19 June 2012
Guest blog by Kezia Bianca, YWCA Kenya.
I recently had the opportunity to speak on the work of 28 Too Many in helping end FGM across Africa, as a representative at the We Will Speak Out (WWSO) consortium in Geneva. This privilege came as part of the support given by the Inspired Individual Scheme run by Tearfund, that I was successfully nominated for and commenced in February this year.
Whilst there, I heard from 20 amazing women all working in ending sexual violence across the world. Responding to my short input on our anti-FGM work, one woman shared about her authorship of a book of stories of girls who have had FGM. Another shared of her mother and grandmother’s history of FGM. A third sent me a story, posted as a blog the week before. It tells of a woman working for the YWCA in Kenya who was cut at 15 years old. She has kindly agreed to allowed us to post her story as we campaign to end FGM. She hopes this story will give hope to others to stand up and change the world. We salute Kezia, and promise to continue to do our part!
Over the next few months, we will be sharing a number of stories, aware that they have a powerful message when used with sensitivity to the author. These will cover one of the women I recently met in Durban with WWSO, and stories from my travels over the last couple of years. They may make you cry or smile; want to act or turn away. Let us know if you want to get more involved in what we do, donate at info@28toomany.org or sign up to our 28 Too Many Facebook page.