We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sayydah Garrett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sayydah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.
Pastoralist Child Foundation serves the semi-nomadic (pastoralist) communities in Samburu and Maasai Mara, Kenya by providing workshops, community dialogues, and youth sports tournaments as part of our mission to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced early marriage.
The Samburu and Maasai tribes are sister tribes in the former Rift Valley of Kenya. High poverty and illiteracy levels, coupled with severe droughts in the dry season and massive flooding during the rainy season constantly affect the quality of life. Two human rights violations are practiced at a high rate: female genital mutilation (FGM) is at 75% and child marriage is closely connected. Although both are illegal, harmful, labeled as violence against girls and women, and gender-based violence the communities continue to believe these are important cultural practices.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Since childhood, my favorite animal is the elephant. I yearned to see these monstrous beauties in their natural habitat – walking, eating, drinking in herds led by wise and nurturing matriarchs. And who doesn’t love a baby elephant? After expressing my desire to see elephants in their natural habitat, my husband said, “You can see elephants on YouTube.” Well!! Really??? Not to be dissuaded, I booked a trip to Samburu and Maasai Mara, Kenya and off I went in July, 2012.
First stop was Samburu, where on my second day I visited the tribal village “Namayiana.” It was amaaazing! I had never experienced anything like it! I was honored to be the sole visitor to enjoy the hour-long stay to see the women and men dance, hear them sing, show me the inside of their huts, and allow me to play with the adorable children who sang the Alphabet song. Upon returning to the lodge, I showed my pictures to Samuel Siriria Leadismo, the assistant restaurant captain. Samuel educated me about the Samburu culture and at one point became very serious, looked up at the sky, and said, “I want to start a community based organization to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced early marriage before it’s my youngest sister’s turn to get cut.” What? Cut? Why? How? Samuel described the horrendous way girls who reach puberty are mutilated with a razor blade to remove the clitoris. Soon after the “healing” they are forced to marry older men, basically in exchange for livestock. The girls are now responsible for childbearing, child rearing, cooking, fetching water, and even building the huts. The girls drop out of primary school and their dreams of becoming doctors, teachers, nurses, and other professionals die. Samuel promised his dying mother that he would protect his sisters and make sure they get an education. I immediately said, “I’ll help you.” Samuel responded with, “Great! YOU will be our president!” And I said, “OK!” We hadn’t known each other 24 hours and somehow, we instinctively knew we could do something together to improve the lives of girls in his community. And did we ever! Samuel registered Pastoralist Child Foundation (PCF) as a Community Based Organization in Kenya and I registered PCF as a 501C3 nonprofit organization.
PCF’s mission is to end FGM and forced early marriage. We host workshops, community dialogues, and youth sports tournaments. The curriculum includes sexual and reproductive health & rights, teen pregnancy, child marriage, FGM, HIV/AIDS, self-awareness, self-confidence, child rights, sanitation, and the importance of education. We also have a scholarship program for students attending secondary boarding schools and universities, as well as a women’s economic empowerment program for women to start businesses.
Education is key. Unfortunately, the illiteracy rate in the pastoralist community is very high compared to the national average in Kenya. Therefore, many people don’t know that FGM and child marriage are illegal. Samburu is considered a “hot spot” for FGM. It’s a human rights violation, extremely harmful, unnecessary, violence against girls and women, and gender-based violence. We have saved more than 20,000 girls from undergoing this horrific procedure which has many harmful physical, emotional, and psychological effects….sometimes death.
Our goal, along with other individuals and organizations, is to work together to end FGM by the year 2030. Our work aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3 “Good Health and Well-being”, Goal #4 “Quality Education” and Goal #5 “Gender Equality.” Every single activity in our programs is true to our mission. I believe this is why we’re successful and are a lead agency in the fight against FGM.
I have been to Kenya 13 times since my initial trip to visit our incredible team of 6 staff members who perform life-changing work on behalf of PCF. Samuel kept his promise to his mother. It isn’t easy for a male in a highly patriarchal society to advocate for the rights of girls and women. And, seeing the beautiful elephants during my annual visits is a real bonus!
Thank you for taking the time to read about my work. It’s extremely humbling and rewarding to see the progress in a community that’s willing to help itself. It’s priceless!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My journey with Pastoralist Child Foundation started in 2012 and, quite frankly, resilience is a daily strength that I exude. Running a non-profit organization has many challenges. There are very good days filled with positive news – a big donation or news about one of our scholarship students graduating from university! In addition, there are days with worrisome thoughts about whether we will raise enough money for programs and operating expenses. Therefore, I stay focused and calm, and my blood pressure is good. I heartily believe in the advice of the Persian poet named “Rumi” to “live your life as though it’s rigged in your favor.”
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met my co-founder in July, 2012 while on a solo safari in Samburu and Maasai Mara, Kenya. Samuel Siriria Leadismo was the assistant restaurant captain at Samburu Game Lodge in Samburu National Reserve. After excitedly showing Samuel pictures of Namayiana Village – the village I visited the day after my arrival, he pointed out his family and friends. This was the village where he was raised! I was very fascinated by the beautiful people, singing, dancing, adorable children, and gorgeous, colorful hand-beaded jewelry. I wanted to learn more. So, Samuel talked about his culture. At one point, he expressed his wish to empower his community by starting a community-based organization to hold workshops, dialogues, youth sports tournaments, as well as start a student scholarship program and help women start their own businesses – all intending to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced early marriage. “Pastoralists” are semi-nomadic people whose livelihood is dependent upon the raising of livestock such as goats, cattle, sheep, and camels. Samuel promised his dying mother that he would protect his sisters from these 2 “vices” and make sure they get an education. I immediately said, “I’ll help you.” Samuel smiled, pointed at me and said, “YOU will be our president.” And I said, “Ok!” We co-founded Pastoralist Child Foundation right then and there. We hadn’t known each other 24 hours! Based on my 20+ years of working at nonprofit organizations, I knew I’d be able to get things off and running. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought of starting a nonprofit. I went on safari to see my favorite animal, the elephant, in its natural habitat. You should have seen my husband’s face when I returned home and announced, “I’m going to end female genital mutilation and child marriage in Kenya.” lol!!
Well, we’re still running. We have accomplished a lot in the past 13 years and have been instrumental in lowering the rates of FGM and child marriage in Samburu, Kenya.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pastoralistchildfoundation.org
- Instagram: @pastoralistchildfoundation
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pastoralistchildfoundation
- Twitter: @kenyachildfund
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pastoralistchildfoundation6194
Image Credits
All photos are courtesy of Pastoralist Child Foundation