Jasmine from How Useful It Is's Reviews > The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree: How I Fought to Save Myself, My Sister, and Thousands of Girls Worldwide

A fantastic read, this autobiography gave me a glimpse into foreign cultures and traditions I was not expecting to learn. Especially what Maasai boys and girls went through, the young boys and girls around 12 years olds are getting circumcised without anesthesia to be considered men and women. The age-mates’ rules for sharing wives was an unexpected surprise. As I read, I googled Maasai houses to see how they looked like. It’s interesting that the women were the ones to build the houses which were made of dung and mud. Won’t that be stinky? I loved learning the hospitality of the Maasai people. I enjoyed reading the tales within this book. I cringed when I read the process of the cut. Ouch! The story behind it was a severed form of punishment. Child abuse always make me sad and so sad that in other parts of the country, kids were made to work so hard that they could forfeit their childhood and even their life. Growing up in rural villages but have the desire for higher education is one of a kind and I admire Nice and other girls for having that interest, especially at a young age. That’s awesome that the author was invited to give a TED Talks. I need to watch it.


This book started with an introduction to the author and her names. Then the story began where Nice grew up, a Maasai Village near Kenya and Tanzania with the view of Mount Kilimanjaro. The small town was dry with dust everywhere and their homes were small with just the beds made of stretched cowhide for furniture. She has an older brother Kevin, sister named Soila who was 3 years older than her and a younger brother. Young Maasai children were required to have their cheeks tattooed with a heated metal circle. To be considered men and women, pre-teen boys and girls were required to be circumcised. The girls were to endured the cut of her clitoris, a tradition that was passed down from generations before. The story was that the clit makes women lustful and bad decisions were made through the feelings of lust; therefore the cut was practiced to keep women loyal. However, if girls refused to undergo the cut, they will be outcast, their family shamed, they won’t be considered adults and couldn’t get married. There were color pictures of the author’s family and relatives within this book. The author told her story starting 4 years old.


The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree was well written and unputdownable. The story pulled me in and kept me continue reading and turning the pages. I was fascinated by the different traditions of the Maasai people. The story of girls couldn’t say no to men was a vulnerable one because then girls were being taken advantage of sexually, possibly her mother who got married when pregnant with someone else’s kid. I admire Nice’s mom for her strength to carry so much: water on her head and arms and a baby on her back. Life sounded so tough in a small village and I knew of it because I have lived in one before when I was younger, though Africa sounded way poorer than mine. An inspirational read. I admire the author’s dad, having very little education but knew how to think to make a difference and made changes to the way of life, changing for the better of the Maasai people. Reading about Nice and the challenges she faced was inspiring. It helped that her grandfather had power, but mostly, she was persistent in her missions and it paid off. Even when she was outcast for her defiance of the cut, she didn’t care what people think and kept coming back to her hometown to help others. When Nice failed at her mission, she tried different tactics until she accomplished what she set out to do. Definitely amazing. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!

xoxo, Jasmine at www.Howusefulitis.com for more details

Many thanks to Little Brown for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
.