africa is a continent full of beauty its beauty can be seen through its places and its people
welcome to the amazing people of africa series where we take a look at some of the indigenous
people of africa we'll be looking at their lifestyle culture and getting to learn about life
through their knowledge and experiences before we start please take the time to subscribe and
hit the notification bell as the famous words by beyonce go who run the world girls this proves to
be so true in a small village in kenya why you may ask well that is because this village is home to
only women and no men are allowed umaja village is an all-female matriarch village in samburu
which was founded in 1990. the village was founded by rebecca lolosoli a samburu woman as a sanctuary
for homeless survivors of violence against women and young girls running from forced marriages now
i know many of you think that completely cutting men out of your life might be a bit extreme but
for the women of umajia village this was for many reasons the only way to be safe and free
to learn more about the purpose of the village let's look more at the surroundings the samburu
usually live in groups of 5 to 10 families with the men traditionally looking after their homes
they look after the cattle and are responsible for the safety of all tribes but in the village
of omoja this is not the norm umaja village was created by rebecca lolosoli after she was thrown
out of her community and beaten by a group of men for speaking out against the practice of
fgm which despite government bonds is still being practiced by some rogue elements in the community
while recovering in hospital she came up with an idea an idea to start a village where men were
banned and women would live freely and happily she gathered 14 women who had been victims of
gender-based violence and together they created the beautiful village
umaja means unity in swahili and best fits the village after the unity shown by the women living
there the village started with 15 women and up to date has a population of more than 50 families
all the ladies of umaja village are from the somburu community and ranging age with the
oldest woman at the age of 98 and the youngest a few months old now i am sure you are wondering
about women who came with little boys to the village no they are not forced away they live
with their mothers until the age of 18 when they'll have to move now to another village
the village is well organized so much so that as a source of income the women sell necklaces and
other beaded work to tourists they then give the money to the village matriarch who then
allocates the money for food to each family based on the number of children per homestead
in addition to selling jewelry the women also get income by operating
a campsite for tourists going on safari to the nearby samburu national reserve
the samburu national reserve is a game reserve on the bank of awasonira river in kenya and
is home to all three big cats the lion the cheetah and the african leopard exciting right
in other parts of samburu society not all children go to school some are forced to
engage in tending to livestock and miss out on education opportunities but in a murder village
all children get an education there is a primary school that accommodates up to 50 children
and the village also has been able to open a nursery school apart from formal education one
of the unique features of the moja community is that some of the more experienced residents
train and educate women and girls from surrounding villages on issues such as early marriages and fgm
yeah all women in the village have equal status to one another and all women of the village gather
under the tree of speech to make decisions for the town when they need to i know you may be wondering
about the men well men are forbidden to live in the village but may visit as long as they behave
and abide by the women's rules in cases where some rogue men try to get into the village with
ill intentions the village has a partnership with local police who provide them with security
women are allowed to maintain relationships with men outside the village and if a woman
chooses to get a baby she is allowed to visit the neighboring community for a minute are your
thoughts about today's video would you like to visit this community and meet with these brave
women who are changing their lives one village at a time let us know in the comments below thank
you for watching and if you haven't subscribed yet please do so and hit the notification bell
if you've enjoyed today's video be sure to give it a thumbs up also make sure to watch our other
videos which celebrate our mama africa we have the mysteries of africa series and the amazing people
of africa series it's been me linda from tuna travel be sure to check out my youtube channel
until the next video stay safe and i'll see you then and remember africa is watching