Monday, November 14, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Women raise voices of peace (2008)
Around 100 displaced women from the Nairobi slums met to raise their voices on the current crisis in Kenya during an event organized by MS Kenya partner PeaceNet
By Benjamin Sidori and Morten Bonde Pedersen
22. January 2008
Jamuhuri Park in Nairobi is one of the places where people have taken refuge after the post election violence that broke out in Kenya on 30th December.
According to media reports around 3000 people have been staying in the park, surviving on relief food provided by the Kenya Red Cross. Most of them have fled their homes in Kibera, Kenyas largest slum and one of the epicenters for violence during the conflict.
Essential voices
Friday January 18th MS Kenya partner PeaceNet was able to mobilize around a hundred women to share their feelings, how it has been for them and how they think peace and justice can be achieved.
Two tribal groups
Women from both sides of the conflict were present although they did not want to sit together. In stead two groups, almost equal in size were sitting with some meters between them, one consisting of mainly Luos and Luhyas, the main tribes backing the opposition. The other group consisted of Kikuyus and their political allies for long, the Kamba.
The Kikuyu/Kamba group mainly spoke in the Kikuyu language. The other group mainly talked in Kiswahili which is understood my almost all Kenyans. Hence MS Kenya had a chance to listen in.
In the group the women talked of how they had to run for their safety with their children. “We voted because its our right nd we also wanted a change, but if this is the outcome then we won’t vote next time,” one of the women said.
Lost everything
Several of the women had small businesses which were destroyed by fire alongside their houses.
“We had properties but now we are living as refugees in our own country. Some of us are here and our husbands are out in the streets and we’re not sure whether they are dead, injured or alive,” said another woman.
Despite having a place to call home temporarily, the ‘refugees’ are faced with different problems at the camp. There’s insufficient food, clothing and blankets. Some of the women have young children who need special care while others need medical attention. There are also school going children who haven’t reported back.
Can not see a future
However, the women are also worried because they don’t know how they’ll start all over again even after the crisis is solved.
The women advocated for dialogue between the government and the opposition to stop the fights and that they be given loans to restart their businesses. Others proposed for re-election. They insisted that we should live as brothers and sisters and pray for peace and justice to take its course.
Moved to the other side
After having talked for a good hour the session came to a end and one of the Kikuyu ladies chose to make a statement by moving to the other side. Although she had the courage to make the move she was not embraced by the group. In stead she was seated with some space between herself and the others.
However the lady, whose name is Jane Njoki, said she wanted to state that all of the women were Kenyans regardless of their tribal belonging.
“We’ve been living together as one tribe, why should we fight now?” she stated.
“Let’s respect other people’s right to support a party because Kenya is a multi-party state.
Here at the camp, life is also difficult because we don’t get everything we need as women. Sometimes we miss food and other necessities like sanitary towels.
The leaders should sit together, just like they do in parliament, and solve this crisis before it gets worst.”
Jane Njoki says she used to do business in Kibera selling charcoal and vegetables.
“This business assisted me to pay rent and to feed my two children, one of them being epileptic. Now I can’t support them because I have nothing, the business premises and the house were burned down completely as a result of the post-election violence,” she said.
To have lost a business is a tragedy. But unfortunately some of the women gathered have not only lost property. 30 year old Dorothy Awuor, is even worse of having lost her loved ones.
She was in her house in Kibera on the 30th, the evening when Mwai Kibaki was declared president.
“Suddenly I saw some neighboring houses burning. I ran outside too see what had happened. Then I turned around and saw our own house on fire. My husband and little child were in there, but I could do nothing. I had to run for my life. When I came back only ashes were left ad I do not know what happened to them. It is so painful, and I don’t know what I’ll do now. I don’t know where to go and how to survive,” she tells.
Although she’s a Luo she does not blame the rivaling Kikuyu community for what happened to her loved ones.
“I think the houses were torched by gang, groups of young men, probably Luos or Luhyas who were just angry and wanted to take their issues out on what ever property they came across’” shes says.
Today, Wednesday 23th of January, the displaced people of Jamhuri Park have been told to leave the camp and move back to where they came from. On this page we will try to follow the destiny of some of the women who appear in this articles.
Women’s voices were heard (2008)
Represenatives from both national and international media were present when MS Kenya partner Peace-Net displayed statements from displaced women
By Benjamin Sidori and Morten Bonde Pedersen
25Th January 2008
10 women who have been staying in a displaced people’s camp were invited for an event hosted by MS Kenya partner PeaceNet today. The purpose of the event was to display statements that displaced women from five different camps around the country gave a week ago.
Besides Jamuhuri Park in Nairobi, where the 10 women came from, statements were gathered from camps in Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Siaya.
On the walls of a tent where today’s event took place were small notes containing the women’s statements.
In one of the tent was a poster showing their immediate – and uncensored – statements on how they feel abut their situation. On the other wall of the tent were answers to three questions: What is Pace? – Justice?– Democracy? Of the latter most statements were about peace and justice.
Some of the statements
What is Democracy?
“Fairness to all despite tribal barriers”
“Wanainchi having the liberty to choose what’s right for them”
What is Peace?
“Understanding each other”
“To live without fear of being attacked and killed”
What is justice?
“It is the ingredient that brings peace”
“Being protected by my government”.
Representatives from both national and international media were there to look at the posted statements on the walls and to record the spoken words from the women present.
Jane Njoki
One of the speakers was Jane Njoki, who expressed her concern about a government decision to evict the displaced from the camp in Jamuhuri Park. She said she wonders why this decision was made without consulting them.
“The flour and other stuff that are given out to us are not enough without shelter. This issue has really stressed us since then, and some of us haven’t eaten, just because of all this.”Jane Njoki is a Kikuyu who had to flee from the Kibera slums in Nairobi. She lost her small business in a fire during the riots. From the other side, Dorothy Awuor, a Luo woman of 30, spoke.
Dorothy AwuorShe told of how she had last everything in a fire which she presumes was lit by desperate young men from different tribes. She was living in a small house in Kibera with her husband and child, and she now fears to have lost both of them to the flames.
Like other people in Jamuhuri Park Dorothy Awuor says she has no where to go.
“My house is just ashes. Even if I am given food rations before I leave the camp, as we have been promised, I can not stay with my former neighbours in Kibera. I only knew one of them well enough to call my friend, and I do not know where she is now. I can not get in touch with her,” she explains.
Staying with her family upcountry is not really an option either, she states.
“My mother is very old and I do not have a father. Only my brother would be able to accommodate me, but I do not have the money to travel to his place in Nyanza, and I lost his contacts when my phone disappeared in the flames,” she says.
Women’s voices
“The leaders get in their vehicles and go leaving us to suffer. They have all they need and their children are studying abroad, they are not affected with all these. We need peace in our country.”
“Kenya has been thrown to the dogs and our economy is back to zero. Tribalism is on the rise hence affecting intermarriages”
“ We need counseling to our children because now they have been trained to hate the other tribes.”
“The people who are killing us are our neighbors and clients as well. So what makes you think I want to go back there? I will be killed.
“This election has caused my marriage to break and sincerely speaking, I will never ever vote.”
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
HIV/AIDS and the Church
By: Benjamin Sidori (2007)
Despite the different measures taken to curb it, HIV/AIDS still remains a stumbling block towards development of the community and the nation as a whole. Different organizations both governmental and non-governmental have done a commendable job in trying to reduce the rate of infection. The church therefore needs to rise up to this challenge.
The problem of HIV/AIDS is not only a physical problem for the medical personnel to handle, but also an issue for the Christian people and other religious institutions to help out. The church has a task to mobilize its members to get involved in reaching to both the vulnerable groups and those already living with AIDS and help the uninfected not to find themselves in similar situations. They can organize seminars, counseling and training, video shows and films on AIDS and prepare IEC materials.
Above all, the clergy and other church leaders can prepare bible study in relation to the subject in campaigning for abstinence. In supplementing this, they can also get people living with AIDS to share their stories. This will reduce stigma and the infection rates.
The church in Kenya command attention from a lot of people and has higher chances of affecting change than any other institution. It should therefore use its influence to spread the gospel of the fight against this national disaster called AIDS. The church environment will increase participation by everyone in the fight against this scourge that is destroying our generation.
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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE IN AFRICA
By Benjamin Sidori, Nairobi, Kenya
For more than a century, the social cycle has had waves of highs and lows in terms of change and social development. Non Governmental Organizations, Civil Societies and individuals have always confronted the question of how effective their struggles would be and what tools would best work for them to promote change both locally and globally. The struggles have revolved around lobby and Advocacy on; Human Rights, Leadership and Democracy, governance, health and environment and et cetera.
The stakeholders have always used different approaches which have, in one way or another, worked to their advantages. Some have used newsletters and magazines, t-shirts, printed caps, posters, TV and Radio. But still Social Networks stands out. The use of Facebook, Twitter, BlogSpot and even mobile phones has proven to be resourceful in terms of participation.
Transforming the world
A lot of people in Africa have come to embrace and appreciate new technology and adjusted to it. People use computers for both personal communication and even in their jobs. The three platforms; Facebook, Twitter and BlogSpot are mostly used by the young people, who form a bigger percentage of the population, especially in many developing countries. They have to be engaged in whatever means to bring change and the platforms create a good avenue for that. As Paulo Freire, A Latin American Educator said, ‘a people speaking their own words, naming the world…..are steps towards transforming that world.’
Whole world in seconds
However, technology has also come with its cons and a major one being spreading and accessing pornography. This can be converted to advocacy, posting messages that communicate change and policy formulation. The social networks can reach out to the whole of Africa and world in seconds.
For example, the usage of social media has been extensive as one Egyptian activist succinctly tweeted during the protests there "We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world. Wael Ghonim was the first contributor to spark the Egypt revolution when he created a Facebook page dedicated to Saeed, an Egyptian business man that was beaten to death by police in June 2010. It is believed that this was in retaliation to a video he posted showing Egyptian police sharing the spoils of a drug bust. The Facebook page blew up to over 400,000 followers, creating an online arena where protestors and that discontent with the government could gather, vent, and organize. (http://www.revolution-in-Egypt.com)
Accessible and time saving
In this regard, social networks have proved to reach the targeted audience and even beyond. African countries are still struggling to reclaim or restore the economic, social and cultural rights and using the social networks can speed up the process. Africa as a continent faces crisis from food to climate and even economic constraint. Social media can be a tool to mobilize resources and nations, networking and even voice out the development agenda. Most organizations source for funds through social media and they also use it for Monitoring and evaluation and reporting. Use of pictures and small statements gives a clear indication of the past and present social situations. The social network is an advantage because it’s easily accessible, time saving and reaches a wider audience, unlike TV, Radio and Print media. Discussions can be initiated and people get a chance to give opinions and propose options and other contributions from wherever they are without limitations. Africa should optimistically welcome social media as a major tool for social change and with this; the social injustices will be a ‘subject of the past.’
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