Meet Mary: She Is Enough
We are sharing Mary’s story in conjunction with our ENOUGH campaign. She is enough reason for all of us to say, “Enough is enough!” Together, we have more than enough resources to eradicate FGM, child marriage, and gender-based violence.
Learn more at flourishkenya.org/enough.
Earlier this year, Flourish Kenya’s Administrator, Christine Lemiso, was heartbroken by the news of people suffering due to near famine conditions caused by severe drought in a neighboring county. She helped organize a food drive in Kilgoris and other parts of Narok County. When she went with her team of volunteers to a remote school in Kajiado to deliver the truckload of food they had collected, she had no idea it would turn into a rescue.
*Mary’s name, story, and images have been shared with permission from Mary and her parents after careful explanation of their use.
That same day, a 15-year-old girl named Mary visited a nearby school to see if there was a way for her to enroll. When she arrived, she was told that there was a food distribution happening at another school. Knowing her family’s struggle at home, she set off for the event. She approached a teacher who listened with compassion as the girl shared the challenges she was facing. Familiar with societal norms, the teacher knew with near certainty what would become of Mary if no one intervened.
Mary’s parents would arrange for her to be married off in exchange for a dowry.
Immediately, the teacher thought of Christine. She knew about Flourish Kenya’s Vulnerable Student Sponsorship Program, and that Christine was at the event, so she brought the girl to share her story with the team.
Mary revealed that she was living in extreme poverty with her parents and siblings. The photo to the right is Mary’s makeshift home in Kajiado, constructed of sticks and sheet plastic.
Even in these conditions, Mary was somehow able to complete her upper primary classes in 2022. Not only that, she performed very well on her national exams. However, her family lacked the resources to send her to high school.
The family’s hope for survival was now pinned on Mary’s dowry. The exchange of food, household supplies, and perhaps even livestock for their daughter’s hand in marriage, would sustain them a little longer… and with one less mouth to feed.
If 15-year-old Mary were to continue on this path, any hope of reaching her full potential as a bright young woman would be lost.
Mary would be forced to:
1. Undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
2. Marry a much older man in exchange for a dowry
3. Suffer serial acts of Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
4. Begin childbearing immediately
With this knowledge, Christine secured permission from Mary’s parents to bring her back to Kilgoris and seek enrollment in secondary school. At the time, Christine had no idea how she would make this happen— logistically or financially. With an over-filled scholarship portfolio and five students waiting for sponsors, Christine’s options are limited. But Christine is a courageous woman of great faith, and she knew that God would work things out for Mary.
At this point, you might be asking,
“Why didn’t Christine know how she would be able to help this girl? Isn’t that what Flourish Kenya is about?”
Even though the grassroots movement Christine helped form in 2016 is seen as the local authority on what to do when girls are in crisis, funding restraints have prevented her team from formalizing systems and programs that support crisis intervention.
In fact, in recent months, she and her staff have been facing increasing pressure from peers and community leaders, whom they turn to regularly with requests for contributions for crowdfunded rescues.
”WHY IS THERE STILL NO PLACE FOR THESE GIRLS TO GO?!”
Her response is simple.
”Because the money hasn’t come. We have a model, a place, and a plan… but we are still waiting for funds to build a rescue center and expand our programs. But at least we can help this one girl.”
Thankfully, by God’s grace and with the help of community members back in Kilgoris, Christine was able to enroll Mary in school with a full sponsorship! She collected money and supplies for Mary’s uniforms, undergarments, toiletries, and school supplies. There are still many challenges to navigate without full Crisis Intervention programs in place, but we are trusting God for provision.
And that is how these stories go— the stories that end with a girl being rescued. Many more end in FGM, child marriage, and a life of desperation that perpetuates the cycle of harm. Girls are forced to grow families who suffer violence and oppression and live only to survive. Generation after generation, parents put children in harm’s way because it has become culturally acceptable to do so in areas that remain cut off from resources, education, and opportunities to thrive.
As of now, if a girl in rural Kenya stands a chance of escaping the cycle, her only hope is that good people will help her escape dangerous circumstances. And that means the good people who help are giving from their own already limited resources. All the while, doing so without the support of systems and services that can give these girls the help they really need. And that is why we are saying,
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Enough families barely surviving.
Enough girls in harm’s way.
Enough scrambling for solutions.
There are MORE THAN ENOUGH resources in the Kingdom of God to bring about long-term, sustainable solutions that not only rescue girls, but that eradicate the evil practices of FGM, child marriage, and GBV.
Will you take action right now so that more girls just like Mary can find safety, dignity, and hope?
Will you give today? For Mary?
