By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 8 January 2026 - Alice Ghatti, 13, Jackline Nyamohanga, 12, Mwita Mary, 11, and Mercy Marwa, 14, still remember the night they ran.
The air was heavy with the sound of drums announcing the circumcision season, the smell of smoke hung over their villages, and whispers of impending cuts moved from homestead to homestead.
For the four girls from the Kuria community, that night marked a painful choice between tradition and survival.
They chose to live.
Across Kenya, the practice they fled is slowly declining.
Nationally, the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) among women aged 15–49 stands at about 14.8% as of 2022, a steep drop from nearly 38% in the late 1990s and 21% in 2014.
Yet the statistics hide a harsher truth that most circumcisions still happen before the age of 15, many between ages five and nine, leaving young girls in high-risk communities like the Kuria particularly vulnerable.
Alice, Jackline, Mwita, and Mercy became part of that hidden statistic in November, when the Bwirege clan’s circumcision season began—an annual ritual that stretches across the Kenya–Tanzania border.
As pressure from relatives intensified, the girls fled their homes, choosing uncertainty over a cut that would almost certainly end their education.
Their journey led them to Komotobo Maranatha Mission in Kuria East Sub-county, where 120 girls have spent the past two months seeking refuge after allegedly being rejected by their families for refusing FGM.
For many, the mission became more than a shelter—it became a lifeline.
“At first, I cried every night,” Alice says softly.
“I thought I had lost my family forever.”
According to activists, the girls remained at the mission until 5 January 2026, when schools reopened and the circumcision season was assumed to have ended.
“Most of these girls were chased away from home because they resisted circumcision,” said Benter Odhiambo, the coordinator of Micontrap Kenya.
“Now that schools are reopening, we have started counseling both the girls and their families to ensure they can go back home and continue with their education.”
Odhiambo spoke during a donation drive organised by Micontrap Kenya, where food and toiletries were distributed before the girls sat down for a bonding and counseling session to mark the festive season—far from home, but not forgotten.
She said education remains the biggest casualty of FGM in the region.
“Once a girl is circumcised, she is viewed as an adult, ready for marriage or sexual activity,” Odhiambo explained.
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“That leads to early marriages, early pregnancies, and very low transition rates back to school.”
For Jackline Nyamohanga, the threat was already real. Marriage proposals had begun arriving before she fled.
“If I had stayed, I would not be going back to school,” she says.
“Now I want to become a teacher.”
Counselors have already started engaging parents and guardians of the girls at the rescue centre, urging them to allow their daughters to return home and resume learning—a process that is often emotional and fragile.
Denis Marwa, the manager of Maranatha Mission Centre, said the facility has been receiving girls fleeing FGM since 2007, filling a gap left by the absence of a government-owned rescue centre in the region.
“Some of these girls come from as far as Tanzania,” Marwa said.
“We have parents who have been arrested and are undergoing court processes, and others who have completely rejected any attempt to take their daughters back. That puts their education at great risk.”
Beyond shelter, the centre offers life-skills training and mentorship from women who once fled FGM and later succeeded in life.
“These role models give the girls hope,” Marwa said.
“With schools opening, we must reintegrate them back to their families one way or another. That’s why we have involved elders, church leaders, and family members.”
Micontrap Kenya Chief Executive Officer Colleta Bwahi said the organisation will track school transition rates by working with schools and local administrators.
“We want to know how many girls actually report back to school after this intervention,” she said.
Amid all these unfolding, activists are renewing calls for the government to establish a fully equipped rescue centre to provide longer-term safety for girls fleeing FGM.
For over two decades, the activists have asked for that support.
Without it, the cycle of FGM and disrupted education will continue, they argue.
For the girls, however, the immediate victory is simpler: clean uniforms, packed schoolbags, and the chance to sit in a classroom again—whole, hopeful, and uncut.
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