“Our moral responsibility is not to stop the future, but to shape it; to channel our destiny in humane directions and to ease the trauma of transition.” Alvin Toffler
So as I hope you all know, this weekend was the #marathontoEndFGM. Here is my brief observations from the days in the field.
Day 1. The bus
Left the office on African time, that is planned to leave at 12.30pm, left at 14.00pm and traveled for over 6 hours from Kampala to Kapchowra which is far north and high up in Mt Elgon.
Day 2. The meet and greet
Up and gone, after a rare sleep in to 8am. We made our way to the Church of Uganda diocese to have a press conference between them and the press members we brought along with us. It was a relaxed affair where various members of the church introduced FGM as it is here in Kapchowra District, explained their reasons for opposing it and organizing this event.
Then a quick tea break before we headed into the community. We had the privilege to talk to locals who have been involved with FGM by various means – been cut, a cutter and some men from the villages.
I personally got to talk to one woman who had the most interesting story. She is only 3 days out of prison where she was put since she chose to be mutilated and someone told the police.
In my previous blog entries covering FGM, I discussed the pressures from men and elders to be cut, that a girl must be cut before marriage, that young girls are taken in the night and mutilated against their choice. However J, as I will call her had such a different story.
She is married 7 years and beyond the expected age to be cut. Yet as grown woman she felt nagged. Nagged and harassed by spirits. When she was doing the dishes, washing the clothes, playing with her 2 children – she felt constantly harassed by this spirit.
“Why aren’t you cut?” “Why haven’t you honoured your culture?” “Are you truly Sabiny?”
She had heard vaguely of the negative health consequences of being cut, but despite that she along with 6 other woman decided themselves, to seek a cutter and be cut. J did not discuss this with her husband. They had never discuss FGM before or since.
However, after being cut they are brought to a house where they stay isolated till they are healed. But the police were tipped off and arrested these women. J spent in total 10 months in prison and was released three days before we met her.
When asked would she change her decision to be cut, she said yes but only because she would want to avoid being arrested. Since being cut she has not been visited by any spirits. She has not, so far experienced any negative health consequences as “God has healed her”.
“I feel the same but no longer nagged by spirits”
So what can we make of her story. She was already married without being cut, she knew to some extent the health consequences of the being mutilated and yet she still sought to be cut herself without any pressure from husband.
For me the lesson is to not forget the subtle cultural pressure that are undercurrent in any society we live in and not to underestimate the influence that they can have on you. Also to appreciate the role of the spiritual aspects that play in the FGM practice. Both from the people seeking to be cut and in the cutters who use the spirits to guide them about who should be cut and when.
It was very enlightening to hear her story and such an opportunity to gain such first hand information.
Day 3. The event itself!
So all this lead up and work was for today. The marathon!
Got up at 4.30am in the pitch black, got chased by two guard dogs, went back to bed, got up again at 4.50am and set off to the marathon route.
It was organised chaos but we managed to get the runners where they need to be, the t-shirts on said runners and all staff to their locations.
Flag off was at 21km, 12km, 8km, 5km and 2km and all runners were exceptional. Between the heat, the hills and the altitude I am so impressed with anyone who ran. There were a few local celebrities such as Stephen Kiprotich and Moses Kipsiro both gold medal runners, Stephen is the current Olympic gold medalist for marathon running.
Aside from the running, there was music, dancing and speeches. All spoke well but I think it was tie between UNFPA rep and the Archbishop who both spoke so well on the issue of FGM.
The other highlight for me was a drama enacting the torment of the girl who has just been cut and monologues from people who represent members of a village – elders, young men for and against FGM, women, a girl etc.
It was an impressive day where FGM was highlighted as practice only fit for the history books. But only time will tell, if that ambition will be realised. But for my two cents, I am confident there will be a time soon when FGM will only be mentioned in history class.
“Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” John F. Kennedy
*All photo’s were taken by Sinead O’Ferrall.
Inside the intern's life! 
Very interesting about the psychological infuence of culture and social pressures!
Great reporting!
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Wow, this is lovely, thanks Sinead for the good job well done, I feel as though I were there! I am imagining how you woke up at 4.30am in that cold breeze of Kapchorwa near the falls.
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