Jedidah Lemaron

Bold Question : What if Maasai girls had power over their bodies and their future?

Path to Metis: As a young Maasai girl, Jedidah witnessed first-hand the inequality and gaps in her community from lack of basic infrastructure to gender discrimination against women and girls. Girls would join school very late due to lack of schools near their homes, additionally they would soon drop out due to harmful practices like Female Genital Mutilation and early marriages. She also lost a lot of friends who dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy.

As a result, she founded The Malkia Initiative in 2015 as a way of bridging the Gap. Malkia exists to ensure that every girl and woman in the pastoral communities effectively and meaningfully participate in development through quality education, mainstreaming gender justice, advocacy, and building strategic partnerships.

Jedidah has a rich background and experience specializing in Gender, Sexual reproductive health and rights, girls and women’s heath, Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG). She is passionate about the emancipation of women and girls through education, addressing gender equality and sexual reproductive health rights, Policy, and Advocacy. She has received several awards for her work including a head of State award for championing Anti-FGM campaigns in Kajiado County.

Jedidah envisions a community where girls will no longer drop out of school due to lack of knowledge on Sexual and reproductive Health and harmful practices

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

LinkedIn Twitter- @MalkiaJeddy. @M_IFoundation

Instagram- @Malkia_jeddy (Jedidah Malkia Lemaron)--- @the_malkiainitiative

Facebook- Jedidah Malkia Lemaron, The Malkia Initiative Foundation