Q&A: ‘I want to be an ambassador for the voiceless’

When she was 11 years old, Jane Kubai ran away from home after she learnt that her father was planning to have her undergo female genital mutilation and then get married.

后来，库拜（Kubai）在肯尼亚Nyeri国家担任医院保安人员时对医学产生了热情。库拜（Kubai）白天是一个守卫，也是一个有一个的母亲，晚上参加了戏剧技术人员的课程 - 有时会放弃睡眠，以便她可以在手术室观看长达数小时的手术。

Now a theatre technologist, Kubai, 27, says her father has changed his views on child marriage.

And in an interview at her new hospital in Nakuru, Kubai tellsscidev.net她的目光投向了成为一名外科医生。

You were recently named a女主角健康由全球卫生网络中的妇女，为您的个人毅力以及您为社区和患者提供有关如何防止Covid-19的传播的努力。您对被授予该冠军的感觉如何？

这是一段漫长的旅程。发生在我身上是一件了不起的事情。我没有想象有一天我可以被称为女主人公。我感谢上帝的一切。该奖项就像是我一生中已经点燃的蜡烛。我不会把那支蜡烛放在桌子底下，相反，我会在我的生活和我们国家的年轻女孩的生活中发光。我将确保随着我继续受到教育，我将成为世界上无声的大使。

您能短暂地带我走过您的人生旅程吗？

I come from Meru County in Kenya. I ran away from home when I was 11 years old. In my community when you reached the age of ten to 12, you get circumcised — FGM [female genital mutilation] — then you get married. It’s a forced marriage. When my father and mother explained to me about the FGM procedure that was going to be done, I decided to disappear. I wanted to get an education, I wanted to go back to school so that I could have a future. I met with a priest, who took me to his sister’s house where I worked as a maid. I later met another priest who paid my school fees, which enabled me to finish my primary school. He also paid part of my secondary school fees. After secondary school, I got a job as a security guard at a hospital. I was dealing with patients at the hospital gate. This inspired me to join medical college, so that instead of guarding the gates I can be guarding the patients on the operating table.

你回到家了吗？

I went back to my home after ten years and told them I was alive. My parents begged for forgiveness and were sorry about trying to force me to undergo FGM and also get married at an early age. My younger sisters did not undergo FGM because my father was scared that they might run away too, just as I did. My father now advises other families in the village against FGM and early marriage.

您对医疗职业的愿望是什么？

I aspire to continue with my studies and do the diploma. Maybe a good Samaritan somewhere will be able to support me to do the diploma. Then I plan to do a degree, then a Master’s in theatre technology. One day in the future, I will pursue my dream of becoming a surgeon.

What would be your advice to young women who might be keen to work in surgery?

I’ve never given up in my life, I just hoped that one day I would be somebody. I would advise them to face the challenge and come out to the medical field. For those who will be interested in working in the operating theatre, I encourage them to pay keen attention to the patients and assist the surgeons, to enable them to save the patient’s life. I would also advise them not to give up when they face many challenges. If I have made it, why not them? I encourage them that one day, one time, their dreams will come true.

为了清晰和简洁，对这次采访进行了编辑。

这件作品由Scidev.net的撒哈拉以南非洲英语桌子制作。