| In a recent article presented by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a young girl named Kady from Burkina Faso recounts her own circumcision. While circumcisions are outlawed in Burkina Faso, cases still occur. Kady tells her story here. She thought that she was simply going for a visit to her grandmothers, but instead, the girl received more than she was expecting. "They asked us to go round [to her grandmother] for sweets and eggs. When we arrived, three women caught me, bundled me into the toilet, pinned me down and undressed me. I saw the knife and knew what was going to happen. I cried out, but I couldn't find the words," Kady explains. She tells of how the lips of her vagina were cut and stitched together with just a small hole left for urine and menses. After the procedure was performed, Kady had to finalize the rite of passage by jumping over a fire embracing the belief that the heat from the fire will help to take away the pain. What Kady didn't know was that her grandmother was a circumciser, saying that if she ever saw her grandmother again, "I'd tell her not to do this to any more girls. It's so dangerous, and can cause so many problems afterwards. I'd say, 'Please grandmother, just don't'." ========================================================================== Another story comes from a book written by current supermodel Waris Dirie about her experience with FGM in Sudan. Below is an excerpt from her book, Desert Flower. "The old woman looked at me sternly, a dead look in her eyes, then foraged through an old carpet-bag. She reached inside with her long fingers and fished out a broken razor blade . . . The next thing I felt was my flesh being cut away. I heard the blade sawing back and forth through my skin. The feeling was indescribable. I didn't move, telling myself the more I did, the longer the torture would take. Unfortunately, my legs began to quiver and shake uncontrollably of their own accord, and I prayed, Please, God, let it be over quickly. Soon it was, because I passed out. When I woke up, my blindfold was off and I saw the gypsy woman had piled a stack of thorns from an acacia tree next to her. She used these to puncture holes in my skin, then poked a strong white thread through the holes to sew me up . . .My memory ends at that instant, until I opened my eyes . . . My legs had been tied together with strips of cloth binding me from my ankles to my hips so I couldn't move. I turned my head toward the rock; it was drenched with blood as if an animal had been slaughtered there. Pieces of my flesh lay on top, drying in the sun." (Desert Flower, Waris Dirie . . . . .Buy your copy here) ========================================================================== "I was genitally mutilated at the age of ten. I was told by my late grandmother that they were taking me down to the river to perform a certain ceremony, and afterwards I would be given a lot of food to eat. As an innocent child, I was led like a sheep to be slaughtered. Once I entered the secret bush, I was taken to a very dark room and undressed. I was blindfolded and stripped naked. I was then carried by two strong women to the site for the operation. I was forced to lie flat on my back by four strong women, two holding tight to each leg. Another woman sat on my chest to prevent my upper body from moving. A piece of cloth was forced in my mouth to stop me screaming. I was then shaved. When the operation began, I put up a big fight. The pain was terrible and unbearable. During this fight, I was badly cut and lost blood. All those who took part in the operation were half-drunk with alcohol. Others were dancing and singing, and worst of all, had stripped naked. I was genitally mutilated with a blunt penknife. After the operation, no one was allowed to aid me to walk. The stuff they put on my wound stank and was painful. These were terrible times for me. Each time I wanted to urinate, I was forced to stand upright. The urine would spread over the wound and would cause fresh pain all over again. Sometimes I had to force myself not to urinate for fear of the terrible pain. I was not given any anaesthetic in the operation to reduce my pain, nor any antibiotics to fight against infection. Afterwards, I hemorrhaged and became anemic. This was attributed to witchcraft. I suffered for a long time from acute vaginal infections." Hannah Koroma, Sierra Leone (www.amnesty.org) |