Nurse Anna Qabale Duba had first come to Bengaluru in 2016 to seek medical attention for her brother who was battling throat cancer. Her brother, a government official, was the first person to go abroad for medical help from Turbo, Kenya, a town located near the borders of Kenya and Ethiopia. While the trips to India were fruitful as Duba’s brother survived cancer, he passed away due to some local disturbances in the area. Despite a hefty personal loss, Duba’s fight to better the standard of her community continues to this day, an effort that began over a decade ago.
Her reason to visit the city this time has been positive. Duba was honoured as the first-ever recipient of the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award and received a cash prize of $ 2,50,000 (approx `2 cr). She is on an India tour to share her story and visited Aster CMI Hospital in Hebbal.
She first came across the award on Facebook. “I applied and shared the story of my community. My work outside of my profession gave me an upper hand,” says Duba, who works as a nurse at the Marsabit County Referral Hospital, Kenya. Duba has been fighting against the cultural practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in her community. “I come from a community that has a strong culture, unfortunately, FGM is a part of it. I underwent it when I was 12. I narrowly escaped forced marriage at 14.
As someone who has been able to ‘make it’ despite such challenges, I decided to go back home and fight against FGM. It’s not easy as it is deep-rooted in my culture. We’re not forced to undergo it, we just think it is the right thing to do. In our campaign, some people would accuse us of trying to westernise them. The change has been gradual,” shares Duba, the first graduate from her town.
One of the ways she has used education to battle against archaic practices is by establishing a school where both children and their parents come to study. “In my school, the children come during the day and parents come during the evening. We are teaching these parents to read and write and also about reproductive health and rights. We feel as long as girls are going to school, they would be able to refuse undergoing FGM,” says Duba. After receiving global recognition for winning the nursing award, the community has given her land to build a boarding school and even set up a clinic.
She believes in this day and age, it is necessary to share one’s story. “We might be doing amazing work in our field but if we do not share it, it’s known only to you,” says Duba, who was recently celebrated as one of her country’s heroes on October 20 by the Kenyan President on Mashujaa Day, also known as Heroes’ Day.