When I went to Sierra Leone this year I met the epitome of courage. It's a girl and her name is Emma.
This girl is one of a kind in her community!
Being a part of the Desert Flower sponsorship programme Emma got the courage not only to turn against her community's tradition but also to fight it with all her power!
This girl works every day and every night together with our Sierra Leone Team against FGM and encourages her community to stop this cruel tradition.
I am not going to be cut and that is for sure! I am going to stand in front of my mother and even my grandmother and tell her that I am not going through FGM. Even if they outcast me I will continue to fight against it with the support of Desert Flower. Because FGM is not good for anyone! I am going to finish school and become a bank manager and this tradition is not going to stop me or any other girl!
Believe me saying this out loud in front of your community which supports FGM is a bad ass thing to do especially for a 15 year old. But even braver: Emma visits regurlarly the local radio station together with the Desert Flower Team to talk about the risks of FGM and to make her community rethink this ritual!
Seeing a young girl fighting for her rights so badly gave me goosebumps, raised in a world where a girl gets nearly every opportunity she wants I felt ashamed for all the chances we don't take just because of our own cowardice.
How could we ever not be strong enough to fight for something, when there is this girl at the other end of the world fighting for her right to education and dignity, gambling with her own life!
Today I want to ask you to support all the Emma's in this world and give them the opportunity to be empowered!
Saving a girl from FGM and giving her the opportunity to attend school empowers her!
It's a little effort for us but a huge difference for a girl in Sierra Leone, we can do that, don't we?
So let's save a Little Desert Flower from FGM today and help her become her own hero!
Thank you!
