Bringing hope to Kenyan Girls in Danger Topic of Thursday lecture at WSU Tri-Cities

RICHLAND, Wash. — A young woman whose Tri-Cities family helped her escape horrors in Kenya created a nonprofit organization to help other teen girls in Kenyan villages who face female genital mutilation and forced marriage.
 
Rachael Tengbom will speak about “Voices Of Hope” at Washington State University Tri-Cities at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, in the West Atrium, 2710 University Drive, Richland. Admission is free and open to the public. The presentation is sponsored by the Multicultural Club.
 
Tengbom is from the Maasai tribe, an East African cattle-herding people. She founded Voices of Hope in 2003 to provide educational opportunities to vulnerable Maasai post high-school women in the Central Division of Kajiado District in Kenya.
 
The Safe Home/Learning Center established by Voices of Hope provides young women with an educational alternative to returning to their village, where they might be subjected to forced marriage and genital mutilation as a rite of passage. For more details, visit the Voices of Hope website.
 
WSU Tri-Cities is located along the Columbia River in Richland, Wash. Established in 1989 with upper division and graduate programs, WSU Tri-Cities offers 17 baccalaureate, 13 master’s and six doctoral degree programs. For more information about the campus, call 509-372-7200 or visit the WSU Tri-Cities website.