TRAINING AND INFORMATION CAMPAIGN ON THE ... - Fokus

Suduwol meeting, young former circumciser on the
right. She had just been trained, had only circumcised
one girl when GAMCOTRAP came.
“Thank God. We were lost before.”
Other issues
“There is a lot of awareness now about HIV
transmission. Gum tattooing is dying out, people
never share the same razors, or even nail cutters.”
Suduwol men.
Reminded Amie of how it took days of discussion
before everyone finally agreed after Oustass Fayinke
spoke to them: “You have to respect those who know
the religion.”
“The workshop brought awareness. When you bring
a lot of people together at the same time, you get it.”
“The pictures [of health consequences] were
important, they impress a human being. You
understand the harm.”
Kulari women’s leader, Isatou who was the first one
to mobilize this community (she broke her leg in a
road accident and it has just been set by a traditional
healer).
We waited in her house while a group of women,
including the former circumciser, walked very far
from their rice fields to come talk to us.
Ngangsingba said that her first reaction was: “I hear
you. But it’s my source of income.” She explained: “It
is just like with a child. If you take something away
from her you have to give her something else.”
Then the women had training at the hospital and they stopped bringing their daughters to be cut.
“I can’t say much. If the women don’t want this, there is nothing I can do. So, I put my knife down. Now I
won’t even unseal brides, I tell them to go to the hospital.”
Amie reinforced the message that it is very important to plan weddings in such a way that the new bride has
several weeks to heal before consummation after being opened by health care professionals; this message
really seemed to resonate with the women. They expressed that they are really concerned about the interim
generation of young women who have already been sealed.
The circumciser now raises cattle for a living, but she is still an important advisor to the women.
They also see that early marriage is ending, which is positive because it reduces the harm during childbirth
that happens when “a child is having a child.”
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