Joseph rescues yet another victim of female circumcision and child marriage

Having spent a week in Joseph’s world, my heart is easily pulled back there. Moments ago, this story popped up on Messenger and now I’m back in Kenya, sitting at Joseph’s feet studying the tears in his reddened eyes as he tells me what he did today. 

NOTICE: THIS STORY CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT AND SENSITIVE MATERIAL WHICH MAY OFFEND SOME PEOPLE.

** This story has been edited and photo removed due to people fearing for the girl's safety. Thank you for your concern for her privacy and safety. Hopefully someone is concerned enough to help! **

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Joseph wrote:

It was another beautiful dawn when, once more, I had to hit the ground going with hope as I embarked on a Rescue Mission in a land that is miles away from home, perhaps the most daunting journey that anyone can keep in the deepest canyons of their hearts.

The day was calm, the sky so clear and my heart beating at my chest wondering how it will all unfold.

**** is a 10-year-old girl from a village in the remote part of Kenya. In January this year her step mother lied to her about going to visit an aunt in a nearby village. Little did she know there was an arrangement made by her parents for her circumcision.

They set out together at 11am and after two hours of walking found themselves in an old hut at the edge of a forest. They had a nice traditional meal and afterwards she was informed by the old women living there of her imminent genital mutilation.

As if her well-being was important to them, they briefly counselled her. Then they went ahead and circumcised her using an old blunt knife they sharpened with a stone while she watched.

Her cries to stop it all fell onto deaf ears.

Immediately after the circumcision, she bled so profusely that she went into a coma for almost three hours. She came back to her senses at about 9 pm in evening. Two days afterwards she was taken home for recovery and traditional teachings.

Two weeks later a 66-year-old man came to visit her parents accompanied by three elders. They were there to make dowry negotiations.

**** felt the world was coming to an end as she watched the old man, looking frail and disgusting, settle with her parents on a dowry of 7 cows, 5 litres of beer, 4 blankets and 4 bedsheets. That is all she was worth. What seemed like an impossible nightmare was a painful reality.

She vehemently refused but all was in vain.

Her suitor organized for a group of nine men, who came for her by force, tied her by hands and legs and when she screamed for help they tied her to a nearby tree, beat her terribly until she bled profusely. They stripped her naked and walked her for 16 kilometers. Women and children along the way cried all they could to plead for mercy but with no success.

She was taken to the old man's property and put in a specifically built small hut. She came to learn it was built in preparation for her arrival.

Because **** was a virgin, the man hired a traditional midwife to prepare her. She made a fitted pair of pants that held a buffalo horn at the middle. Reason? The sharp pointy part was to be inserted into ****’s vagina to break her virginity and within a few days and to make it easier sexually for her husband.

**** told me this story at 3am in the morning when I rescued her under the cover of darkness. This was an ideal time for the rescue due to security issues and it was all organized by a lady friend who saw it all and the only hope was me.

My worry now is the old man's man hatred for me. Because of his age, he has the respect of others. This is our culture. He also has political connection because of his influence and wealth.

I have placed  **** with a motherly woman who will care for her until I decide the best course of action.  ****’s birthday just passed. I would love to see  **** placed in school like a normal eleven-year-old girl.

I call upon friends and well-wishers to join me in prayer as I seek a better future for this little innocent girl.  

Life, at times, gives us no reason to keep pressing on.

But destiny is in all our hands.

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If you would like to help go to http://educationcareprojects.com/donate/ and make a donation putting “Help Joseph” in the second “Address” line (or somewhere else where you can write a note). Or contact myself and we will arrange it.