Girl Child Education in Garissa County

My name is Anzel Mohamed. I studied primary at Masalani Girls in Ijara Sub-County. I feel lucky being at school although people in my community insult me and threat me like an outsider. The greatest problem in Garissa County is discriminating girls. People believe that a girl is meant for cooking food, fetching water and taking care of babies at home. They think a girl is to be seen not to be heard. As for me, I confidently oppose this. Girls should be taken to school to educate them, treat them equally, and love them as boys are loved.

The cause of this educational problem is female genital mutilation which makes thousands of girls to lose their lives. When girls reach the age of fifteen years they drop out of school for the circumcision. It may take one year for the girl to feel well and then finally the girl drops out of school. The government of Kenya has taken an action about FGM but it seems there is no action taken here. If the police would perform their duty well and arrest people it would stop.

Early marriage is another problem for which a cure has not yet been discovered. Elderly men who are rich in terms of money and cattle are allow to get married to young girls who are in school. The parents of the girl agree to give away their daughter in exchange of cattle. The father needs cattle for his own benefit.

The solutions to these problems are educating people about the importance of educating girls and taking action against early marriage and FGM.