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Rukia Zubedi*, Tana River
For 14 years, every single day, I have lived a nightmare after going through thr brutal act of mutilating my most private part. I was just a child - 13 years old. All I remember is that one beautiful morning, family and friends arrived for a celebration that I did not understand. I was the centre of attraction with people presenting me with gifts and congratulating me for something brave and courageous that I was about to undergo.
I do not know about courage but what I remember about this worst day of my life, is that moments later, I was in a room with so many women. One of my aunts asked me to remove my clothes, and when I hesitated, she literally ripped them off my body, forcing me to lie down on a cold floor.
A minute later, my legs were pushed as wide apart with me screaming, but this scream was nothing compared to the one I made after I felt a sharp tool get through my private part, with indescribable pain. I must have fainted because, when I came to, I was lying on a mattress on the floor bleeding so profusely. It took me over two months to recover in- between passing out due to so much blood loss and catching an infection.
I lived the years that followed suffering in my own cocoon, until when I heard about clitoris reconstructive surgery.
For six months, I sent calls, and sent messages of inquiries to institutions, with no forthcoming response even from Government agenciess uch as NCPD and the Ministry of Health.
Then one day, I posted my inquiry on social media, and a response from a woman in the US who had performed the surgery directed me to the Platinum Surgery Centre. I brought myself to the clinic and pleaded my case, the rest is history.
Now, I feel complete, and look forward to a fulfilling marriage after my first failed one because, as my ex-husband put it to me several times, I was 'too cold in bed.'
I cannot wait to go back to Tana River and heal. I will be out spreading the good news to reach as many FGM survivors as possible.
I can identify with their lives, the loss of self-esteem, and other injustices that come along with this most brutal and inhuman injustice committed against innocent and defenseless women in the most lie ever told - making them beautiful and whole as a woman.