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Kisii Soapstone: the Yomasi Group and TEMAK
Since 2003 TEMAK has been working to support the work of a group of twenty-four women working in Tabaka, a small community just outside Kisii in the Western Highlands of Kenya. The group, known as Yomasi, is working towards the empowerment of the local women. They raise funds by finishing, refining and polishing the soapstone carvings that are sold by TEMAK.
Polishing of soapstone
products
The Yomasi group’s primary objective is to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM, or “female circumcision”), a practice that is rife in the Kisii area. FGM is an ancient tradition of the Kisii people, which involves operating on the girls as a coming of age rite when they are aged between eight and ten. The procedure is dangerous, and often performed with the same instrument on many girls and thus aiding the spread of diseases such as HIV. It is also irreversible, leaving the girls damaged for life.
Yomasi formed as a team of ten women in January 2003 in response to the death of a young girl who bled to death after going through FGM. The women decided to begin a campaign against this ritual, through educating the local people about the dangers of the practice, and through giving women the power to refuse the performance of FGM on their daughters. They began by holding small gatherings, and going to churches and schools to speak about the issue. They also educate the young people themselves, and teach them to refuse the procedure and to speak out if they learn they will be taken to a ceremony for FGM.
Soapstone Products from Kisii
Featured Artists
Edwina: Enjoys tie & dye
Elizabeth: Getting knowledge and skills.
The local women also aim to provide alternative choices to women and girls who say no to FGM, as well as a safe place for the girls to be during the time of the FGM ceremony. In August and November, instead of attending the FGM ceremony, girls can now attend safe camps where they learn skills in communication and taking care of themselves and others. This aims to show the community a clear advantage for girls who refuse the procedure, and gives the girls valuable skills for later life. At the camps the girls are also taught about the dangers of FGM, and encouraged to help spread awareness about the issue.
There are still many obstacles in the fight against FGM. Women face enormous pressure to send their daughters to the ceremony, both socially and within their own families. By offering work to women who agree to resist FGM, the Yomasi group is able to provide crucial economic empowerment to these women. They are also able to offer an alternative source of income to women who would previously have been earning money from the FGM ceremony itself, helping to reduce the number of people carrying out the practice. Women often come to the group for help when, for example, their husband refuses to pay the girl’s school fees if the girls do not go through FGM. The group is able to offer these women work so they can pay the fees themselves.
Yomasi’s involvement with TEMAK began in 2003 when the two groups were brought together by a mutual friend who realized both groups were working with the same goal of empowering women through production of crafts. TEMAK and Yomasi have since worked closely together, supporting each other and sharing ideas. The profits from the sale of the soapstone carvings directly support the work of the Yomasi women.
Carving products from raw
soapstone.