In Uganda, elders work with the UN to safeguard women's health - Sabiny Elders Assn

UN Chronicle, Spring, 1999 by Elaine Eliah

Uganda's Sabiny Elders Association (SEA) has been awarded the 1998 United Nations Population Award for its work in combatting female circumcision among the Sabiny people in Eastern Uganda's Kapchorwa District.

Established in 1992, the Association drew elders from throughout the district and represented 161 Sabiny clans. The elders' goal was to document local history and preserve the rich cultural heritage of Sabiny society while promoting changes in various cultural traditions that were inconsistent with modern ways of living. Working together and in cooperation with other organizations, the elders also aimed to promote education, especially among girls, to protect the region's environment and wildlife, and to develop its traditional medicine. They also desired to help the needy, especially the elderly, and to work with victims of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) - both those infected and the orphans AIDS sufferers leave behind.

"When I was a young man growing, still young, I used to support circumcision of girls very much", admitted Mr. William Cheborion, the Association Chairman. "When I grew up, became a teacher, I found out that circumcision was a wrong practice."

About 150,000 Sabiny people live in Kapchorwa District, where rugged mountains led to comparative isolation. The Sabiny are one of the few groups in Uganda who continue to practise female genital cutting (FGC) or female genital mutilation. In 1996, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched its Reproductive-Educative-and-Community-Health, or "REACH", Programme in Kapchorwa to help the Sabiny community initiate its own social change and to work with them to eliminate FGC. For the first time, outsiders were helping to bring about cultural change by working with the community, rather than imposing foreign standards from above.

"The problem with the previous attempts to stop the practice", according to Jackson Chekweko, REACH Programme Manager, "was that they were coercive and it undermined the community's ability to reason for themselves."

When the Ugandan Government considered outlawing the practice, officials faced a storm of Sabiny protest. Ever younger girls thronged to be circumcised lest some outside agency suddenly make the practice illegal. Even older women who had thus far avoided the practice were pressured to be cut in order to defend their cultural rights and identity. REACH Programme's innovator, former UNFPA Representative Francois Farah, knew that the project could never work unless it received the sanction of the community itself.

"This REACH Programme, it's your own programme" Mr. Farah assured them. He also promoted the concept that the Sabiny retain their "cultural values" but reject "cultural practices" that are no longer useful or life-enhancing. "We all love our children. Does anybody want to do any harm to his or her children, particularly the girl child?"

"Neither will any man wish to see his wife suffer or die of labour complications" added Mr. Cheborion, "if he is aware of the cause."

The Sabiny circumcise primarily adolescent girls almost exclusively in December of even-numbered years. In 1994, prior to the start of the programme, 854 Sabiny girls were circumcised. In December 1996, the number dropped 36 per cent to 544. Though admittedly odd-numbered years find FGC far less prevalent, nonetheless, Mr. Cheborion pointed out proudly that "1997 was the first ever circumcision-free year in the history of Kapchorwa District".

Mr. Cheborion recognizes that "the occasion of the Sabiny girl becoming a woman needs celebration". He does, however, encourage families to find a more appropriate ritual to usher their young girls into womanhood. It's all right, he said, to have the parties, dancing and gift-giving as before, "but when it's time for the cutting, you just go home", he said.

"The Sabiny Elders cannot accept thanks alone for the achievements", said Mr. Cheborion in accepting the Population Award. He thanked UNFPA's Uganda office for enabling the elders to reach out to their community. The Sabiny people expressed their gratitude to Mr. Farah in a more private ceremony, when they awarded him the community name, "Mangushu", meaning a well-wisher or someone who cares for their welfare. He is only the second foreigner to receive such an honour, the first being an American who lived for 20 years with them while translating the Bible into Kipsabiny, the local language.

"In order for a serial change to take place", wrote Mr. Farah in the REACH Programme's original concept paper, "it should be perceived as not affecting the very identity of the concerned groups, although in the process the identity is likely to be eventually affected by the change."

The Sabiny Elders Association shares this year's award with Dr. Hugh H. Wynter, the Chairman of Jamaica's National Family Planning Board. Dr. Wynter, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of the West Indies and Director of the school's Advanced Training and Research in Fertility Management Programme, was recognized for his contribution in establishing Jamaica as a regional model in lowering fertility rates, infant mortality and population growth.