Afrigirl

Kakenya Ntaiya did what most girls would consider undoable….she traded a part of her body in order to be granted the chance to go to school. She agreed to undergo the infamous Female Genital Mutilation (FGM - which we all know is against the law and a big health risk to those who undergo it) only if her dad would let her go to High School - he agreed. Like many other girls from the Maasai community, Kakenya was betrothed at the age of 5. That meant that she already had a 'husband' in waiting and she only had to wait till her initiation (as soon as she reached puberty) which would now mean that she had now become a woman - ready for marriage to her 'fiancé' from since when she was 5. Deep down her heart she always knew that she wanted to study, she wanted to become a teacher. She wanted to dress in nice clothing and wear high heeled shoes. She didn't want to stay home and be a wife and mother, as that is the role of girls who attained puberty. All this inspiration ...

There's nothing as beautiful as having someone who believes in you. Someone who sees potential in you if when you aren't aware of the fact yourself. I am where I am (proudly) because the people around me have always seen the potential in me. It started with being the best girl overall in the whole Ileho zone (Kakamega district) KCPE 2000 exams. With no school fees to join secondary school, I had no option than to sit in Primary school for another year. I did this with grace and emerged the best girl in  my class, with a score of 407 out of the possible 500 marks. This landed me a place in the prestigious Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls High School, with a scholarship from the Canadian Harambee Education Society. I came got a mean score of B Plain in 2005 which was not high enough to earn me a regular place in the National Universities so I just stayed home, doing odd jobs here and there. In the year 2007, I saw an advertisement by the National Industrial Training Council, for spo...