“I will never allow a girl to lose her future,” declares Ceciliah from Kajiado County, Kenya. Witnessing female genital mutilation, school dropouts, and child marriage, she now champions girls’ rights, education, and community transformation.
As a child, she watched her classmates leave school abruptly, either being married off before reaching their teens or undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM), a ritual that often had lifelong physical and emotional consequences. These painful memories stayed with her, shaping her belief that every girl deserves the chance to determine her own future.
She remembers a friend being suddenly pulled out of school and taken away to become a wife before she fully understood what marriage meant. “That moment never left me,” she says. “I realised how easily a girl’s future could be taken away. I knew I had to do something.”
Today, Ceciliah is a strong youth voice advocating for girls’ rights in her community. As a community health promoter at her local health centre and a passionate advocate for the Break Free! Project, she is committed to ensuring that girls and young people in her community can grow up feeling safe, healthy and empowered.
Ceciliah’s curve of change
When Ceciliah joined Plan International’s Break Free! project, she brought more than just enthusiasm – she brought her lived experience and deep cultural understanding. Her advocacy is anchored in her personal encounters with the injustices she is fighting to end. She has a simple but yet powerful guiding principle: “I will never allow a girl to lose her future while I stand by.”
Ceciliah
“I will never allow a girl to lose her future while I stand by.”
From classrooms to community forums, she uses her voice to challenge harmful norms, educate young people and inspire change. As both a health worker and a youth advocate, she is uniquely placed to bridge the gap between adolescents and health services, tradition and safety, and silence and empowerment.
One of the key aspects of Ceciliah’s work is her outreach to schools. She regularly visits educational establishments, leading open and honest sessions on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Her sessions are interactive and youth-friendly – she listens as much as she speaks.
She talks to girls about their rights, their bodies, their safety and their aspirations. She talks to boys about respect, equality, and how they can help to protect girls and women. Through open dialogue, she helps young people understand the dangers of harmful practices and the power of making different choices.
Impact of Ceciliah’s work
Over the years, she has mentored 5 girls who successfully stood up against the pressure to undergo FGM or accept early marriage. These girls not only stayed in school, but also went on to attend colleges and universities. Their success is a testament to the impact of consistent, compassionate mentorship.
“These girls are my pride,” Ceciliah says with a smile. “Every time a girl chooses education over early marriage, it proves that change is possible.”
Ceciliah’s influence extends far beyond the school gates. As a community health promoter, she is a trusted figure who is approached by parents, elders and young people for guidance. Whether she is facilitating a community discussion, supporting adolescents at the health centre, or urging local leaders to prioritise girls’ rights, she speaks with confidence and clarity.
Her message is clear and consistent: protecting girls is not just a moral issue – it is the key to building a stronger, healthier community. However, her journey has not been easy. Speaking out against long-standing cultural practices takes courage. Some community members resist change, and some question her motives. Yet Ceciliah stands firm.
“Change is slow,” she admits, “but every girl who escapes harm gives me the strength to carry on.”
Ceciliah dreams of a future in which Maasai girls can grow up free to study, dream and become whoever they choose to be. She envisages a generation whose stories are not defined by pain or limitation, but by opportunity. Through her voice, her knowledge and her determination, she is helping to make that future a reality.
International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM
Every year on the 6th of February, the world unites to declare zero tolerance for FGM — a harmful practice that violates the human rights of girls and women, perpetuates deep-rooted gender inequality, and leaves lasting physical, emotional, and psychological scars.
More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to FGM. It offers no health benefits, only risks. Yet change is happening. Courageous young leaders like Ceciliah, determined mothers, and entire communities are breaking generations of silence, choosing protection over tradition, and reclaiming girls’ rights to health, dignity, and opportunity.
Plan International Kenya’s Break Free! Project is enabling adolescents to exercise their right to live free from teenage pregnancy, FGM, and child marriage, through community engagement, advocacy and targeted support to influence change of harmful practices and social norms.
Just like many other courageous activists and leaders, Ceciliah is curving a new path of hope to young girls, boys and her community driving the collective force of power and action in ending harmful practices and championing for girls’ rights.
Together we can end FGM!
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