Speaking to AYV at a workshop held at the Fifty-fifty Group Tower hill office in Freetown, the Network Leader of the Red Pump Community, Aminata Conteh disclosed that as a young girl she is joining other young girls all over the world to kick against all forms of harmful practices including the initiation of young girls into the Bondo society. Aminata further stated that, countless Sierra Leonean young girls had dropped out of schools today as a result of their initiation into the Bondo society adding that most girls are going with the phenomenon that they are above schooling, after undergoing the ignition process; thus they automatically become schools drop out.
Speaking on the dangers of the Bondo society, Aminata was quick to say that most young girls had lost their fertilities as a result of their initiation into the Bondo Society and hence, could no longer give birth to children. She furthered that most of the “Sowes” who initiate these young girls into the Bondo Society are old women who suffer from nervousness and sight problems thus leading them to inflict unnecessary pains and sometimes unnecessary death on innocent young girls. She went on to say that most young girls had also lost their lives at the Bondo bushes as a result of the pains they go through and those who sometimes survive would have life time pains to live with them.
Aminata further disclosed to this medium that, the purpose for which the Madam Yoko initiated the Bondo Society was to train grown up women into becoming good house wives for their husbands and how to take good care of their families. She further stated that there is presently no need for the initiation of young girls into the Bondo society because all what they need to know in the Bondo society are being taught in schools. “The school gives us better trainings as to how to take good care of our husbands and children than what is being taught in the Bondo bush” she added. She therefore encouraged all young girls to concentrate on their education and forget about being initiated into the Bondo society as it is of no value to them anymore.
Talking on the relevance of the workshop, the lead facilitator, Mary Stevens told this medium that they had called the children to prepare their minds so that they would join other children in the world over on the 6ht of February this year to preach against all forms of harmful practices with special reference to the Bondo society in Sierra Leone.
She furthered that the theme for this year’s celebration is WAKE UP TO THE REALITIES OF FGM; ACT NOW ON THE NATIONAL STRATEGY. She ended by saying that they would use all forms of communication including the radio, television and road shows in order to ensure that the message reached it target publics and audiences.
