This archive report was first published on 21 July 2019.
Belgian Queen Matilde's recent visit to Kenya highlighted the country's ongoing struggle with early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). During her three-day tour, she met with Purity Kesuma, a 19-year-old girl from the Maasai community who has defied the odds to pursue her dreams.
According to Purity, she was born into a conservative Maasai culture that treats women and girls as objects without a voice. Despite being the youngest of five girls from three mothers, she was the only one to set foot in a secondary school.
Queen Matilde, who was on a mission to raise awareness on education for vulnerable groups and child protection issues, was moved by Purity's story. The queen, who is also the honorary president of UNICEF, Belgium, had previously visited several countries on a similar mission.
During their meeting, Purity recounted how she had narrowly escaped an arranged child marriage to a man many years her senior when she was just 14. She also revealed that she had dodged the knife that had genitally mutilated her four older sisters in an age-old rite of passage to womanhood.
Queen Matilde and Crown Princess Elizabeth engaged in community dialogues with Maasai men and women to discuss possible interventions and facilitation to trigger change in harmful practices such as FGM and early marriage. World Vision program Manager In charge of Osiligi area Ms Tabitha Mwangi Meoli said that the queen and the crown princess also talked to Morans to accept uncut girls for wives and enlighten them on the disadvantages of FGM.
Queen Matilde's visit to Kenya was part of her efforts to support vulnerable girls and women. She also visited the Furaha Centre that offers art therapy activities at the Kakuma refugee Camp in Turkana County, the Kalobeyei Integrated settlement in northern Kenya, and the UNICEF supported Jitegemee Livelihood Project that empowers young mothers through access to education and skills development.
