5th of September 2014
Check in without problems and my almost 45 kg big bags are on the way. One of the bags is stuffed with baby and children's clothes, toys, games and books. All that was gathered with the help of my friends and neighbours. So, many, many thanks to you for organising this with so short notice.
In Kenya, I'll be living for a couple of weeks at the base of Mt. Kenya, central Kenya, close to Daraja. Nanyuki is the closest city. It will take about 4 hours drive to get there from Nairobi. The region is populated by Masai tribes.
The clothes you gathered will go to the families in the nearby community and the orphanage will benefit from the toys and books. To distribute the clothes I'll get help from a local charity worker.
And first part of my travel ended with a delay of 15 minutes, which doesn't sound like a lot but when you have only 30 min. to find the next gate, that is at the other "end" of Zurich, I literally had to run. (By the way, I really, really, really have to get in better shape.) I was the last one to board the plane but I made it!!! Yey
The plane was large and the flight smooth, and I got the chance to make conversation with a Kenyan woman about women's circumcision and what can be done to prevent this.
She was curious to know about our ideas of reducing this practice. I was enumerating a couple as more education to women, more prohibiting legislation, finding other means of support for the women who perform this procedures. But as I hear myself talking it's like the same things I've heard before. Nothing is new or innovative, we are talking about the same methods that have been tried before and had very little effect. And the reason that it doesn't work is probably because we're trying to fight the traditions instead of preserving them. It sounds like I advocate for circumcision. I don't, I strongly oppose it. But when prohibitive methods have failed, then maybe it is time to try the good old "compromise ". Smaller steps will be better than none. There I'm thinking of accepting a ritual with cutting just for bleeding and not for removing the external genital organs, making professionals to perform the procedures to reduce infection risks and prevent mutilation.
The clothes you gathered will go to the families in the nearby community and the orphanage will benefit from the toys and books. To distribute the clothes I'll get help from a local charity worker.
And first part of my travel ended with a delay of 15 minutes, which doesn't sound like a lot but when you have only 30 min. to find the next gate, that is at the other "end" of Zurich, I literally had to run. (By the way, I really, really, really have to get in better shape.) I was the last one to board the plane but I made it!!! Yey
The plane was large and the flight smooth, and I got the chance to make conversation with a Kenyan woman about women's circumcision and what can be done to prevent this.
She was curious to know about our ideas of reducing this practice. I was enumerating a couple as more education to women, more prohibiting legislation, finding other means of support for the women who perform this procedures. But as I hear myself talking it's like the same things I've heard before. Nothing is new or innovative, we are talking about the same methods that have been tried before and had very little effect. And the reason that it doesn't work is probably because we're trying to fight the traditions instead of preserving them. It sounds like I advocate for circumcision. I don't, I strongly oppose it. But when prohibitive methods have failed, then maybe it is time to try the good old "compromise ". Smaller steps will be better than none. There I'm thinking of accepting a ritual with cutting just for bleeding and not for removing the external genital organs, making professionals to perform the procedures to reduce infection risks and prevent mutilation.
Masai
tribes, among others, practice circumcision on both men and women, and
they see it as a tradition. A staggering 90 % of Masai women are
circumcised. Although the Masai tribes represent small portion of the
population, only 2%, the image of the Masai warrior is iconic, the symbol
of kenyan traditions. That is hard to fight against and we shouldn't
want to. We just need to find a middle ground.
My flight companion means that the solution to the problem is to encourage inter-tribal marriages, as a Masai man will accept marriage with an uncircumcised woman from an other tribe, but not an uncircumcised Masai woman. The offspring of such a marriage will stand a better chance to avoid circumcision.
What an interesting idea! I will bring that up next week when I visit with the Female Circumcision Awareness Group.
After a pleasant flight and an even more pleasant company, we land in Nairobi just half an hour later than scheduled. And then the shock: it's dark, it's cold and it's raining. Only 17 degrees Celsius, just like in Denmark. What's up with that!? Where is the hot and sunny Ecuadorian weather? I think it's the Karen Blixen's Danish influence. Even more so, my driver's name is Andersen. You must be kidding me! 😉
My flight companion means that the solution to the problem is to encourage inter-tribal marriages, as a Masai man will accept marriage with an uncircumcised woman from an other tribe, but not an uncircumcised Masai woman. The offspring of such a marriage will stand a better chance to avoid circumcision.
What an interesting idea! I will bring that up next week when I visit with the Female Circumcision Awareness Group.
After a pleasant flight and an even more pleasant company, we land in Nairobi just half an hour later than scheduled. And then the shock: it's dark, it's cold and it's raining. Only 17 degrees Celsius, just like in Denmark. What's up with that!? Where is the hot and sunny Ecuadorian weather? I think it's the Karen Blixen's Danish influence. Even more so, my driver's name is Andersen. You must be kidding me! 😉
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