By Amin Kef Sesay
The Founder and Executive Director for the Amazonian Initiative Movement and the Proprietress for the Amazonian Bilingual Schools and Orphanage Homes in Sierra Leone, Rugiatu Neneh Turay is a popular and well recognized Anti FGM Campaigner in Sierra Leone, Africa and the World at large with a decorated shelve of Awards of Recognition and Appreciation at Local, National and International Level.
She is also considered to a Humanitarian Activist whose passion to support the development of children and young people, especially women and girls cannot be overemphasized. The Female Genital Mutilation- FGM Campaign that started in Port Loko District is today spreading across the country with a lot of progressive and successful stories. Her resilience to end FGM has earned her a reputation as a reference point when FGM issues are discussed globally.
On several occasions to educate the general public, Rugiatu Neneh Turay have disclosed that: “Our fight is to make sure the Soweis stop removing the clitoris of women and girls in the name of Culture but rather should work to maintain the good practices of Bondo Culture. Our Campaign is on the Clinical side of the practice. Culture changes over time. It’s man made and can be changed.”
Being an eye witness of testimonies in couple of programs, victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) usually express regret for the removal of their clitoris especially when it is done at a very tender age and without their consent. Such situations always ignite a thought that the sexual organ is under attack and this requires a now change on FGM in which the collective efforts of everyone is needed to protect our women and girls.
Rugiatu Neneh Turay introduced the “Alternative Right of Passage” a Bondo that upholds the culture without no blood (cutting). Such is a way for women and girls to be part of the Bondo Culture with no harm. With alternative skills for a living, she has empowered a lot of Soweis to lay down tools and to abolish the harmful practice.
She is currently replacing Bondo Bushes with schools across Sierra Leone as part of the community awareness that education is the best gift to offer to children. The Bondo must not be used by politicians to maintain votes of women but rather to support them with livelihood skills that will enable them support their children to acquire education because it is the gateway out of Poverty and the way to Prosperity. Support the Fight to End FGM in Sierra Leone.
