S.A.F.E Female Circumcision Programme

S.A.F.E uses street theatre, community discussions, training sessions, and workshops about FGC to initiate social change. The organisation works through the team SAFE Maa, one of three S.A.F.E teams across Kenya. SAFE Maa is a team of Maasai performers from the Loita region in the south west of Kenya. They perform traditional Maasai songs and stories amended to include information about public health, HIV and female circumcision. Many of the team are young Maasai leaders who will shape the future of their community.

The theatre performances are designed to be non-judgemental and provide people with the information, skills, and attitudes that enable them to take the first steps to changing their own lives for the better. After the performance, SAFE Maa actors and partners come off stage to talk to the audience and deliver workshops and services. SAFE Kenya says that because audiences feel engaged with the performance, follow-up community programmes are welcomed and trusted.

According to S.A.F.E, the project team have trained half of the 300 circumcisers in the region – who are also traditional birth attendants – and circumcisers are now recognised by the community as either traditioal or ‘kisasa’ (modern). Families are now seeking the services of specific kisasa circumcisers known to have been trained in the practice of the alternative rite of passage.

In just three years, S.A.F.E has hosted over 450 women at workshops designed to encourage alternative rites of passage whereby women exchange one cultural practice for a new tweaked one and can openly discuss the advantages of this alternative. Men and council leaders including the Loita Council of Elders have also been engaged. According to S.A.F.E, having engagement and support from Maasai men for this alternative rite of passage has been a crucial factor to the programme’s success.

One example of how the organisation is working to break the taboos surrounding FGC occurred with the 2009 Illorikan ceremony. This Maasai ceremony is held approximately every 25 years, marking the graduation of junior elders into senior elders in the community and the transition of power and responsibility. At the ceremony held in 2009, SAFE Maa was honoured for its work on HIV and two groups of women sang in praise of the programme. Significantly, SAFE Maa's female team members were honoured for their work: the first time women have ever been praised at this ceremony. The Chiefs used this ceremony, held in front of 3,000 people, to announce that S.A.F.E was soon to start delivering a message about FGC through performance and that it was time for the community to listen. This was the first time that discussion about FGC had ever been publicly acknowledged in this community.

Female circumcision

Whilst circumcision is illegal in Kenya, female circumcision (FGC) is a complex issue because of the social and cultural benefits girls experience when they are circumcised. A Maasai girl cannot graduate to womanhood without being cut and the blood from the clitoris being 'cleaned' - and without this 'graduation' she is unlikely to marry or be given help during childbirth. Her first and second born will be shunned from the community and not involved in any cultural activities, and there is a traditional belief that her husband will die for marrying an uncircumcised woman. While S.A.F.E says it is hard to measure impact of this work beyond anecdotal evidence (as it is a very private issue with great social and cultural heritage and stigma attached) the fact that S.A.F.E can perform about the issue and that communities can now openly discuss the matter publicly is testament to the impact of this work. The S.A.F.E team report cases they have witnessed of girls graduating successfully to women without being cut. The girls undertake the whole circumcision process but are either not cut or only slightly, and are able to sit, run, and enjoy their circumcision celebration day. Whilst many women are still receiving and requesting a traditional circumcision, S.A.F.E estimates that, due to the numbers and attitudes of the kisasa circumcisers they have trained, approximately 20% of girls are now experiencing the alternative rite of passage.

S.A.F.E is a Kenyan non-governmental organisation and United Kingdom charity that uses performing arts and community programmes to inspire and deliver social change. The organisation uses mobile street theatre to challenge cultural norms, behaviours, and attitudes that underpin social challenges in Kenya, such as HIV/AIDS, violence and female circumcision. According to S.A.F.E, the organisation's success stems from the partnerships with the communities and all projects are developed collaboratively with the community to help people explore the specific challenges they face at their local level.