Two young women, two counties, one mission: How they turned their fears into passion for protecting girls

By  Kamau Maichuhie

Gender Reporter

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• After rejecting FGM and forced marriage, Josephine Naramat returned to Samburu to help girls escape the practices threatening their education.
• Dahabo Guracha survived FGM as a child and now uses spoken word, counselling and community outreach to challenge the practice.

Josephine Naramat took a bold stand in 2013 against a decision that would change the course of her life forever.

After completing her primary education, Josephine learnt that her father could not afford her secondary school fees. He was already supporting her siblings. She was heartbroken at the thought of ending her education. Her father later suggested that she marry a man who would support her schooling. However, before marriage, she was expected to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) in line with their culture.

Determined to protect her future, Josephine rejected her father’s plan. She confronted him and made it clear that she would not undergo FGM or accept forced marriage. “Although my father was surprised by my decision, I was determined to stay in school. I knew that getting married would force me to abandon the future I had dreamed of. With support from a kind-hearted person, I left home for Meru, where I continued my secondary education,” she tells the Nation.

She returned to Samburu in 2021 with a strong commitment to challenging FGM and child marriage. To help her achieve this goal, she established the Ramat Empowerment Initiative to educate and empower the community and protect girls from harmful practices.

The initiative rescues girls facing the risk of FGM and early marriage, provides them with a safe place, and supports survivors through counselling and psychosocial care. “I watched my sister undergo FGM and get married soon after. I decided I would not let the same happen to me. Today, I have an education, and I am working to give other girls the same opportunity to pursue their dreams,” she says.

Her refusal was a blessing to her younger sisters because, according to the Samburu culture, they cannot be cut before their elder sister undergoes the rite. So far, with support from a few donors, she has rescued more than 500 girls from these vices, including four of her sisters.

In 2025, they rescued 161 girls at risk of FGM, child marriage and parental neglect. To educate the community on the dangers of FGM and child marriage, Josephine, through her organisation, holds community dialogues with an emphasis on educating men and elders, who are key decision-makers and custodians of their culture.

“We explain to elders and men the dangers of FGM and, more so, the health implications for their lives. We also educate them on what the law says and the dangers they will be putting themselves in should they cut their daughters,” she adds.

They have come up with girls’ and boys’ clubs in schools through which they conduct sensitisation campaigns. A key component of the campaign is schools, where they train learners to be confident and firm against FGM and child marriage. Her organisation also works with communities to raise awareness about the effects of FGM and child marriage.

More than 350 kilometres away in Marsabit, Dahabo Guracha was subjected to the cut when she was only seven. Dahabo says she was among many other girls subjected to FGM that chilly morning. She tells the Nation that she thought undergoing the cut was a good thing until she went to secondary school and realised that it was illegal.

Despite being cut, Dahabo defied all odds to remain in school. She convinced her parents of the need to pursue her academic dreams. Her education journey has paid off, as she holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi, having graduated in December 2024. She later acquired a Master’s degree in Development Studies at the same university.

She speaks out against the harmful practice in Marsabit. Through spoken-word performances at community events and social media platforms such as TikTok, she continues to raise awareness of the harm caused by FGM. She also performs using the local language to help older community members who do not understand Swahili or English connect with her message.

As a certified counsellor, Dahabo supports FGM survivors by offering psychosocial care. She provides a safe and confidential space where survivors can seek help as they cope with trauma, fear and other mental health challenges. She works with partner organisations through the Scars to Stars initiative, using her own experiences and community stories to educate people and promote accountability.

She engages communities through forums, church services and other public gatherings, using spoken word and personal experiences to encourage conversations about FGM. Much of her outreach focuses on schools, bringing together learners, teachers and parents. Each term, Dahabo visits around five schools to create awareness. She has reached about 5,200 pupils and students. Her sessions cover girls’ education, FGM, child marriage, reproductive health and menstrual hygiene, while providing sanitary towels to girls and pants to boys.

Her advocacy has not been without challenges. She has faced criticism and insults from some community members who view her work as challenging traditions. Limited resources also make it difficult to reach communities across the vast Marsabit County. Despite these obstacles, she remains committed to her work.

Dahabo is the founder of Trio-Hub Indigenous Women CBO, which promotes gender equality, climate justice, health and education. She is also a spoken-word artist, researcher, community development practitioner, and gender and climate advocate. Beyond her work against FGM, she advocates an end to child marriage and gender-based violence and promotes the rights and leadership of women and girls.

She is also part of the Survivor Leadership Initiative Kenya, supporting survivors of FGM, human trafficking and modern slavery to take part in advocacy and community healing.

The two young women have been instrumental in pushing for girls’ education in their arid and semi-arid counties. The level of girls’ education in these counties has traditionally remained significantly lower than the national average, marked by severe regional disparities, high dropout rates and low enrolment. While Kenya has achieved near gender parity in education nationally, the 10 arid and semi-arid counties have the largest burden of out-of-school children.

According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the gross enrolment rates in arid and semi-arid counties such as Marsabit, Garissa, Wajir, Samburu, Mandera and Turkana range from 23.5 to 80.3 per cent, compared to other counties.

Harmful cultural norms continue to undermine education. FGM rates remain exceptionally high in arid and semi-arid counties, ranging from 56.7 to 86.9 per cent in Somali, Samburu and Maasai communities. FGM is followed by forced early marriages. Girls are required to balance schoolwork with heavy domestic responsibilities, such as fetching water or grazing livestock.