Shukri Saddow Mohamed is a nine year old who lives in Daadab Camp with her large family consisting of her father, uncles and aunties. She loves running around and enjoys playing around with her friends as they await for time to go to madrassa classes. She has big dreams and ambitions and believes that the sky is the limit.
She has dreams of being either a teacher or nurse since she loves kids and the community in general. On her tenth birthday, her aunties and grandmothers gather for a special meeting. She is anxious and can see the pensive look on their faces and fears asking what the meeting is about. They have the meeting at a special hut where it is said that girls go there to turn into women and all the courage is needed. Her aunties, grandmothers and other older women assemble and give her instructions to strip naked. On the floor, some horrific looking knives are placed after being sterilized in hot water.
She is told to lay down and place her kegs apart. Fear is engraved all over her face, as she remembers all the stories that she heard from older girls who went through the cut become so real and vivid in her mind. When she was cut, the pain that follows is unfathomable. The knife cuts her soul as well, not only her feminine parts. She feels that her womanhood has ended even before it started, her soul feels numb. As from the day of the “cut”, a big chunk of her soul died and her happiness flew away. She stopped living and started surviving the day as they went away. On her 13th birthday, her aunties announced that a suitor had been found for her. It was said that her father was to receive 30 adult camels as bride price. Shukri did not let anyone know about the lower abdominal pains she endured or the foul smelling blood clots and discharge. When she conceived, she became so unwell but her relatives downplayed the sickness and she could not do anything to ease her situation. One morning, she woke up pale, feverish and vomiting heavily. Her private parts were also discharging huge clots of blood. Due to scarcity of hospitals. She was taken to a local medicine man as they awaited for the occasional ambulance. She succumbed while receiving treatment.
