ESARO

FILM SYNOPSIS

3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of female genital mutilation each year. The practice is also widespread among the Kuria tribes in northern Tanzania. When "Esaro", the season of cutting, begins, up to 600 girls are sheltered in a girls' home run by Sister Jacqueline in Masanga. They are fleeing this brutal practice that leaves painful scars on their bodies and minds for life. Increasingly, the actions of the mutilators are driven not only by tradition, but also by the desire for easy profit. Sometimes the mutilations result in death and often in the spread of the HIV virus. Sister Jacqueline tries to fight the practice in several ways - she talks to the heads of the clans and the women who perform the mutilations, runs the DREAM Center for AIDS patients, and above all tries to protect girls at risk of FGM.

We hope for the dignity of the girls, for their freedom. Every culture has a good side and also a bad side. And if your culture is against their rights, your culture is no longer good. Because the right of every human being is universal – says in the film Sr. Jacqueline Gbanga Ya-Bongo is a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

"Esaro" is a harrowing film that shows the struggle against the painful side of the customs of the tribes living on the borders of the famous Serengeti Park, and the empathetic and courageous actions of a Congolese woman motivated by her faith and concern for the future of the girls of the Kuria tribe.