0:00:11.163,0:00:13.875 Hello, ladies and gentlemen. 0:00:13.875,0:00:16.535 I see life as a journey, 0:00:16.535,0:00:18.834 I dont know where it [br]is going to end yet, 0:00:18.834,0:00:20.664 but I know where it started. 0:00:20.664,0:00:25.410 It began 21 years ago, [br]in the highest mountain in Africa 0:00:25.410,0:00:27.344 that's mount Kilimanjaro. 0:00:27.344,0:00:31.521 I was born in a small village [br]known as Kimana. 0:00:31.521,0:00:35.598 I am only 21 years old [br]as you have heard before. 0:00:35.598,0:00:39.251 So, I was given my beautiful name [br]that's Nice Nailantei Leng'ete 0:00:39.251,0:00:42.974 and I know most of you are having difficulties [br]in remembering my name, 0:00:42.974,0:00:45.732 so, just call me [br]Miss Kilimanjaro. 0:00:45.732,0:00:48.368 (Laughter) 0:00:48.368,0:00:52.802 I want every girl in Kenya to become[br]the woman of our dream. 0:00:52.802,0:00:55.743 I would love to stay [br]in a place where women 0:00:55.743,0:01:00.594 or girls can speak freely[br]without being judged 0:01:00.594,0:01:06.039 and with that -- [br]I mean, we'd like women 0:01:06.070,0:01:10.831 first being seen as human beings [br]and then as women. 0:01:10.831,0:01:16.132 I made the impossible possible [br]by doing two things, 0:01:16.132,0:01:21.060 that's talking to men, [br]which is not allowed in our community, 0:01:21.060,0:01:27.632 and I'm also changing female genital cutting [br]to alternative rite of passage. 0:01:27.632,0:01:31.795 Female genital cutting is there in our place[br]as you know -- 0:01:31.795,0:01:37.485 When I was growing up I was tired [br]of seeing some of my girlfriends 0:01:37.485,0:01:40.522 dying when they bleed too much, 0:01:40.522,0:01:43.910 others are having difficulties [br]when they were giving birth, 0:01:43.910,0:01:46.852 and others were called cowards. 0:01:46.852,0:01:51.602 I was tired of that [br]and I wanted to make change in Kenya. 0:01:51.602,0:01:53.847 It began 21 years ago, 0:01:53.847,0:01:56.185 the youngest of three. 0:01:56.185,0:01:59.915 My father was called Paul, [br]he was a tall, 0:02:02.069,0:02:07.069 handsome and he was a strong [br]Maasai young man. 0:02:07.069,0:02:10.710 My mother also, [br]was called Alice 0:02:10.710,0:02:13.507 she was black, [br]dark with long hair, 0:02:15.323,0:02:17.315 I always remember her [br]for two things: 0:02:17.315,0:02:19.477 one thing is [br]that she was too generous 0:02:19.477,0:02:21.775 and also the love [br]she had for us. 0:02:21.775,0:02:25.105 It began 21 years ago --[br]I am sorry -- 0:02:28.152,0:02:32.974 For you to know me well, I had to tell you [br]about my family a little bit, 0:02:32.974,0:02:35.587 for you to understand me. 0:02:35.587,0:02:38.192 My father had two wives, [br]he was a polygamist, 0:02:38.192,0:02:41.242 my mother being one of them. 0:02:41.242,0:02:44.866 And my parents [passed] away in -- 0:02:46.236,0:02:50.694 in 1997 and 1998 [br]and we were left orphaned. 0:02:52.356,0:02:56.618 Our secure home was a normal home,[br]moving from one family to another, 0:02:56.618,0:02:59.100 finding life being difficult. 0:02:59.100,0:03:02.615 I had to believe [br]not to belong to any family 0:03:02.615,0:03:06.349 [which] turned out[br]to be a blessing to rise. 0:03:06.349,0:03:10.190 Escaping two of my [br]painful things in life -- 0:03:11.237,0:03:15.213 [forced] marriage [br]and female genital cutting. 0:03:17.429,0:03:23.600 For the first time we escaped with my sister,[br]at 4 am in the morning. 0:03:23.600,0:03:26.620 [Becasue] that's now the time [br]they do the [cutting.] 0:03:26.620,0:03:30.197 For the second time, [br]when we went back home, 0:03:30.197,0:03:34.692 we were beaten and we promised[br]not to do it again. 0:03:34.692,0:03:37.155 So, the other time, [br]I managed to escape alone. 0:03:37.155,0:03:40.087 but my sister was not lucky. 0:03:40.087,0:03:44.859 After that, I went to my grandfather's place[br]and I told him 0:03:47.136,0:03:51.084 to tell my uncle [br]they should respect my wish, 0:03:51.084,0:03:54.868 and then I told them: "I'm going to report them [br]to the government!" 0:03:54.868,0:04:02.707 And [then] my grandfather recognized [br]my determination and they respected my wish. 0:04:02.707,0:04:06.606 After that all we had gone through, 0:04:07.053,0:04:10.279 we toughened up and we knew[br]that we could make it in life. 0:04:10.279,0:04:14.690 After ten years we moved to a home, [br]with our elder brother 0:04:14.690,0:04:18.994 who was the one who was taking care[br]of me and my sister. 0:04:18.994,0:04:22.364 A great opening came up in 2008, 0:04:22.364,0:04:25.608 [when] I was taken for [br]a training with AMREF, 0:04:25.608,0:04:31.288 A pre-education training within the program called[br]"Nomadic Youth and Reproductive Health Project." 0:04:31.288,0:04:34.996 And now it was like [br]a change [for] me 'cause -- 0:04:34.996,0:04:39.236 I've learned so many things about life risks 0:04:40.375,0:04:44.353 and also things about female genital cutting, [br]early marriages, 0:04:44.353,0:04:49.757 and I was happy because, when I was out [br]at least I could speak to my people. 0:04:49.757,0:04:55.514 And then after the training I saw that there was[br]a need for young people to be informed. 0:04:55.514,0:04:58.446 I had one question[br]that kept on bothering me 0:04:58.446,0:05:03.215 that was: "How could I mobilize my community? 0:05:04.246,0:05:08.262 Mothers, girls, elders and morans. 0:05:08.262,0:05:13.667 'Cause change must came from[br]the communities, from inside out. 0:05:13.667,0:05:17.465 Where to start? [br]At the top, of course. 0:05:17.465,0:05:21.352 I had to receive blessings[br]from my elders, 0:05:21.352,0:05:24.125 Elders are old men [br]in my community. 0:05:24.125,0:05:27.624 They are the ones [br]who make the decisions. 0:05:27.624,0:05:29.915 So, you first have to pass -- 0:05:29.915,0:05:34.138 You first have to go to them [br]and then they give you blessings. 0:05:34.138,0:05:40.219 They are known [as those who don't] listen to women [br]but they could listen to me [kindly]. 0:05:40.219,0:05:44.040 I also had to talk to mothers and girls, 0:05:45.425,0:05:46.934 It's hard for you to get to them, 0:05:46.934,0:05:49.712 so I used to look for them[br]during the market days, 0:05:49.712,0:05:52.677 so that I could get a good number. 0:05:52.677,0:05:57.521 I used to talk with them on[br]the importance of family planning, 0:05:57.521,0:06:00.237 importance of delivering [babies] in hospitals 0:06:00.237,0:06:04.035 and also the immunization of their kids. 0:06:04.035,0:06:06.662 We introduced something new, 0:06:06.662,0:06:10.284 that we thought it's [better][br]then doing the female genital cutting, 0:06:10.284,0:06:12.776 that is the alternative rite of passage. 0:06:12.776,0:06:17.926 [When] girls [become] [br]women without the cutting. 0:06:19.757,0:06:26.369 After that, we also had to talk on things like[br]sexuality and health education. 0:06:27.493,0:06:31.327 We have a group [br]of girls from my community, 0:06:31.327,0:06:36.139 so we started a CBO, [br]a Community Based Organization, 0:06:37.986,0:06:42.227 and we are 20, [br]so main aim of the organization 0:06:44.520,0:06:48.706 is how we could empower other girls[br]from our community like us. 0:06:48.706,0:06:53.426 And the last 3 years, we were able [br]to rescue over 150 girls 0:06:53.426,0:06:57.728 and now they are in school,[br]they are not circumcised. 0:06:59.590,0:07:08.168 November this year, elders and women [br]denounced FGM in my neighbour community, 0:07:08.168,0:07:12.200 so we can see change[br]is really spreading. 0:07:12.200,0:07:16.876 It took time to the other group[br]to accept me. 0:07:16.876,0:07:20.118 The other group [br]is a special group because 0:07:20.118,0:07:23.019 they are -- [br]It's hard for us, it's sad for us, 0:07:23.019,0:07:25.498 we need to talk with them, [br]those are Morans. 0:07:25.498,0:07:30.405 Morans are a group of men [br]who are mid-10's and 20's 0:07:30.405,0:07:33.662 whose work, normally, [br]is to stay in the bush. 0:07:33.662,0:07:39.389 They protect their community, and also they're[br]the ones who protect the lifestock. 0:07:40.759,0:07:43.829 And they are also,[br]the group which is at risk 0:07:43.829,0:07:47.182 because they are allowed[br]to practice [poligamy] 0:07:47.182,0:07:50.407 they are allowed to [br]have multiple partners. 0:07:50.407,0:07:56.485 So, they can have sex with every girl [br]they find in the village, because it's allowed. 0:07:56.485,0:07:59.867 And then I saw the importance [br]of talking to these men, 0:07:59.867,0:08:03.501 because these are our future leaders[br]and they are the ones 0:08:03.501,0:08:07.669 who are marring the young girls [br]we are talking with. 0:08:07.669,0:08:09.390 So, we used to talk to [br]them on the importance 0:08:09.390,0:08:13.115 of the condom usage [br]and having HIV test. 0:08:15.115,0:08:19.721 And then, one of the elders told them[br]that it is a matter of life or death, 0:08:19.721,0:08:22.762 so they had to choose it for themselves. 0:08:22.762,0:08:28.033 Few more joins with Morans and elders, [br]after one year they accepted me, 0:08:28.033,0:08:29.296 and I was given a "esiere." 0:08:29.296,0:08:31.808 Esiere is a black walking stick, 0:08:33.578,0:08:38.037 that simbolizes leadership. [br]I understand -- 0:08:39.561,0:08:44.782 Now in my community, the elders and morans,[br]and mothers. 0:08:44.782,0:08:48.064 We work together to support [br]an alternative rite of passage, 0:08:48.064,0:08:54.279 Because for the young men, [br]I think, it is because they had the rumour 0:08:54.279,0:08:57.665 that uncut women, [br]we are more interested in sex. 0:08:57.665,0:09:00.465 But we know that for now. 0:09:00.465,0:09:06.746 My resolve to work harder led by example, [br]to be a change agent 0:09:06.746,0:09:10.886 has been further strenghtened[br]by the sudden death of my sister. 0:09:10.886,0:09:15.985 She died of malaria while I was spreading [br]reproductive health messages 0:09:15.985,0:09:19.053 to the community and the youth. 0:09:19.053,0:09:21.950 I've campaigned against [br]malaria in the village, 0:09:21.950,0:09:26.843 for every household to have[br]bed nets and great standard of water. 0:09:26.843,0:09:29.739 Please join me in bringing meaningful [br]change to my people! 0:09:29.739,0:09:33.736 Especially the girl-child in Kenya. 0:09:33.737,0:09:38.250 And I want every woman [br]to be the woman of our dreams. 0:09:38.250,0:09:42.541 One more last want for you[br]this morning is that -- 0:09:44.649,0:09:48.638 You need someone's patience [br]for you to make change. 0:09:48.638,0:09:50.000 Thank you! 0:09:50.000,0:09:52.578 (Applause)