It wasn’t until Ms. Chepoteltel was approached by the Communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU) to attend a meeting on FGM that she realized many of her health issues, including birth complications, were linked to cutting. Now a mother to two daughters, aged 7 and 8, she says she will never let the same thing happen to them.
“Every time I see them, I imagine them going through what I went through and my heart contracts,” she says. “I curse the practice of FGM and I don’t want any daughter of mine to go through this process that almost claimed my life. I now talk to them about the dangers [of FGM]. I vow never to allow my daughters to undergo female genital mutilation.”
After receiving community engagement training, she now advocates in her village for zero tolerance for FGM as part of CDFU’s “Make Happiness Not Violence” campaign, which is being supported by Spotlight Initiative and UN Women.
Though she initially feared community reprisals for speaking out, she now feels empowered to share her knowledge and help end FGM for good.
“Now that we have a platform I will continue sensitizing [communities to FGM] and testifying against female genital mutilation, even to men, because I know the dangers,” says Ms. Chepoteltel. “If I keep quiet, our daughters will go through a lot of pain and suffering… We will continue to tell mothers, fathers and the girls themselves about the dangers of FGM, and to discourage cutting. We will not give up.”
