Esraa Bani, DAWN’s Director of Development has received an honorable mention in the NICHOLAS KRISTOF & SHERYL WUDUNN’S HALF THE SKY CONTEST of the New York Times. Her entry, a blog about her personal experiences confronting female genital mutilation (FGM), was selected from more than 700 entries and will be published on the New York Times website. A native of Darfur, Sudan, Esraa wrote this blog in honor of her mother, Amira Elsiddig, who regardless of traditional consequences, summoned up the courage to break a sacred ritual and refused to cut Esraa and her sister when they were young girls. Today Esraa, inspired by her mother, is a passionate advocate for the eradication of FGM and mother to beautiful one-year old baby Fatima who Esraa believes will carry on her grandmother’s legacy. To read the original post, click here.
Female Genital Mutilation: Three Generations Later
By Esraa Bani
A little four year old lay in bed wrapped in blankets. Her teeth were chattering and her body was warm with fever because she lost too much blood. She laid still inher bed as tears rolled down her face. Days passed by without her sleeping or eating because the pain was too much for her frail body to bear.
Seventeen years later on March 14th, 1984 my mother was recalling that experience as she was cut open once again to give birth. She had so much scar tissue that she couldn’t deliver naturally, she had to get cut AGAIN with a razor. As she passed out from the pain, she heard a baby cry and women cheering and celebrating. The last thing she heard was “It’s a girl!”
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