Laura Hutchinson
Koko is perhaps the most honored woman in the village. But it’s not because of her age – which she believes is over 200 – or her 40 plus children and grandchildren, her healthy herd of cattle or even her generous but tenacious spirit. She is most revered because she is the village circumciser.
‘Of course it is by choice. It is my living, young girl, but also our maasai way of life. I have cut nearly 500 girls, all of them are now women. I saved them and their families from a life of curses and death…’
‘Yes, I have had many girls die from bleeding. That is Gods way…’
‘When I was a girl, white man came and tried to put us in school, taught us of money and clothes, tried to change our culture. When Kenya received independence this was not so much. But now, you see white man coming again to change our ways – this time in the name of Christianity. My people have allowed them to educate us of the dangers of circumcising, but only because in return they give us food, medical care and help with more urgent problems. But some people are bowing to Jesus, leaving behind our local Nkai and traditions. The white man is stealing our culture again.’
It was both humbling and harrowing speaking to Koko. She raised some very mute points – who are we, as the collective west, to tell the Maasai that what they do is wrong, however barbaric it seems in our eyes? At what point does fighting for human rights cross the line into cultural degradation and insensitivity? What the Maasai see as the essential passage from girl to woman, we passionately condemn as mutilation. Educational campaigns and anti-FGM movements often vilify the villages where the practice takes place, denigrating the culture as primitive, rather than trying to understand the communities need for circumcision.
It is a practice that can mean the difference between life and death for a Maasai girl,regardless of what path she takes. Whilst the surgery may likely kill her and leave her with a lifetime of pain, turning her back on her culture and refusing the procedure would see her exiled from a community that is all about the collective whole. With both of those instances and Koko’s words in mind, I invite you to think about one thing; when approaching the topic of FGM, do we respond in terms of cultural relativism or politely informed outrage?
