Fatuma Sora Wario has bagged Excellent Young Woman Leadership Award

Fatuma Sora Wario has bagged Excellent Young Woman Leadership Award

• December 05, 2022

My name is Fatuma Sora Wario hails from Marsabit County in Kenya. A mother of three—two handsome boys and a beautiful daughter—I am 32 years old and the second born in a family of seven.

Married but divorced for the last 3 years due to an avoidable circumstance. I was born into a very vulnerable family where my father does not have any monthly income and just struggles to do casual work to sustain all of us.

My mother is a housewife and sometimes fetches firewood when life gets extremely hard.

When I was in class 6, I was made to be a school captain and lead the school for 2 years. Within the period of 2 years, I converted to Christianity and accepted Christ.

I passed my exam and got into a provincial secondary school, but because of the lack of fees, I was taken to a local secondary school, where I managed to pass after several ups and downs.

I happen to be the only Christian in the family after much torturing. Later, at the age of 19, I was forced to marry a man that I knew nothing about, whose main intention was to convert me back to my previous religion. At the age of 20, I had my first child.I was forced to marry the man, and everything about my marriage was so painful. I lived a horrible life of having no job and already having a kid, so the father is less concerned because he already had family to live with.

After a long suffering, a good Samaritan offered me a chance at least to take me to college. I managed to graduate with my diploma in community development and project planning management, and after two months I got a job with one of the organizations.

The man came back into my life through my parents, and he started controlling my salary and even my own dressing, sometimes making me wear one outfit for three days, biting me, and always throwing punches in my face without any reason.

After some years, I got my second and third child, still in the same suffering, until I met a guardian angel who gave me counseling, love, and care appreciation that I never got from anyone all those years.

I was reminded that I can comfortably stand on my own and do marvelous things, and also reminded that being a woman is not a curse or weakness, and that I have all it takes to be stronger and shine more than ever.

I enrolled in my first degree program and graduated after two years. I paid my fees with my own salary. I ignored giving him my money and started managing it alone; I started making my own decisions like dress code and what I was supposed to cook in my home; I started engaging myself in other social activities and exploding out my hidden talents like singing and being a leader in different groups and in the church and in society.

After another year, I was elected as a women's leader in my county, and that’s where I found women are the most vulnerable, though they don’t share. In my community and culture, women are not given privileges and the right to go to school; hence, the majority are illiterate, and the few who learned were controlled by their husbands through barbaric, culture-oriented practices.

I started linking with other actors for support and went round to several women, talking together, sharing ideas, and finding ways of getting out of this. Several seminars and trainings on women's empowerment were done until they realized they could achieve what they wanted if they decided to make their choices, especially for the betterment of the children.

A year later, I managed to register 850 women who can stand on their own while taking care of their families. They also realize that peace and happiness are of paramount importance. They started small income-generating activities like "merry go round," selling small goods that could put food on their table without being harassed by men.

It wasn’t an easy job to manage or change life, especially for the pastoralists. But with the help of God, we can stand up and fight for our rights even at the government level. I finally managed to graduate with my master’s degree in project planning management last year.

I therefore say that being a woman is not an inability; no woman is weak; every woman is a leader and full administrator if only given the opportunity and chance to explode. 

All this progress feels worthy of celebration and appreciation.

I am very happy to be associated with and recognized by Women Icon; you really made me proud, and the award gives me more energy to work more and more. Thank you so much, Women Icon.