Activism Alert…. Taking a Stand!

“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” ~Diane Mariechild

I believe every person, and more so every woman has potential and possibility, beauty and greatness within themselves which if nurtured can transform the society for greatness. However, if placed in the wrong environment and not nurtured, this potential and beauty can be chocked.

My name is Ann Gloria Njoki .A feminist, human rights activist and a founder of Deaf Outreach program http://www.deafopkenya.org/I have a Bachelor’s degree in Community Development from Daystar University in Kenya and I am passionate about inclusion of marginalized groups in the global and local development agenda. I love to work with persons in the community and find joy in empowering persons to reach their full potential.

All along I have had a special interest and passion for the Deaf community and hence in the year 2011 Deaf Outreach program (DEAFOP) was established. The main reason I began my work at DEAFOP was to bridge the existing development gap between the deaf and the community. Deafness being a ‘silent ‘disability and forming a minority in numbers, most often end up going unnoticed and their voices remain silent. They remain an easy target for discrimination and human right abuses. Our work is focused on advocating for deaf rights through amplifying the voice of the deaf, empowering the deaf persons in development and encouraging mainstreaming of development to include the deaf community The experience at the YWLI Bi-annual Feminist Leadership institute was life changing and full of fun interacting with young women leaders from across the country and awesome facilitators who mentored us as sisters rather than superiors.The training at YWLI gave me a new insight on feminism; it also equipped me with the skills to be a healthy professional young woman leader and sparked a desire to also give a special focus on young deaf girls and deaf women who are in a more vulnerable position within the community to vices such as rapes, domestic violence, forced domestic labour, early pregnancies, and dropping out from school.

My deepest wish for the world is that every girl would be given an opportunity and nurtured to develop into their full potential without any form of discrimination regardless of her ability or disability. 

Young Women's Leadership Institute (YWLI) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or YWLI please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 
www.ywli.org