History
Health Initiatives Mission (HIM) believe that “Love Heals”. Life is hard for the Pokot tribe and only love can heal the unseen injuries sustained by most vulnerable among them: the women and children.
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As a young girl, Mwana Lokeno (HIM co-founder) was forced to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a condition for her father to pay for her education. The experience was so traumatizing and life changing that Mwana became determined to do something about it. After graduating from nursing school in Kenya, Mwana worked with an organization whose sole aim was to educate the Pokot Community about the complications associated with FGM. She personally helped counsel women who were leaking urine and feces due to FGM complications during delivery. More often than not, these women suffer in silence and carry deep emotional, as well as physical, scars resulting from FGM. Because their injuries cause them to smell terribly, these woman are rejected by their husbands and loved ones. Some even become unable to have additional children because of the irreversible damage done to their uterus.
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What makes FGM even worse is that it is done to children who are mostly under 15 years of age, the majority having been mutilated at 10 to 12 years old. Soon thereafter, they are forced into arranged marriages. Because of their tender age, and because FGM physically mutilates a female’s anatomy, most of these girls end up with a tear in the bladder or rectum during childbirth. These tears can cause young girls to leak urine, feces, or both. Some of these girls see themselves as worthless and attempt suicide. Most intentionally isolate themselves because they do not want others to know that they are unable to control the constant leaking of or urine or feces.
Mwana realized that by talking to these young girls and by showing them love, they began to feel valued. Something as simple as recognition and conversation could make them feel like they were part of the community again. Through Education and partnerships, HIM wants help these young girls rejoin the broader community of survivors of FGM within the Pokot tribe.
A survivor herself, Mwana now has three children. She was fortunate enough to have one of the best OB/GYN doctors in Washington, Dr. Eve Cunningham. Dr. Cunningham has graciously agreed to join forces with us at HIM and will serve as one of the Board Members. HIM also invites individuals, businesses, and organizations to join forces in an effort to ensure that the crude practice of Female Genital Mutilation is eradicated. With your love and partnership, today’s victims of FGM will become tomorrow’s survivors of FGM.
Mwana realized that by talking to these young girls and by showing them love, they began to feel valued. Something as simple as recognition and conversation could make them feel like they were part of the community again. Through Education and partnerships, HIM wants help these young girls rejoin the broader community of survivors of FGM within the Pokot tribe.
A survivor herself, Mwana now has three children. She was fortunate enough to have one of the best OB/GYN doctors in Washington, Dr. Eve Cunningham. Dr. Cunningham has graciously agreed to join forces with us at HIM and will serve as one of the Board Members. HIM also invites individuals, businesses, and organizations to join forces in an effort to ensure that the crude practice of Female Genital Mutilation is eradicated. With your love and partnership, today’s victims of FGM will become tomorrow’s survivors of FGM.
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