The Day Kadi Lost Part of Her Life

by Kim Manresa, Isabel Ramos Rioja

The Day Kadi Lost Part of Her Life is the moving photostory of a four-year-old girl named Kadi who is subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) in accordance with the traditions of her community. Kadi’s story is typical of every little girl who lives in a community where to be loved, married and held in high esteem requires you to be genitally mutilated. —Dr Olayinka Koso-Thomas

50 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 1999

Reviews

[Lisbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first picked up this book, there was nothing in the cover that would indicate the horror that lay within. It begins with photographs. of Kadi, showing her as a beautiful, smiling four year old girl awaiting her ‘initiation’. The reader is drawn in as the tale becomes devastatingly clear – one woman holding her down while the other slices away at her genitalia. Each picture tells its own story, unfolding into a horrific event that will leave the reader disturbed for longer than it takes to read the book.

I defy even one woman to view this book and not become infuriated by the last page. And I think that was exactly the point of Mancesa – to show, rather than tell. Pictures in this case being more than anything words can ever tell. The choice of black and white pictures as opposed to color do nothing to lessen the impact of horror upon the reader.

I recommend this book, not for its somewhat exploitative nature – I have to imagine Kim Manresa possesses a heart of stone to have been able to stand still to photograph these scenes – but for the very shaking and horrific images that it unseats within the viewer. I think after everything I have reads regarding FGM – this book alone was what really brought it home. The last image of the book, with Kadi standing alone in a hut where she is not allowed to cry or weep, and where she must stay until her wounds are healed, may be even the most disturbing image of all.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is short; it's primarily a photo essay on the difficult topic of female genital mutilation. After a brief and clear explanation of what FGM is and where and why it is practiced, the camera follows Kadi, age 4, as she faces the day where she will be cut. She doesn't know what she will undergo and is therefore her happy self until the last minute. She becomes afraid when she is cornered, and when she is cut with a razor blade and her clitoris and labia minora are hacked off, she screams. The camera follows until she is sent to a hut where she will remain immobile for a week for the wound to heal.

This book is published by the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD), a British organization that works to eradicate FGM.