Going against the grain to enjoy freedom

Rebecca Lolosoli’s face radiates with happiness that springs from the very depths of her heart. She did not always have a smile on her face but now it is more or less a permanent feature.

She has fought for this contentment in many wars and has the physical scars to prove it. But the emotional pain is washed away by the great achievement she sees all around her; following her everywhere like a shadow.

She enjoys the ‘liberty’ that sprung from her pain and that of other pastoralist women. In her Samburu community, traditionally women have no voice. They have no right to own property or even get close to deciding matters that touch on community welfare.

Thus, being born a woman among the Samburu means being subjected to abject poverty. And being married off at the onset of puberty.

But Lolosoli, who never entered anyone’s classroom, overcame these obstacles to discover the freedom to dream of a better future. And she did not dream for herself but she went head-on against the grain to ‘liberate’ other women from the shackles of traditional bondage.

She began by discouraging violence against women and other retrogressive practices that are harmful to women’s health. Her efforts were slow but sure. Fortunately, someone noticed the tremendous work she was doing among pastoralist women and she was awarded for her humanitarian efforts during the Middle-East’s second GR8 Women Awards held in Dubai in 2012. Vital Voices also conferred on her its highest award presented by Hilary Clinton in Washington DC in 2010.

In 2011, Newsweek named her among the 150 women who shake the world. She was invited in 2011 to participate in The Women of the World Summit in New York City.

Having attended various local and international seminars on indigenous people, women and human rights in the United States, South Africa and Europe, Lolosoli has raised awareness on issues particularly facing Samburu women and African women at large.

Her courage, leadership and bravery have transformed the lives of many women through creating a village in Archers Post, Samburu County, dubbed ‘Umoja Women Village’.

“Umoja village later became a home for many women who faced social and economic difficulties together with those escaping FGM, domestic violence and forced marriages.”

Lolosoli understands what these women go through having faced violence personally. She saw the need to help other women in the community who faced the same predicament.

She was lucky that her husband never beat her but she did not escape men’s “right to mete violence on women”. One day when her husband refused to ‘discipline’ her, she remembers how her brothers-in-law descended on her with blows and kicks.

“In our community women were not allowed to own property and livestock and when I questioned my father-in-law’s selling of our cow, a marriage gift, I was given a thorough beating.”

But the violence did not kill her dream of chasing and getting freedom. She ventured into business to complement her husband’s earnings.

Meanwhile, women who were victims of rape, domestic violence or those facing economic difficulties after being abandoned by their families found Lolosoli, 52, to be a good listener. They shared their experiences with her.

She comforted and gave them food, an act which was also not taken lightly by her in-laws who questioned her compassion.

“My brothers-in-law were agitated by my actions and they again teamed up and beat me up. They almost gouged out my eyes.”

At this point, she felt that remaining quiet was not a good option. She sought permission from the local leaders to raise the plight of the women.

Though she was permitted to do so, the men heckled her whenever she stood in public meetings. It sometimes took the intervention of the area chief who calmed the men. On some occasions she had to talk while sitting down.

Her bravery did not go unnoticed and she was invited for a three-week conference for women in South Africa where women across the world were being educated on their rights.

“I did not go to school hence I could neither read nor write. Women at the conference engaged in lively discussions. One day I locked myself in a toilet for hours to avoid answering questions because I didn’t know how to express myself in another language,” she narrates.

Nonetheless, this did not stop her from achieving her mission.

She encouraged the local women to form groups to help them work collectively and come up with survival strategies in order to change the perception of the women in the community.

She introduced the women in Umoja village to business skills like bead work and crafts. She has also made them aware of their rights, encouraging them to take their daughters to school and shun FGM.

With time, the village has become a tourist attraction with non-Kenyans paying an entry fee of Sh1,000 while residents pay Sh500.

Fifteen per cent of the income is used to finance the training while the rest is used by the women for their daily needs and to finance other projects in the village. They have built a nursery school with 110 children and a primary school which is currently up to Standard Five.

“When men spot me in the villages during my training, they refer to me as the Big Mama who has emulated a foreign lifestyle.”

Presently, the village, which was initially a self-help group but is now a safe haven for abused women, is hosting 50 women but over 350 women have passed through it.

There are rules governing this village and those who go against the rules cannot be tolerated. Lolosoli says they encourage hard work and respect and no one is allowed to engage in wayward behaviour like drunkenness.

“We wake up early in the morning and check if everyone is well before we go out for our daily duties. The women are free to engage in any productive activity including keeping goats,” she says.

Nagusii Lolyom, 55, who is one of the founders of the village, says she has educated her children from the earnings she receives from the village.

“I am free to keep goats and engage in other economic activities in the village. My children are in school and I support them in their education,” she says.