Josephine Kulea is the Founder and President of Samburu Girls Foundation (SGF). She is a courageous activist and a nurse by
profession addressing harmful cultural practices facing children in the pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya.
These practices include: forced child marriages where 9 – 12 year olds get married to old men in polygamous relationships; female genital mutilation (FGM) which is rampant among pastoralists; and Beading, a harmful cultural practice where little girls are put in sex unions with relatives, but are not supposed to get pregnant because the children are outcasts born of relatives, hence are killed.
She takes all the rescued girls to boarding schools for education and safeguarding.
She has the passion for what she does hence she has been able to venture into a field where not many people are bold enough to do.
Her tremendous work has been recognized widely and has been awarded numerous awards including: Unsung Hero 2011, Head of State Commendation 2012, Acumen East Africa Fellow 2013, UN Person of the Year 2013, Inspiring Woman 2014, Nominee for Transform Kenya awards 2014 and YALI Washington Fellow 2014, Vital Voices Lead Program 2015 and was recently recognized by President Obama for her work on his recent visit to Kenya.
Her dream is to see children enjoying their full rights, and the eradication of the above harmful cultural practices through resource mobilization to sensitize and educate the affected communities in Kenya and in Africa as a whole.
