/ Community Leader
Aseneth
Kiriga
MGS Role
Aseneth is instrumental in working with the women in the adult literacy groups who are interested in making crochet and woven baskets. She manages the yarn inventory and other supplies that the women need to get started. In addition, Aseneth keeps track of any needs the women may have that are keeping them from being successful. She has helped with distributing solar lamps, walking shoes, eyeglasses, and water tanks.
Personal Statement
I was born and bred in Gatunga, Tharaka. During my early childhood, Female Genital Mutilation was the norm of the day. It's something that every young girl looked forward to. It was the fashion and peer pressure was real. I mean who wouldn’t want a ceremony, gifts, and the unique way they would behave after coming out? Having an elder sister who was not for FGM and another who was for it, I was more inclined to my 2 sisters. Oooh yes, I was for it, little did we know the ordeal of getting all the goodies!
When my sister came of age, she pestered my parents to undergo FGM out of peer pressure, all her friends had been cut. Luckily there was a neighbor whose daughter was preparing for the transition.
We could hear the dances and celebrations every night. My sister as usual could not keep calm and my mother decided to let us attend the night dances to see how it went. We were very excited, we went dancing for three consecutive days before the big day. I went with my two sisters, and as tradition demands, little girls were placed on the front line so that they could see what would happen to them. The girl came and fell on the ground and the circumciser did her thing. Blood spilled and the next thing I remember we were running home scared, screaming “She is dead, she is dead” and that’s how my mum finally got peace in the house. As that was not enough, the lady got complications and the parents came home to ask for help to take the girl to
hospital. After the rite of passage that was the end of her education.
To date, the memory of that day leaves my body numb and with goosebumps.
Education &
Professional career
I attended local schools within Tharaka for both elementary and high school education. I later joined college and started at Certificate level and gradually I did Diploma course in Business Management. After this, I secured a job as an office administrator in a corporate company. It was during this period I realized my passion was in people and I decided to enroll for a degree course in Human Resource Management. I served in the position of Office Administrator, and Human Resource Assistant before joining TWWP as HR and admin Officer which has greatly improved my interpersonal skills. Here, I have grown both career-wise and in client relations. Am a member of IHRM and I hold other certifications because I believe learning is continuous
process.
I have seen and felt the ordeal of undergoing FGM. I have seen children suffer because of negative attitudes from generations. I have seen girls excel in their primary education and not proceed with their high school education because boys are given priority. I have seen the struggle in schools/teachers to have learning materials. All this is due to negative attitudes and low literacy levels. I am passionate about serving not only in HR but also the community, and my joy is to work with the young girls of the community together with their parents and see them transform their lives by overcoming the customary beliefs and perspectives domineering the community by embracing positivity in their attitudes towards women and literacy.
There is great personal satisfaction in seeing girls and women improving their livelihoods through
education, social and economic empowerment.
