Interview with Rebecca Lolosoli, President of the Umoja Women’s Group

After visiting Rebecca several times over the course of a year, OTA interviewed her in September 2013 to share her Umoja Women’s Group story. She founded Umoja in 1990 to help Samburu women who experience domestic violence and other abuse find a safe haven. Over the decades, he has encountered incredible opposition from Samburu men, but against all odds, he has established a shelter that currently houses 58 women and recently ran for political office in his community.

My name is Rebecca Lolosoli. I work with the Umoja Women’s Group, which started in 1990. We started a women’s village and in 1990 we had three women; now we are 58 women. It is a town where women run, like a refuge for women.

We fight for the rights of women, the rights of weak families and the rights of girls. Samburu women have no rights. So we fight for our girls to go to school, choose their husbands and own anything, like land and cattle, like any other human being. This town is the women’s haven that women and girls turn to during their troubles, such as early marriages, early pregnancies, and female genital mutilation (FGM). We also try to help girls who get pregnant before female genital mutilation because their baby will be killed, so we try to protect the girl and protect the baby.

And now women also work fighting for peace. We need peace in Kenya and we want to have peace with other communities like our neighbors, those who are fighting with Samburu: Borana, Turkana and Pokor. So we think that women should bring these peace changes and we want to relate to our neighbors (the Borana, Turkana and Pokor). We want to visit each other and try to see how we can bring peace between us because we are the victims. Women and children are always the victims. That is why we have to rethink about peace because there is no development without peace and that is what we are trying to do with Umoja Women’s Group.

You can visit the Umoja Women’s Village at Archer’s Post, near the gate of the Samburu National Reserve. Rebecca also has a camp near the village where tourists visiting the Reserve can stay. The proceeds from the camp support the village women and their ongoing fight for women’s rights in the Samburu community. Visit www.umojawomen.net for more information.