Antonia Sophia Waskowiak decided to volunteer in Kenya when she was 18 years young and still attending High School. “I didn’t know, that this work camp would determine my life”, she says today, “during my first time in Kuria, Kenya, I got to learn the values of life and I had to realize that not every human being can access them, such as it should be. I could not sit down and watch how others are suppressed, mutilated, married as children and abused!” She has been living with the Kurian community, understanding and observing, why a girl child is not given all its rights for granted. The lack of education has been a huge gap, which she since then tried to find solutions for. Through her strong and incredible will, passion and hope, Antonia Sophia raised a primary school and founded the charitable, community-based organisation Zinduka. Zinduka empowers children through education and brings an end to FGM. “The effects of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on the health of a young girl, whether we are speaking of her physical, sexual, reproductive or psychological health are serious and long lasting. To effectively eliminate this practice, we must enlist not only the child herself, but also gain the support of her family, and her community as a whole”, says Antonia Sophia Waskowiak. ABOUT FGM According to the World health Organization, Female genital mutilation(FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. To listen to this podcast on itunes, search for End FGM or click here. To listen to all podcast episodes here, use the player below.