marieclaire.com.au 57About 47 women
and 200 children call
Umoja village home,
which gives them a
sanctuary to stay in,
a means to make a
living and hope for
a bright future.
When Samburu tribeswoman Rebecca
Lolosoli decided to speak out about the
mistreatment of women in her village,
four men came to her home and beat
her so badly she had to be hospitalised.
Her husband, who had purchased her
for 17 cows, did nothing to object. She
decided enough was enough.
So she left, and along with 15 other
women – most of whom were survivors
of rape – founded the revolutionary
Umoja village in northern Kenya.
The village has become a haven for
women fleeing violence and lives ruled
by men. In the Samburu culture, girls
are traded for livestock, forced to marry
male elders from a young age, enduregenital mutilation and tolerate domes-
tic violence. If they are raped they are
ostracised by their husbands and forced
into homelessness.
Since establishing the village in
1990, the women have made enough
money from tourism and by selling
their traditional beadwork (Diane Von
Furstenberg was an early fan) to pur-
chase land and livestock and to open a
school to educate the children
While men are banned from living
in Umoja (Swahili for unity), villagers
often have boyfriends at nearby camps,
who have played their own role in en-
suring this female-only utopia will live
on for future blissful generations.THE WOMEN-ONLY VILLAGE WHERE MEN ARE BANNED
WORLD REPORT