How I managed to escape being married off at 12

Nominated MP Sarah Lekorere (right) holds a three-month-old baby at One More Day Safe House in Doldol, Laikipia North sub-county. With her is the baby’s 13-year-old mother who was rescued from a forced early marriage at the age of 11, and One More Day for Children CEO Hellen Gathogo (left). [Photo: John Gathua/ Standard]

Jackie*, now 17, vividly recalls when she was a Standard Two pupil.

She was just 12 years old and during weekends, her father asked her to take care of their sheep and goats.

This is a common task for children among the Samburu and Maasai communities, especially girls of a tender age.

The young innocent soul was committed to her school work despite the scorching desert sun that sometimes launched punitive offensives in the pastoralist and hilly terrain of Lokamba village.

But irrespective of her age and the fact that she was in school, it emerged that her father was planning a coup that would overturn her life dream.

"My father had a friend aged 66. They used to meet at a nearby shopping centre where they would often share a common traditional brew. He was married and had children, some older than me," said Jackie when we met her at One More Day for Children (OMDC) Safe House in Doldol, Laikipia North sub-county.

Jackie was too young to understand some of the things that were happening in her home.

"I used to see the old man visit my dad at home. He would come with sugar, wheat flour and other goodies. When this became a habit, my mother got suspicious and alerted me," she said.

Among the Samburu and the Maasai, sugar is a treasured commodity that potential suitors take to the parents of a girl they intend to marry, and sends signals to mothers who are in most cases kept in the dark.

Not informed

Sarah Lekorere, a United Republican Party nominated MP who comes from Laikipia North, and Samburu Women Trust Executive Director Jane Meriwas, say mothers are not at any time informed of plans by their husbands to marry off their daughters.

"But they become suspicious whenever there is a frequent male visitor who keeps bringing sugar to the family. This sends a signal that the man could be eyeing one of their daughters," said Ms Lekorere.

The MP said mothers were only informed of marriage at a very late stage, when everything was finalised.

In Jackie's case, her mother realised the visits were frequent and she had to take precautions to protect her daughter.

"My mother told me something suspicious was about to happen and advised me to run away from home," she said.

She said her mother disclosed to her that she suspected her father intended to marry her off. She was scared and decided to leave for an unknown place where her father could not trace her.

Jackie said her mother could not confront her father because it is considered a taboo for a woman to question her husband, especially regarding his intention to marry off a daughter.

"She feared she would be battered, which is why she advised me to run away from home. One day, as I was grazing the livestock on a school day, I sneaked to school where I told our head teacher my father wanted to marry me off," said Jackie.

The head teacher escorted Jackie to a nearby Catholic mission that offers accommodation to children in school.

"I was admitted to the boarding section and continued learning at my school, which was nearby. I was worried my father would come and pick me because I had abandoned his livestock, but I was assured of security," she said.

Jackie was barely 12 years old and in Standard Two at the time her father was conspiring to marry her off.

Thankfully, Lady Luck came smiling when OMDC, a charitable organisation, enlisted her among other girls who were rescued from early marriage, female genital mutilation and beading.

Donor link

OMDC's Executive Director and Vice President, Hellen Gathogo, said Jackie was put in the care of Lenka Da Costa, a donor also referred to as a parent, from the Czech Republic in Europe. Ms Costa transferred her from her old school to a private one.

"She was able to complete her primary school education and scored 336 out of the possible 500 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam. She was admitted to a top school in Central Kenya where she is now in Form Two," said Ms Gathogo.

Costa pays for Jackie's school fees and upkeep.

OMDC was established in 2009 by Gathogo and a Czech philanthropist, Jiri Pergl. The organisation caters for 150 children, more than 50 of who live at the OMDC safe house in Doldol.

During the holidays, Jackie used to live in the safe house to ensure she was not married off secretly.

"I am happy that my mother saved me from marriage and I am safely in school. I intend to finish my education and become a lawyer specialising in finding justice for other girls faced with early marriage," said Jackie.

Gathogo and Lekorere blame retrogressive cultures practised by pastoralists for the low literacy levels among women.

"Most cultures discriminate against women and girls. Girls as young as eight years are beaded, a traditional practice that allows the men who beaded them to have sex with them, which exposes the minors to early pregnancy and other health risks," said Lekorere.

*Not her real name