Kagwel, Kenya — Rhoda Ongoche Akech still remembers the whispers that followed her to the water’s edge in 2002. At 39 years old, the mother of seven was about to break one of Lake Victoria’s oldest taboos: a woman stepping into a fishing boat.“People were alleging that when women go into the waters accompanied by men, they would engage in sexual intercourse,” the now 61-year-old said. But after they realised she was going there just to learn, and would not stop because of the stigma, “they kept quiet”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listPrior to that, things were very different in Akech’s community in Kagwel, a lakeside village in Kisumu County’s Seme subcounty.For decades, she had worked as a fishmonger in the village where fishing – only done by men – had sustained families for generations. But her income was dwindling. The cost of buying fish from male fishermen, combined with expenses for firewood, frying oil, and bus fare to markets, was becoming unsustainable.Then in 2001, some women from neighbouring Homabay County arrived in Kagwel and did something unthinkable: they went fishing. Akech watched them and was inspired.“I sought the help of two young men by then to assist me with fi …
