FGM Features Strongly Among Issues Slowing Down The Development Of Kuria Women
The spouse of the Deputy President Pastor Dorcas Rigathi greets Esther Taiwo who has been a widow for the last 13 years in Kuria East, Migori County. She was attending a widows meeting at Happy Church Kehancha, Cathedral, in Kuria West, Migori County yesterday. Photo/OSDP
By OSDP
The Kuria East MP listed five issues slowing down the development of the Kuria girls and women, and female genital mutilation (FGM) featured strongly despite the calls by local and international organisations against the practice.
Speaking during a widows meeting convened by the spouse of the Deputy President, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi at Happy Church Kehancha, Cathedral yesterday, the MP Marwa Kemero, said that the challenges facing girls and women start early in life.
“First girls in Kuria go to school late as they are the ones who work at home fetching firewood, water, cooking, and going to the posho mill. As a result, most of them go to school late, and others never go at all.”
“Then, the season of FGM comes, and the girl undergoes the right, which ends up affecting their future life. And in the event the husband dies early, we end up with very young uneducated widows,” said MP Kemero.
The MP asked Pastor Dorcas to assist in promoting the education of the girls of the Kuria community.
“Help us with the education of the Kuria girl. That is our biggest challenge, even as you connect the widow in Kenya with the other women in Kenya,” said MP Kemero.
Pastor Dorcas was shocked by the huge turn out of the widows who attended the meeting, some seemingly very young, a concern she expressed in her speech. More than 500 women attended the meeting.
“I am angered by what the devil is doing. All these are widows, even very young widows,” she said.
Pastor Dorcas, who believes in the power of prayer, spent a huge part of her speech time to pray and anoint all the widows and women who attended the meeting in the belief that ‘the anointing breaks, and destroys the yoke’, which is the yoke of widowhood.
“The tears of widows shall end. This land shall not be a land of the widowed, but of the married. The tears of widows shall end,” said Pastor Dorcas.
She also shared her story of being brought up by a widow to encourage the hundreds of widows at the meeting, that their children and other dependents should not resign to a life of lack and hopelessness. There is always hope in life.
First Lady Agnes Ochillo said that Pastor Dorcas was God sent to work, and empower the widows in Kuria, and she would work with her office for the success of her programs.
Pastor Dorcas and her office has worked with widows in Nairobi, Kajiado, Njoro, and plans are underway to kickstart work with widows in Embu where she visited last week, and now Kuria.
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