Kenya is a country where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still a prevalent practice despite being outlawed.
Umoja village, nested in the northeast region of Samburu, provides a safe haven to women and girls against male-inflicted vices.
The village was founded in 1990 by a group of 15 women who local British soldiers had sexually harassed. These women couldn’t return home as their husbands considered them defiled.
Since its inception, the village has served as a sanctuary for women from Samburu’s patriarchal community and beyond who are escaping FGM, domestic abuse, and child marriage.
Rebecca Lolosoli, the founder and leader of Umoja village. She conceived the idea of establishing a women-only community while recovering in the hospital from a beating by a group of men.
Lolosoli stated that the men beat her because they were unhappy about her daring move to go up against them and educate women on their rights.
Lolosoli, in an interview with ABC News, expressed her pride in living in the village.
“Now there is no one stressing me, and my husband will not assault me here,” she said.
Fast forward to almost 3 decades later, the village thrives with tens of women and hundreds of children. Like any other Semi-nomadic community, Umoja village’s vicinity is surrounded by thorny trees and dung-caked homes.
The stand-out feature has to be the absence of men in the village.
Economic activities for the women in the village include selling traditional beadwork, handmade artefacts and jewellery to tourists.
Umoja women leaders created a campsite for tourists to visit and explore their covert town to generate extra income.
“I am allowed to make my own money and when a tourist buys some of my beads, I am so proud,” said Nagusi, one of the women traders in the village.
26-year-old Christine Sitiyan, left her marriage due to domestic violence and found shelter at Lolisoli’s matriarch village.
“I used to be mistreated, but now I feel free,” she said in an interview.
Sitiyan said that she feels free in Umoja village and has no plans to let a man back into her life.
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After losing hope in her marriage, she attempted to return to her home village, but her cattle, used as a dowry to secure her marriage, had been stolen.
Similar to a governmental establishment, the women hold regular gatherings beneath the “tree of speech” to make important decisions.
Women still love men
However, the village is not without its problems. Local men regularly steal their cattle.
Furthermore, some women still maintain relationships with men from outside the village.
“We still like men. They are not allowed here, but we want babies and women have to have children, even if you are unmarried,” said one of the women.
“It’s funny because you don’t see men around here, but you see small children, which means women go get men outside,” said Lotukoi, the only man allowed in the village to tend to the women’s cattle.
Despite the challenges, Umoja village remains a unique village in Kenya and a safe haven for many Samburu women and girls who are running away from FGM, abuse, and forced marriages.
