REBECCA LOLOSOLI

 




Rebecca Lolosoli was born in 1962 in Wamba village a patriarchal community in Kenya. she was very passionate about going to school to fulfill her dream of being a nurse. In 1971, she got admitted into a local institution to train to be a nurse but was forced to drop out due to financial restraint. At 15, she underwent the mandatory Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a passage rite into womanhood and at 18, she was forcefully married to a business man.

Now at the time in Wamba village, women were prohibited from owning property and partaking in any business whatsoever. They were regarded as property for the men thus they suffered abuse from both the locals and the British. Rebecca got a golden opportunity, her husband was away for some time so she seized the opportunity and utilized it to the fullest, she went against the tradition and began to trade in the market, she also went around enlightening women about their rights. This angered the men in the village, they accused her of inciting rebellion among the women so they took it upon themselves to stop her. One fateful day, she was ambushed and assaulted till she was nearly dead.



Her husband came back from his journey and she narrated her ordeal to him, but he showed no concern, this fueled her anger causing her to leave her marriage, she imagined a place where women would be free to live normally and that was when the Umoja was birthed.

In 1990, Rebecca Lolosoli, together with 16 other women established Umoja Uaso which when translated to English means unity. The goal was to create a safe space for women to express themselves freely without the limitation put on them by tradition. Women from Sambaru who had escaped abused found Umoja as a refuge. Umoja is located near the town of Archers Post in Kenya's Sambaru county.

As of 2015, about 47 women and 200 children live in Umoja and they earn a living by selling local craft, farming, trading with neighbouring towns and tourism. They have also set up educational facilities and facilities for the disabled among them. In addition they have opened the doors to allow non-sambaru women join them. Men are only allowed to visit.

In 2010, she received the Global Leadership Award for her service. Rebecca is a woman that possesses great courage and leadership skills and that is why she is one of Africa's greatest women's right's activists.

SOURCES

Blackpast

HistoryVille

Wikipedia

 

 

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