Christine Alfons has been a fierce activist against gender-based violence and female genital mutilation (FGM) for the past seven years. She is so passionate about these issues she founded an organization called the Safe Engage Foundation, which aims to engage youth in child protection issues and ending FGM.
“It’s a youth-led, community-based organization that encourages youth to be the change agent in the community,” Christine told The Weight She Carries. “We don’t have any funding yet, so it is purely volunteer work.”
Christine and her team travel throughout her community, going from school to school, teaching girls and boys about the power of their own voice, and how they can use it to speak out against harmful cultural practices like child marriages and FGM.
“In my community, which is Kuria, most girls are cut at a very young age and married off soon after,” she said. “My goal is to see a community free from FGM. What drives me is knowing what I went through when I was young.”
Christine was raised in a family of five – two sisters and two brothers. At the age of eight, her father died, but the circumstances surrounding his death were not revealed to her until she was 12, which is the age most girls undergo “the cut.”
“When I was 12 years of age, I did not want to get cut because there was an organization that had come and they were speaking about AIDS. One of the things they said spreads the disease is FGM. So, I thought, ‘If that is the thing that spreads it, then I’m not going to get cut because I don’t want to get AIDS.’ But when I went home and shared this my mom, she opened up and said that my dad was not for the idea. It was because of this stance that he was killed.” – Christine Alfons
Her mother went on to explain to Christine what had happened to her father five years prior. He had been adamant about protecting his three daughters from being mutilated by the community elders. He also insisted that his son be circumcised at a hospital during the traditional celebration and ritual time.
“What he did went against the culture and he was eliminated,” Christine said. “It is believed that the traditional leaders, who are the gatekeepers of issues like FGM, took offense to his stance, and according to the custom, if someone went against cultural norms, they had to give some sacrifices. And when my dad was asked to do that, he refused.”
He was told that his refusal would cost him his life. Christine and her family do not know how he was killed.
“When my mother told me this story, I felt that it was a journey that my father started, and I wanted to complete it. So, at the age of 12, I told myself that I had to stand up for my sisters and myself. Then I realized that it’s not just my sisters, but all the girls in my school in Kuria. I had to stand up for them. I had to enlighten them and make sure that they understood that they should not go through that cut.” – Christine Alfons
Motivated to carry on her father’s legacy, Christine started a girls club at her school shortly after. She had noticed that there was some tension between the girls who had undergone FGM and those who hadn’t. Those who had undergone the cut would often refuse to associate with those who had not been cut because they saw them as inferior.
“I started the girls club for girls to discuss and encourage each other. After high school, I really went full force into my passion to go and visit schools and talk to children and their parents about why they should say no to FGM,” she said. I also talking to young boys because they can also stand up for their sisters.”
The fact that her father was killed for the same stance Christine holds is enough to make some wonder how she is able to be so vocal about the matter.
“I have never felt afraid to stand up against FDM. There was one time when my mother feared that she was going to lose me too,” Christine said. “But she remembered she had to support me through prayers. We both believe that by prayer, we can conquer.”
“Sometimes, I think that it is a supernatural courage that is upon me because many people say to me, ‘If this is what happened to your father, who do you think you are?’ But I am not afraid.” – Christine Alfons
Christine said the most challenging part about the fight against FGM is when she talks to parents who decide they will support their children to say no to FGM, but when cutting season comes, they take their girls to be cut anyway.
“That’s when we wonder where we are going wrong,” she said.
“What we really need to do is break the silence. The more people talk about it and make the decision not to have the girls in their family cut, it makes it easier for other people to stand firm in that decision as well. Once people are silent, no one knows how to handle the issue. But the more vocal people become, the more courageous others will feel.” – Christine Alfons
To get in touch with Christine or to find out more about her organization, please contact her at alfonschristine@yahoo.com or +254 702 500 745.
Vimbai E. is a content marketer, ghostwriter, and the founder of The Weight She Carries. With hundreds of articles and stories publishing online, in print and for broadcast, her love of language and storytelling shines through every piece of writing that bears her name.