Ford Foundation President Louis Ubinas struggled to remain composed but in the end tears welled up in his eyes and dripped onto his shirt.

Many of those seated with him on the dais, mainly teachers and members of the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), wept openly as young girls who had been rescued from forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) narrated their ordeals.

A function that was meant to celebrate the success of efforts to rescue girl children, mainly from the Samburu community, from forced marriage and FGM turned into a tearful reception as visiting dignitaries came face to face with victims who had managed to escape into a sanctuary.

The Ford Foundation and COVAW officials were visiting Doldol primary school recently, a lowly Government institution in Laikipia North District, which is one of several hosting such rescued girls.

Their eyes were awash in tears when twelve-year old Samina Maria Lekeret summed up the pain of those who had dared to escaped from cultural slavery.

She narrated how she had escaped from her Kimanjo village, after seeing men who drove seven head of cattle into her mother’s compound at dusk.

Lekeret’s elder brother had secretly negotiated her bride price and he was about to receive dowry from a 60-year-old suitor. They would later discover the girl had escaped and could not be traced.

Since then, she has neither met her brother nor her mother.

The girl said: "My elder sister had been married off and I was next in line to sold out in exchange for cattle."

It was after about ten hours of traversing through rugged terrain, infested by wild animals, that Lekeret managed to arrive at Doldol primary school. She knew some of her friends who had escaped and were being sheltered at the boarding school.

She told the visitors how she took a route infested by wild animals. She walked through the night and at sme places passed near herds of elephants.

She did not wish to be subjected to cultural poverty, like her mother and other local women who take care of their husband’s cattle, she said.

Another girl, 15-year-old Mariamu Naisula Piroris told the visitors how she was forced to marry an elderly man. Amid tears, Piroris said: "My father instructed my brother never to visit me in school, he said I was cursed. I do not have a close relative who comes to see me."

Through a joint effort between villagers and the police, she was rescued her from a manyatta at Lamuria division, where she had been taken as a third wife to an elderly pastolarist man.

However, Mariamu may be one of the last to suffer under cultural bias that discriminates against the girl child in her Samburu community.

The trend among pastoralist communities where especially girl children are regarded as property rather than human beings has increasingly come under challenge by activists from the community who have been campaigning to end it.

Mr Ubinas said the issue of forcing young girls into marriage was grave and mist be stopped completely.

Agnes Leina of COVAW said efforts should be intensified in all the affected regions to ensure the trend ends completely.

Covaw and Ford Foundation are among groups supporting ground efforts to end forced marriage practice and FGM.

Another active Group is Yiaku People’s Association led by Jenniffer Koinate which takes girls and their mothers through rights of passage courses aimed at ending FGM. She said the effort is bearing fruit as awareness spreads and parents and children shun FGM.