Maasai girls hold a candle during a so-called 'Candlelight Ceremony'. In many Maasai communities, female circumcision or ‘female genital mutilation’ (FGM) is a common ritual practice, associated with the transition from a girlhood to adulthood and marriage. ‘The cut’ kills many girls, who can be as young as eight years old when they undergo the ceremonial ritual. On the eve of an alternative rite of passage (with all of the festivities, but without the circumcision), I attended a candlelight ceremony organized to empower the young girls of Maasai tribes surrounding Olentoko, a region in Kenya. The ceremony was concluded by prayers and blessings from the Maasai elders, completing the first day of ceremonies.