Dare to Dream
By: Nelis Global
Tags: Empowerment, Npo, Dreams, Sustainability

By Monica K. Wanjiru, Nelis Kenya Coordinator and more

Image: Monica K. Wanjiru working on Nelis COVID 19 Micro Project in Kenya, 2020

I looked at the large herd of cattle, goats and sheep grazing in the field. I still couldn’t tell one from the other no matter how much I tried to study their differences. It only served to give me a headache, how the Maasai could immediately spot the difference was and is still a mystery.

Now and then I’d reflect on the urban surroundings I left behind when I was given in marriage. The scenery before me was far removed from what I was used to, furthermore, this place encouraged my tendency to feel out of place, worried, scared and I wondered when it’d become home for me. Never in my wildest dreams had I envisioned myself married at 16, with responsibilities of a huge homestead, a few hundred goats, sheep, cattle to herd, a husband and a child on the way. My ideal dream was one where I was in school studying so that I could develop a strong mix of skills that’d help me innovate and create the kind of life I wanted.

I was brought out of my reverie by the silhouette of a person in the distance. It was headed my way and was carrying something in his arms and a leash in the other. My heart skipped a beat when I saw who he was and what he was holding in his hands. On his left hand, he carried a young goat kid while his left hand held the leash attached to the mother goat he was escorting coming towards the house. I gulped, realization and fear holding me captive at the spot where I stood. I had managed to lose, yet again a goat and its kid. My first instinct was to hide but my legs would not move from where I was. This was becoming a daily occurrence; I’d lose a goat or sheep, he’d beat me up then punish me by sending me out to spend the night with the goats and sheep to watch over them because I failed to do so in broad daylight.

I glanced at my tummy and decided I’d had enough, I needed to protect us from the inevitable. Without another thought I grabbed a shawl and left through the back door leading to the path that led towards the stream. There was a clump of bushes that provided a perfect hideaway just a few meters downstream. Being in my third trimester, I was expecting to give birth any time and the constant beatings had me worried for my unborn child. It was also an unspoken agreement that I’d have to be circumcised on the day I gave birth. It was the tradition that every woman had to be circumcised before marriage but having grown up in a different community, I had not been circumcised.

That night as I lay there on the hard surface in the bushes, afraid of the buffaloes, hyenas and leopards that came to drink from the stream, with twigs poking my back, I was overwhelmed by how my life was turning out. My future looked bleak, all around me I was surrounded by women who seemed comfortable with this kind of life. I was ashamed of wanting these things, I wanted more out of life, I wanted fulfillment, I wanted joy, I wanted love, I wanted Acceptance but this kind of life wasn’t providing me with what I wanted. It was then that I realized that I’ve been waiting for people to give me what my soul yearned for, they’d all let me down. They imposed their wants on me and I was sick and tired of pretending to be okay with this life.

It was then that I made a promise to my unborn baby; that he/she would never have to live the life I was living. It was that moment that I remembered the dream I had; of studying to equip myself with the knowledge required to innovate and create a life of value and purpose.

Today as I write this, I’m sitting at the back of a pickup truck that’s ferrying goats from the market to the village. Of course, it’s not a luxury ride as the wind is blowing furiously causing my eyes to water, on my right leg the shoe is sodden with goat urine and my left leg is numb from sitting in one position for too long. This was the only available ride that’d get me where I was going on time, my visit to the village is not a leisure visit but a rescue mission. I received a call two hours ago that Tumiso, a friend of one of the girls under Entito Africa Initiative Kenya has been given away in marriage.

I’ve already called the local government area chief, a village elder and a police officer. At the village a group of four women is waiting to accompany us to the homestead where Tumiso was taken. Our entourage may look hostile but that’s not the case. We will simply initiate dialogue with both families, make them aware of Tumiso’s rights and educate them on the implications and consequences of marrying her off at an early age. After that it is totally up to them to negotiate terms for the return of the dowry. But once in a while, we encounter a stubborn father or husband. In this case, the law is enforced to protect the girl.This network of local influencers enables community members to set behavioral expectations, holding each other accountable. Not only that it fosters a spirit of unity among community members.

At an international level, Entito Africa Initiative Kenya has connected Maasai girls with girls from Europe where they exchange stories and experiences from their various backgrounds. This exposes Maasai girls to a world different from their own where they learn about different cultures and challenges faced by the European girls and vice versa. They get to make lifelong friends from these interactions as well.

If the mother of the girl rescued is not in our empowerment program, she is signed up where she undergoes livelihood skills training and included in our Sustainable livelihood program. In this program you’ll find women of all ages who are especially skilled at making crafts that Entito Africa sells on behalf of them. Others have formed groups where they practice agriculture, poultry, dairy, and/or pig farming. When I look at their vibrant faces every time they receive a payment, expand their business or buy equipment, I can’t help but pat myself on the back for going against tradition and empowering myself to be able to empower others.

Had I chosen to mold myself into the status quo, I’d be unhappily widowed, without a purpose in life and dreaming of the afterlife but today I wear my brand of an outcast with pride, my pain with humility and my rebellion with purpose because those are the tools I was given to catalyze my transformation. Yes,I dared to dream and my dream unfolds in the form of intense devotion to my passion. To me women empowerment is a commitment to my fellow women which has seen me go on a hair raising adventure. I’ve scaled the highest mountains of impossibility, given up, died and somehow keep coming back to finish what I start….all the while changing diapers, herding cattle, going through domestic violence, disinherited & disowned, homeless, penniless, doubtful and feeling unfit for it all. But in the end, the women win because they too dare to dream!