A petite, 5 ft. 5 inches tall, Lucy Semeiyan Mashua stands 10 feet tall to some. Albeit figurative, she needs to stand at such a height to be successful in her mission and to overcome her past, which included being subjected to what’s considered by many to be one of the most inhumane rituals in the world.
“God told me that I would be able to come to America and set free the captives, like Moses in the Bible,” said Mashua, the 26-year old native from the east African country of Kenya, now living in Dallas. She told The Dallas Examiner that she sincerely believes God has some ownership of her vision to help bring this issue to the world’s forefront and eradicate the social practice of cutting out part or all of the female genitalia, known by many as Female Genital Mutilation.
“We just need a voice. How many more people will die?” Mashua said. “As long as God is with me, I’m going to make this known to the entire world.”
Speaking at Upendo Baptist Church, a predominantly African congregation based in Garland, Mashua told her story to fire up the audience, encouraging all – native Africans and African Americans - to make a stand.
“I’m here in the United States with a mission,” Mashua said to the audience. “With effort, trust in God and unity, we can help combat these practices, not only in Kenya, but in Africa and the world in general”
William Bitok, a minister at Upendo, feels Mashua is making a difference by exposing the practice.
“There’s been a lot of silence. People are aware of it,” said Bitok, who is supporting Mashua’s efforts after being contacted by the International Rescue Committee, a 73-year old worldwide organization that resettles refugees from major violent-related crisis. IRC was inspired by Albert Einstein to give aid to German victims of the Adolf Hitler regime.
“We’re proud of the fact that she’s standing up. I think more will follow. She’s come to awaken those who have ignored it,” Bitok said.
Church member Catherine Mburu, 35, of the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya, has been living in the United States for 10 years. Mashua genuinely impressed her.
“I’m compelled by the drive that she has. I wish I could be in her shoes,” Mburu said. “It’s not healthy and not fair. And marrying them off at such a tender age, it’s really cruel, I think she’s doing the right thing.”
Female Genital Mutilation involves the amputation of part or all of a woman’s sex organs, a ritual driven mostly by religious and cultural beliefs. Most human rights organizations, such as the United Nations and Amnesty International, are categorically against the practice, yet it’s still being done in about 30 percent of African, Middle Eastern and European groups, especially within several tribes throughout west, central and east Africa. Amnesty International estimates that over 130 million women have fallen victim to the practice: over 2 million are done every year.
On the website, Religion-Tolerance.org, FGM is justified by some Muslim fundamentalists as necessary to decrease a young girl’s sexual desire, to curb their urge to masturbate and to preserve their chastity or virginity. Opponents reject the reasoning as a way to totally make females submissive to men.
Depending on what tribe one belongs to, young women can be forced to undergo the “operation” as early as age 3 or as late as the upper teenage years.
In Mashua’s case, she vividly remembered being among a group of 32 9-year olds. Set up virtually like an assembly line, one set of sharp instruments was used in executing the ritual, with minimum cleaning in between. It’s a very painful process because little or no anesthesia is used. It doesn’t matter if the other girls have any sexually transmitted infections, including AIDS.
The clitoris, the most sensitive part of the women’s genitalia, is usually stitched up or taken out altogether.
“I can’t have sexual feelings,” Mashua said. “Even up to now, I cannot watch what you call pornographic movies. Whenever I think of sex, I just throw up.”
That didn’t stop Mashua’s family from giving her in marriage at the age of 12, in exchange for a dowry, in Kenya, usually cattle.
“We always pray and hope that this man would be young, about 35-45 years old, Mashua said.
Her husband was 52, 40 years her senior and had been married five previous times. When the marriage is consummated, if the husband has problems with sexual intercourse because of the operation, traditional midwives will come to cut an incision in the lower part of vagina. The husband comes back a few minutes later. Mashua has two children, a boy, 4, and a girl, 18 months.
The practice of female genital cutting has often been a part of a package of cultural and religious traditions, the first step toward forced, arranged marriages and – if necessary – forced abortions, if the woman’s first newborn is female instead of male.
Mashua experienced all of the above. Belonging to the Massai tribe, she was forced to endure a way of life where its frowned upon for women to express themselves.
“Women are not supposed to be aggressive or assertive,” Mashua said. “It’s a law, a custom. You have no choice.”
In 1999, Mashua decided to fight such customs and became an activist against the practice. She openly spoke out against FGM on radio, television and whoever was willing to listen to her. Sympathizing female television journalists would allow her to go on the air.
Mashua’s activism made her a national figure, but also put her life in danger. She took her children and defected to nearby Tanzania.
“She came to my church for a length of time, said Pastor Nathaniel Kigwali of Gospel Ministry Church in Tanzania, who commutes to Union for the Gospel Ministries in Nashville, Tenn. “She inspired people when she was there. She became popular as an activist.”
But Mashua’s life was endangered once again, leading to her Visa being revoked and being ordered to move back to Kenya.
“I would have been killed if I didn’t have my baby,” Mashua said. She had to go back to her disgruntled husband who punished her by taking his iron cast metal cane and breaking the big toe on her left foot. Undaunted she accepted an invitation by other activists to travel to Australia on a goodwill tour, with a cast up to her knee.
Mashua felt strongly she had to leave the country. Her big break came this summer when one of her heroes, Bishop T.D. Jakes of the Potter’s House, came to the country with his delegation to find and build water wells for several villages within the parch nation. Mashua never met “Poppy,” as she calls him, but after sitting in Jakes’ hotel lobby for seven hours (“seven for completeness”, she said), she spoke with a delegation representative who connected her with international assistance organizations. Her Visa was renewed and she was flown to Dallas, where she is staying with supporters.
“We need to have a voice from another country,” Kigwali said. “What Lucy is doing is a great thing to do.”
Mashua had to leave her two children in the process. Feeling safer, she is determined to get her message out to the African and American community here.
“They call me hard headed, I’ve never lost faith or hope,” Mashua said. “I believe I’m a woman and will be able to enjoy and restore full health.”