the few children we were feeding. I did the fundraising, tried to get the word out and did a terrible job of making a website. Board members came and went, there were hurt feelings, petty squabbles and board members shied away from actually getting their feet wet.

Something happened in 2006. The stars aligned, the work took on a different scope, and the family began to coalesce. Soon we had folks who wanted to raise money, who wanted to work on the website, who wanted to get more sponsors. The Board became a group of amazing people who came together gladly. And I guess, to be perfectly honest, I let go of OVAAT and shared it with everyone. Everyone’s opinion counted and ideas flourished and people not only worked on the Board but also became friends.

It is 2011. We are on our fourth Harames. We have a research committee, a fundraising committee, a marketing group, a website group but most important of all is how everyone cares about each other. When Alyssa didn’t make the fundraising meeting because of a sick child, I got lots of messages asking how her son was. When I wanted our new web designer to be able to come up here from Kentucky with her husband, one of the guys working on the website offered to pay for the husband’s ticket.

We are more than friends now, we are a family and One Village at a Time is our child. We want the very best for this special being. We want to see it grow and develop and reach towards the sky. We want to protect it and make sure that if we are not here that the next generation will follow up and care for it. We do this freely with no pay except the incredible experience of watching OVAAT grow up.

As for me, when I spoke to the Board last week, I cried. What I had hoped for and dreamed about these 9 years was a reality. We’re there. We have a successful model we can roll out across Africa, and I knew it was because we are family. And I am so very, very grateful .In my mind now, Harambee isn’t just a fundraiser; it’s a family reunion.

Get on board people, it’s a great family and all are welcome!