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Content warning: The following story is about child marriage and briefly mentions female genital mutilation to provide cultural context, which might be triggering for some readers. We’re sharing this story because it sends an important message against the practice of child marriage, but please use your discretion before you proceed.
When Peninah was a young girl, undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) was a celebration. After enduring the painful procedure and trauma at 12 years old, she remembers being told that she was now a woman. She was soon married and had four children of her own, never questioning the role of FGM in her community.
It was only when her daughter was sponsored through World Vision that her transformation to becoming an advocate for change began. Through the sponsorship program, Peninah began to see that these traditional practices were damaging girls’ well-being and was convinced they should be stopped.
With newfound awareness, Peninah has emerged as a beacon of change. Transitioning into a community health volunteer, she fearlessly confronted deep-rooted traditions, engaging community leaders and organizing informative sessions at local schools. Peninah's tireless efforts not only unveiled the dangers of FGM and child marriage but also ignited a movement to protect girls' rights.
As a community health volunteer, she began advocating against FGM and child marriage, speaking with community leaders and holding information sessions at the local school to tell others about girls’ rights, the dangers of FGM and child marriage, and how to help stop them by reporting cases to the authorities.
Together with World Vision, Peninah holds information sessions at the local school and speaks with community leaders, sharing ways that girls can stand up to FGM by reporting cases to the authorities. Peninah has become a trusted friend and advocate for local girls like Lente and she has stepped in in several cases to prevent them from becoming victims of these harmful practices.
Lente is one of the girls Peninah has helped.
Lente was just 12 years old when she realized that her community regarded girls differently from boys.
“There are tasks that boys can do that girls are believed incapable of doing just because they are a girl,” Lente explains. For example, “boys take care of the livestock while girls work at home, cooking, washing, fetching firewood. Utensils are left for us (to clean) because we are girls.”
When Lente was first sponsored, the ideas of child protection and women’s rights were completely new to her. Now, after sessions with Peninah she has learnt about her rights and has a safe place to turn if things go wrong.
Thanks to sponsorship, Lente understands that it is important to eradicate Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP) such as FGM and child marriage. She now shares the information she’s learned with her family, friends and community.
“I see that FGM will stop in the future,” she says determinedly.
Lente’s passion for advocating for girls’ rights has ignited a passion for learning.
Thanks to her sponsor, Lente receives support to continue her schooling so she can one day become a judge who advocates for change in her community.
World Vision sponsors have been dedicated to this community since 2006. The protective layer that sponsorship provides has helped strengthen education so that girls like Lente can go to school, but much progress recently has been made in shifting community attitudes around gender. This has sparked a community who is now speaking up for change.
No girl should have to live in fear just because they’re a girl. When you sponsor a girl, you can help an entire community of girls break from fear and become the fearless leaders they were born to be.