Nice Nailantei Lengete

Nice Nailantei Lengete has over three years’ experience in alternative rite of passage (ARP) for girls in Kenya’s pastoralist communities, having herself escaped forceful female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) at the age of eight. Jedidah Naniai Lemaron is currently a project officer for Amref Health Africa in Kenya, which has to date rescued over 9,000 girls from FGC in Kenya and Tanzania. She continues to play a key role in the fight against FGM/C, ensuring that girls and women transition to womanhood without undergoing the cut. She educates her community, including Maasai cultural elders, traditional birth attendants (TBAs), mothers and girls, chiefs and church leaders on the negative effects of FGC. She has even overcome the challenge of convincing young Maasai men (‘morans’) to abandon the practice. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Nice plans to start a rescue center for girls who have escaped FGC so that they continue their education.