AIM-SL Boost Bio’s Free Education

As part of the organization effort to complement free quality education and to ensure girls stay in school without subjecting them in to harmful traditional practices that will hinder their academic pursuit, the Amazonian Initiative Movement headed by Madam Rugiatu Neneh Turay has embark on massive school construction in replacement of bondo bushes across the country.
The organization objective is to ensure that the cruelty practice in the bondo society called Female Genital Mutilation/cutting (FGM) be replaced with meaningful programs that will help women and girls become resourceful in the society and change their status.
Making her submission, Madam Rugiatu Neneh applauded the strides on education by this regime especially with the radical inclusion by the Minister Dr. David Sengeh adding that women and girls have suffer backwardness educationally as a result of the numerous bushes established to train women to cut and the building of bondo bushes by Politicians as a way to promote the harmful traditional practices.
She pointed out that most of the heads of bondo women in villages are never had an opportunity of going to School which means thousands of women and girls abandon thier academic activities for cultural processes.
She said such practices has not earned them anything, informing that she has never witness Sowei graduated from the society and giving certificate and the same time employed in a position of trust.
Madam Turay said politicians should not hold the fight against FGM to ransome because they want to gain votes but should join anti FGM organizations to raise awareness on the dangers of FGM practice in Sierra Leone.
Apart from the challenge faced by women on education through FGM, she said the practice has heart-rending effects on women through during child delivering.
Madam Neneh Turay said women have suffered medical, social and economic challenges due to FGM.
Explaining her ongoing outstanding work, Madam Rugiatu Neneh Turay said, her organization has succeeded in constructing modern schools in replacement of bondo bushes in the Northern province.
She said she has also commenced operations in South-Eastern provinces so as to replicate the same in those FGM prone communities.
She went further that plans are underway to modify bondo society culture thereby initiating “bondo without cutting” in the south and east of Sierra Leone.
“The act of FGM/C is a human Rights violation against women and girls, women have been subjected and still subjecting them in to harmful traditional practices that will not help thier future, we must abandon such a practice in our society” she said.
She said it is no secret that women are dying in the Bondo bushe as a result of excessive bleeding, “this is not a society, it is a trap to murder women in silence, we must speak and disown this practice” she said.
What is more volatile in the society, Turay explained is that, women drunk heavily before undertaking the cutting of the clitoris of women which is against medical discipline.
She further informed that cutting of the clitoris of women has no medical reasons adding that the practice is just to add more burden on the existing predicament of women in the society.
She furthered that her organization is working tooth and nail with the religious leaders, traditional leaders, Soweis, youths and school going pupils as well lecturers and teachers including parents to see the need to end FGM in the country.
Madam Turay urged government of President Maada Bio to recognize that harmful traditional practices especially FGM has the propensity to sabotage his free and quality education in the country.
“If Bio want to succeed on his flagship free education project, FGM must be consider as major barriers to stagnate the quality education project” Turay said.
She also urged government to pull a memo to all government functionaries to stop sponsoring FGM practice in poor communities where women are absolutely illiterate and they don’t know thier rights and wrong.
She expressed hope to work with government in ending FGM practice and as well promote women empowerment in communities in the country.
AIM-SL Media Team