Feature: Admiration for Olympic stars causes change in rural Uganda

Although her dream to become an athletic star may not come true, 35-year-old Janet Yeko hopes that one day one of her children will become a star.

Here in the mountainous eastern Ugandan district of Bukwo, bordering western Kenya, long distance running is the sport. The district has produced world athletic stars, especially in long distance running.

Yeko's admiration, like many of her villagmates, is Stephen Kiptrotich, the 2012 Olympic marathon champion. They hail from the same district.

Yeko is known by her villagemates as a girl who had a lot of potential in long distance running. Her dream was cut short after her parents gave her up for female genital mutilation (FGM) and later married her off.

Yeko is not alone, thousands of girls in this region and also neighboring Kenya have undergone the centuries old ritual that the UN has now outlawed because of its negative effects on the reproductive health of women.

The villagers here with the help of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and civil society organizations are putting together their efforts through sports to discourage FGM.

This year as the world marked the International Day of the Girl Child on Tuesday, UNFPA organized an anti-FGM marathon to address the cross border dynamics of FGM. Perpetrators of the practice in Uganda cross to Kenya fearing to be arrested.

The marathon was intended to reach out to more community members targeting areas where the ritual is still widely practiced.

The annual event, which occurred for the second time this year since its inaugural launch last year, drew athletes from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Over 5,000 people participated in last year's marathon.

"The marathon is part of the global efforts to accelerate the elimination of FGM. In September 2015, at the UN Sustainable Development Summit, 193 states agreed to a new global target of eliminating FGM by 2030," UNFPA said in a statement.

The use of athletics to create awareness against FGM has created a 'change movement' in the communities here. Days prior to the marathon on Tuesday, villagers were preparing themselves for the event and also holding discussions about FGM.

"If you organized a marathon in a region like this, it would be a crowd puller and the message would penetrate deep in the mind of the people," Siya Mella, Bukwo District Sports Officer, told Xinhua in an interview.

He said young girls can be interested into athletics so that they can become change agents for their peers who would have instead been circumcised and married off.

Marathon stars like Solomon Mutai, who represented Uganda at the 2016 Rio Olympic games and Alex Malinga, also a celebrated athlete in the country were present at the marathon.

"Sports is an important tool that can be used to cause behavior change in a society. In a region like this, long distance running can be used to spread the message against FGM," said Malinga.

The marathon had three categories, 21km for the senior athletes, 10km for the juniors and youth athletes and the 5km for the five years and above category.

"When we meet all these people, we talk about stopping FGM. The community has now changed its perception about the practise," Malinga said. Endit