Female Genital Mutilation at stands at 73 per cent Maasai, 98 per cent Somali and Kisii at 96 per cent

Women in Narok County are taking girl child education seriously in a sustained move to overcome economic, political and cultural odds.

The root cause of the problems facing the women is related to education. If all women were educated, then most problems like domestic battering, malnutrition and child marriages would be history.

To help address this issue, Agnes Pareyio established the Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative (TNI), a non-profit  organization  primarily  to  help  rescue young Maasai girls from undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM).

Born in 1956 in Enaiborr/Ajiik sub-location in Narok North District, Pareiyo attended Olesenkale Primary School. She later on worked as an untrained teacher. In 1984, she started getting involved in women’s issues, advocating their rights. 

She was elected councillor for Upper Melili Ward and vice-chairperson to the Narok County Council in 2002, but lost in the last election. She has been elected for 10 years and nominated for 10 years.

She is now developing her organization, although she still harbours future political ambitions. Since TNI was founded almost a decade ago, the centre has rescued more than 1,000 girls and reconciled them with their families. It has not been easy challenging entrenched cultural rites. Some Maasai elders still hold the stigmatizing belief that the rite is vital for girls’ transformation into adulthood. Pareyio has faced hostility, enduring the stress to help young girls, saying her aim is not  to  conflict  the  cultural  orientation of her community, but to curb inequalities. 

Agnes Pareyio, who established the Tasaru Ntomonok
Initiative (TNI) to help rescue young Maasai girls from FGM

“I just want to help our people understand that even if girls do not go through the rites of passage, they can still develop into adulthood,” she says, noting that only educated women can understand the needs of the family. 

They will never send their children to work in any shop or factory, rather they will arrange for their education in good schools. They will also take proper care of the health and diet of their children since a mother knows what is good for her offspring and how they should be brought up. She is urging educated mothers to promote education for all their children without discrimination.

Statistics indicate the national prevalence of FGM among women receding, mainly because of the sustained campaigns that has seen the statistics reduce to 27 per cent, especially among ages 15 to 49 years.

FGM prevalence in Maasai land stands at 73 per cent, comparable only to the Somali at 98 per cent and Kisii at 96 per cent. At every age and level, education enhances the intellectual, social and emotional development of women and enables them to meet their basic needs to daily life.