Orchid’s new partnership with S.A.F.E. in Kenya underway!
We are delighted to announce our new partnership with S.A.F.E (Sponsored Arts for Education), a Kenyan NGO and UK charity that has been delivering social change through their SAFE Maa performing arts and community programmes since 2007. Orchid Project will be funding one SAFE Maa Performance Tour in Loita Hills, Kenya, this month.
Why we support S.A.F.E.
Though illegal, 33% of Kenyan girls between 10 and 18 years old undergo female genital cutting, and in Maasai communities in Kenya it is estimated that 10,000 girls are cut every year. S.A.F.E. is the only programme to openly discuss FGC with the Maasai in this region.
The programme facilitates performances involving young community leaders helping to break the silence about FGC. Their programmes encourage communities and leaders to come to their own decision to abandon FGC, increasing the sense of ownership the community feels over the change. Once the taboo is broken, S.A.F.E. works with the Maasai to develop an alternative rite of passage and provide training to elder men and women, youths, circumcisers and school children.
The SAFE Maa programme is particularly effective because it is engaging and relies on the Maasai culture, using traditional theatre and volunteer community performers. The programme is empowering and allows the Maasai to see their lives in performance and reflect on their practices. The SAFE Maa programme is accessible and goes directly into Kenya’s hard-to-reach, rural communities. The performers delivering the message are members from the local community, sensitively engaging people whose trust they already have. S.A.F.E.’s message is inspiring and relies on the positive aspects of Maasai culture.
The SAFE Maa Team
S.A.F.E.’s progress
S.A.F.E. has received recognition from Maasai Chiefs and is now able to discuss FGC with men and women in the community. This fact alone is a sign of significant progress, as FGC is not only extremely private for the Maasai, but taboo. S.A.F.E. now estimates 20% of Maasai girls are undergoing the alternative rites of passage to graduate into womanhood. To date, S.A.F.E. has had three FGC-abandonment performance tours reaching 15 villages and over 7,500 people.
Orchid Project is honoured to fund the SAFE Maa awareness-raising tour of Loita Hills region of Kenya, and we look forward to sharing in their success. SAFE Maa co-founder Amos Leuka, said:
“Yesterday we started our 14 day tour of performances to educate our community about abandoning FGC. We know that this work isn’t just about us, but about the struggle to bring to an end the long suffering or our daughters and sisters and ultimately an endeavour for humanity. We are thankful to the Orchid Project for making this work possible.”
The first performance was a success, with over 90 community members taking part.
