The boarding school in Kenya that helps Maasai girls escape FGM

The Naning'oi Girls School and Rescue Centre in Kenya's Rift Valley is home to around 320 girls.Kajiado County, Kenya - Lasoi's father told her she was getting married 11 days after she was cut.  Selina established the Nashipai Maasai Community Project, through which she was able to rescue more than 250 girls from the surrounding villages and bring them to Naning'oi Girls Secondary School.Kajiado County, Kenya - Lasoi's father told her she was getting married 11 days after she was cut. She didn't know the man she was getting married to nor had she seen him before but a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) arrived at her home to take her to her groom.Lasoi, who is 10, is one of the 320 girls seeking refuge from female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage at Naning'oi Girls School and Rescue Centre in Kenya's Rift Valley.She escaped from her husband's home the following morning, running back to her parent's house.There she was beaten by her father and taken back to her husband.One week later Lasoi ran away to her parents for a second time, only to be beaten and turned back again.Tormented by the husband's relatives and disowned by her own family, Lasoi's life became a series of pitiless beatings and household chores. She was denied food when caught playing with other children and was expected to sleep in her husband's house every night.Lasoi was found lying unconscious in a grazing field by an old Maasai herder a few weeks after marriage.She was followed by her husband while she was grazing the cows and she was beaten and left unconscious. She was rescued by members of Nashipai Maasai Community Project and taken to the Naning'oi Rescue Centre.Lasoi's story is not out of the ordinary in areas like Kajiado and Narok counties, both predominantly Maasai areas.Though the practice of FGM has been criminalised in Kenya since 2011, thousands of families still perform it, especially in rural areas.To avoid detection and subsequent prosecution, the practice thrives behind closed doors.