KENYA: Sophia Lepuchurit from Wamba, Samburu County, never gets tired of narrating what she went through on her journey to liberation.
And why not? She was the first girl from the Samburu community to successfully complete ‘A’ levels and subsequently joined University of Nairobi. Today, Lepuchurit is the Director of Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC), having graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Public Administration from the University of Nairobi in 1983.
After her studies, she started working but decided to go back and help in the fight against repugnant cultural practices within her community.
“I was taken to a Catholic school with other Samburu girls by a priest called Peter Talone. My parents could not allow us to go to school, but the priest insisted on educating me because I was a bright student in my class. Through the years, the priest and the Catholic Church mentored us. We were about 18 Samburu girls, but by the time we were finishing Form Four, we were only four of us,” recalls Lepuchurit.
She says the rest dropped out of school and got married after undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
“When one goes through FGM, one gets married immediately because the community cannot allow you to stay unmarried,” she says. With a passion for education, the mother of four - three boys and a girl - struggled until Form Four.
“I went for my O levels at St Theresa’s Girls Secondary School in Wamba courtesy of the then District Commissioner. He later enrolled me in Butere Girls for A levels and helped pay my school fees,” she says.
At 16, when she had just finished Form Four, she faced the razor (underwent FGM), something that almost cost her her long-cherished dream.
“It is by the grace of God that we are alive. While this practice is performed, they remove you from the hut very early in the morning and pour cold water on your head and your naked body. They use the same razor blade on everyone. My hair was shaved later as the custom dictated and I had to go to Butere Girls Secondary School without hair on my head. The students in the school thought I had lost a relative. I did not tell them what had happened,” she says.
During mid-term holidays, Lepuchurit could not leave for home because her parents were nomadic pastoralists who moved from one place to another.
“My mother and father lived in a manyatta and I would come home to find they had moved. They did not even know when the schools closed,” she recalls.
They never stepped into a classroom and during school visiting days, they did not attend because they were not aware.
Though her father was supportive when she later joined university, some of her relatives complained that she was taking too long to finish her studies. After graduating from the University of Nairobi in 1983, she was employed by the Public Service Commission a year later as an assistant secretary until 1989.
In 1990, she joined the Central Bank of Kenya where she worked in the administration division as an assistant superintendent until 1993.
“I also worked with an NGO sponsored by the United Nations and we formed a Non-Governmental Organisation - Umoja Kenya - which is supporting peace initiatives in our region. This is when I decided to give back to the community and help my people. We went all over preaching peace and urging our peopled to stop cattle rustling. We also urged them to stop circumcising girls and instead take them to school,” she says.
As a result of her work, which was going against the cultural norms, she faced a lot of resistance and men in the community did not like her.
“The Samburu men did not like me. I didn’t get married to a Samburu man because they did not want to marry me. During our time, the moment you go up to Form Four, they stop liking you. It is just this new generation that is now marrying graduates. I stayed single until I met a Taita man who became my husband. Otherwise, I could have stayed unmarried until I grew grey hair,” she says.
Together with her friend, Rebecca Lolosoli, they also founded Umoja Women Village in Samburu, a cultural village that takes in women who have been marginalised and those who have suffered abuse.
Located in Archers Post, Samburu, the village was established in 1990 and has nursery and a primary schools. It also has a campsite where tourists visit.
“We get funding from friends who support our work. We preach against FGM because we underwent the practice and we know its repercussions. The practice is still being practised in Samburu and people do not like talking about it. Though it is slowly dying, villagers do not want to marry uncircumcised girls. But the younger generation is beginning to see the value of education. The people are now admiring women leadership,” she says.
In 2012, their work in Umoja Village received The Great Women Award in Middle East.