The village was founded in 1990 by a group of 15 women who were survivors of being raped by local British soldiers. The Umoja population has now expanded to include any woman who has escaped the scary cultural customs of Samburu such as child marriage, FGM (eliminating female genitals), domestic violence and rape.
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Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re When she had to be hospitalized for being beaten by a group of men, she came up with the idea of creating an all-female community. She was severely beaten for daring to speak to the women in the village about equal rights.
The Samburu people have a very close relationship with the Maasai ethnic group. They all speak the same language and often live in groups of 5 to 10 families, who are missionaries. Their culture is patriarchal. At village meetings, men sit in a circle to discuss important issues of the village, while women have to sit outside, rarely expressing their opinions. All the first members of the Umoja village came from the villages of Samburu.
There are currently 47 women and 200 children in Umoja. Although people live in extreme poverty, women who dare to think and dare to do are still capable of providing food, clothes and accommodation for everyone. The leaders of the Umoja village have built a boarding house, about 1km away on the other side of the river, for groups of tourists on a picnic hunt. Many of them and even those on their way to visit the nearby nature reserve have stopped by. The women here charge a very cheap entrance fee and hope that when visiting this village, guests will buy jewelry made by them.
Many women say they cant imagine living with another man after theyve lived in Umoja. I dont want to leave the community to support this woman, Mary, a 34-year-old resident here, shared. She was sold to an 80-year-old man in exchange for a herd of cows when she was only 16 years old. She said Umoja had given her everything she needed.
