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 

Two is better than one

I was born in 1976 in Addis Ababa.  Soon after I was born, my father, who was a laboratory technician, was forced to go to Asmara, Eretria.  At the time, the area was a war front, and we heard that he passed away in the fighting.  My mother married another man and had a second child; however 8 years later, my father suddenly appeared.  Since my mother was married to another man, they processed the divorced and my father married another woman.   Thus, I grew up moving between the two separate homes. When I completed 12^th grade I took the national exam but couldn’t score the passing mark that allowed me to join a University. When my father passed away in 1988, I lost all hope.  I moved to an Arab country and stayed there for three years.  I returned home to take care of my half sisters when I heard that my step mother passed away.

In the year 2004, I got married and gave birth to my first child but depending solely on my husband’s income for survival of the family was not easy.  Hence forced by the hardship, I opened a small shop.  However, since I had no knowledge on business management, I was forced to close it after just a short while. My mother then advised me to join WISE after she heard that my business wasn’t successful.  I became a member of Women in Self Employment (WISE) in the year 2005 and started to save money.  The Organization invited me to take a 12 days training from which I benefited a lot.  It helped me realize that I have been spending a lot of money in lack of the knowledge for proper handling.  Now, I have made saving a habit.  I have realized that we don’t need to go abroad and work in a foreign land to change our lives; we can also work in our own country and still change our lives!  I have also learned about business techniques, how to use time wisely and a lot more.  Had I taken this training before I opened my shop, I would not have been forced to close it.

After successfully finishing the Basic Business Skills training, I took a loan of $28 (500.00 birr)  and bought an oven for bakery and started to sell bread to neighbors and other people in my neighborhood. Then I took an additional loan of 1000 birr from my cooperative and started to sell different house items.  Currently, my saving has reached $278 (5000.00 birr).  I am also a share holder of $278 (5000.00 Birr) in Addis International Bank.  My husband and I have built a house on a land my father-in-law owns.  I put money saved from my husband’s income and my Equb (traditional way of saving money with in a group) to build the house.  So, we  managed to build the house which has a value of  about $1389 (25, 000 birr).  My husband used to think that his income was enough to support us but I proved him wrong by working hard.  Life cannot be changed if the whole family depends only on one person’s income.  Two is better than one.  Now, my husband has accepted the idea of me working.

In the year 2011, WISE organized a New and Viable Business Ideas Competition.  I participated in the competition by introducing candles in different forms and came in 4^th place winning $111 (2000 birr).  I now receive orders from customers for candles and I am able to sell them with profit.  In addition to this, I have started a restaurant with my friends.  My future plan is to start a poultry farm. I also want to be able to become a professional photographer now I graduated from Master Films, which is a school of photography.

Feizy: Awakening Young Minds!

“It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you came from. The ability to triumph begins with you always” ~Oprah Winfrey

Born in rural town of Homa-bay, Kenya, Faith, better known as Fei-zy, is one of the initiators of Girls Shift Africa. An organisation that aims at breaking the cycle of poverty and dependency by upLifting, inSpiring and emPowering girls and young women to be who they really are and shine their lights.

I know that my purpose in life is to empower girls and young women to believe in themselves no matter what, regardless of the circumstances. I want to be there as a sister for the girls that I work with in schools and for the other young women, I want to be there to listen and at least offer a piece of advice with the resources I have.

My childhood was not easy, as a young girl no one believed in me, expect for my father who kept showing me love regardless of the circumstances. I was always the quiet, shy girl and most of my friends and family didn’t appreciate me. I lost both my parents at a young age-my mother to an attack during the 2007/8 post-election violence and had to fend for my siblings and I. I believe that the experiences I went through helped shape the person I am today.

In July 2012, I had a calling to change young women’s lives, to make the world a better place for this generation and from the moment I started working with Girl Shift Africa, it’s been a journey I can’t stop talking about. At Girl Shift Africa,we really love focusing on the inside rather than the physical appearance.We do this by working on the emotions of an individual then we work on the outer appearance because as we all know, change starts from within. Basically this is to connect the girls with their inner potential. The meditation is an empowering process about self-discovery and courage.These tools offer solutions to transform people’s lives.

As part of Girl Shift Africa, I have been involved in several activities like helping the elderly, working with special needs children and visiting orphans. I also go into the slums, informally and freely interacting with women and girls, giving health talks, information on how to live a happier life, and motivation on topics such as contraceptives, neighborhood cleanups and blood donation. I hold a certificate in HIV/AIDS management and sexually transmitted diseases from Hope Worldwide. I am also a graduate of the Journey Intensive Seminar, a globally acclaimed method of healing emotional trauma.

In 2012 I was selected as one of the 13 participants to attend the YWLI Feminist Leadership Institute. This great opportunity transformed my life. The experience at the institute was inspiring and exciting.

The Institute equipped me with feminist leadership skills that I need to empower and inspire the girls and women I work with.

I believe that through the institute I have grown in character and capacity. I was deeply transformed to great leadership, authenticity and passion. A light was ignited inside me to believe in the empowerment and support for girls and young women.

I am so proud to call myself a feminist and an activist .Thank you YWLI, for giving me an opportunity to be part of such a transforming space. May you be blessed abundantly.

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 

A Gender Activist Inspired by the AWLI

It has been said that the wise men came from the East but there must have been some women too!! Today we are proud to share the leadership journey of one wise woman from the East of Ghana; Joyce OpokuBoateng a Lawyer and a native of Kwahu Danteng who profoundly speaks of the AWLI experience;a training she recommends for every young woman…I hope that her story inspires you too!

The inner attributes of a woman of strength

I believe in the innate strength of women to positively transform the world.  Women need to discover themselves, appreciate their leadership potential, and take charge in a more structured manner.  Women need to form a critical mass to get things moving.  It is important to document the stories of women to serve as a springboard for building the critical mass.

Who is Joyce OpokuBoateng?

I started my basic education at Danteng Methodist Primary and continued at the Morning Star School, Cantonments, and Accra, where I sat for the Common Entrance examination. I attended Aburi Girls Secondary, for both “O” and “A” Levels – 1979-1986 before proceeding to the University of Ghana where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and Sociology in (1990)

After attending the Ghana Law School I was called to the Ghana Bar as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana in March 1994’; I Studied Law relating to Banking Services at the Guildhall University, London (ACIB). I am also qualified as Legal Secretary – London. I am a member of various associations including Federation of International Women Lawyers – FIDA

Currently the Founder/CEO – The NIMBUS Foundation www.nimbusfoundation.organd Founder/CEO – Cradle FC (Football), I worked as a Legal Counsel with PresteaSankofa Gold Ltd and Legal officer in the Ministry for Women and Children’s Affairs. I am also a Partner with Opoku-Boateng& Association, Agona Law Chambers, Accra.

I have held various honoraries as Honorable Colonel of the Order of the Kentucky Colonel, USA (2007), SupremoViajante del Sudoeste by the El Paso County Council, USA (2007) andrepresented the Honorable Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs at ECOWAS, Abuja and the Organization of American States, Washington, USA, Senegal, Cameroun, Benin (2003-2006).  I am proud to be one of the alumni of the prestigious African Women Leadership Institute (2002), an initiative of Akina Mama wa Afrika.

My  AWLI story

The training at AWLI gave me an insight into the philosophy of gender equality, and gender as a social and development construct. I had a better understanding of the concepts of gender mainstreaming and it enabled me to articulate my views on gender in a more meaningful way.   I can proudly call myself a gender activist thanks to the training I had at the AWLI

At AWLI I was able to distinguish between work, activism and personal care.  We were taken through relaxation techniques in addition to the theories and practice of gender advocacy. Networking was an area of gender work that was emphasized at the AWLI.Determined to transform women’s lives I have not stopped at this but have moved on and now set up an NGO called The NIMBUS Foundationwww.nimbusfoundation.org; an organization that is aimed at promoting the rights of women and children through advocacy and training among others.l continue to draw upon the network of friends that I have made throughout my human rights work.  And have learnt to understand the peculiar challenges that women face both as activists and as members of the community.  Empathy should be a watchword in our work as advocates.

One cannot change the mindset of others when one does not have a thorough appreciation of the issues and concepts that you are advocating on.  It is important to have a good understanding of gender as a discipline, a tool for social change and a development construct.  I would recommend that all young women who wish to be advocates undergo the training that AWLI offered me in 2002. It has shaped my thinking and enriched my language as a gender advocate.

Speaking of a vibrant and sustained women’s movement

Since Rome was not built in a day, it is important that the debate on gender equality continue unabated.  It has to be rejuvenated and new faces must join the movement for its sustainability.  This means that training of young people of both sexes must continue.  Training must take account of emerging issues, including political and economic debates while looking at those from the gender lens.

In 2012 I contested for a parliamentary seat in one of the biggest constituencies in the country (Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region of Ghana). My experience is that the men are not prepared to give in to women’s participation and went all out to fight for the seat, in spite of the Manifesto promises.  Young women who wish to contest for political leadership should understand that seats are not won on a silver platter.  They need to work two times harder than their male counterparts.  What I learnt is that although I did not win the seat, I have made significant inroads into the national politics and hope to build on the gains made.

If you must remember me…

I want to be remembered as a woman who was not daunted by social circumstances but tried to brighten every corner that I found myself.  The ups and downs will come, they are part of life. When I am down I look at the bright side and quickly rise up and fly with the eagles.  I like this quotation by Shakespeare very much:

“ ’Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our garden, to which our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop ands up tine, supply it with one gender of herbs, or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills”

For more information, please visit the website for my organization the NIMBUS Foundation on:  www.nimbusfoundation.org

AKina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) 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 AMwA please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 

www.akinamamawaafrika.org/

Women become their own leaders by holding decision makers accountable

Low participation in public policy issues by women and other vulnerable groups in decision making and community initiatives often stands in the way of holding the development agenda in their hands and ensuring that their priority needs are met. However, armed with a score card women in Gatsibo District in Rwanda are organizing their communities and have become their own leaders by holding decision makers accountable. This has made them a formidable force for change in their communities.

Under the Public Policy Information Monitoring and Advocacy project (PPIMA) in the district, women community mobilizers, or animators, spearhead identification of needs in their communities and inform other community members. This marks the beginning of an engagement process that agrees on the needs to be addressed with the involvement of decision makers and service providers.

By employing the concept of the score card, the communities identify their pressing issues directly affecting them, whether in health, education, agriculture and other sectors, in relation to governance and service provision.

The score card is a tool in which the women and their communities decide on specific service indicators to assist them track the pace of addressing their needs. Based on this they give scores and the reasons for the scores on the progress made by the decision makers and/or service providers. The scores are then analyzed and ranked to identify the gaps, forming the basis in planning how to address them.

Women remain among the most marginalized, along with the youth, people living with disabilities and the historically marginalized peoples. However, women have often suffered the “double tragedy” of not only being women, but at the same time being marginalized as youth or people living with disabilities, and in other marginalized groups.

Women in Gatsibo District spearhead the identification of service delivery issues in their communities paying special attention on the marginalized groups to ensure their participation. This has helped them articulate the issues in all their dimensions in the community.

The PPIMA project was initiated in 2009 to respond to the issues related to governance, service delivery, accountability and community participation at all levels of development programming at the decentralized levels. The communities work in collaboration with service providers where they agree on issues and come up with solutions, including agreeing on issues to be included at the district and national levels as development priorities.

The process has proved empowering as it directly places the development agenda on the hands of the women and their communities based on their needs and issues.

The PPIMA project is a collaboration between RWN  and the Norwegian People’s Aid and is being implemented in 40 villages in Gatsibo District.

Rwanda Women's Network (RWN) 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 RWN please follow the links below.

 www.iie.org/

www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 

www.rwandawomennetwork.org

I’M …….MY SISTER’S SISTER

I remember being very vocal in airing my opinions even from a tender age.  Having been brought up in a family of all girls, I remember refusing to conform to girlish or boyish things, especially in school. I had never been told that I cannot do this or that at home because I am a girl and I vehemently refused to be defined solely by my gender in school too. This contrast in my socialization process at home and in school was undeniably my genesis into feminist leadership.

My name is Catherine Wambui Kiama. I was born 25 years ago; raised and educated in the capital city of Nairobi. I hold a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of London. I am not sure at what point in life I decided to study law but my family probably always knew that was meant to be my destiny. After completing my O level education, it dawned on me that our educational process, granted teaches us things that are of paramount importance but students leave school with good transcripts but with zero life skills. As a result, many young O- level leavers get into quite a messy tangle especially in the duration leading up to the release of their results. Many of the young girls who I have talked too often tell me that they did not have the necessary information to protect themselves and make informed decisions. I decided at this point that I needed to do something. Sex education is part of the 8-4-4 curriculum but after conducting a survey in several schools in Nairobi and its outskirts, I quickly realized that the same is not implemented. Either our teachers are too shy to discuss this and our parents leave the whole burden to the schools and religious institutions would just rather not touch this subject altogether.

 ‘Sisterhood’ was born out of these needs to provide young teenage girls with essential life skills. Sisterhood is a mentorship program that aims to encourage, inspire and support sisters to rise to the challenge and be the best they imagine themselves to be. Sisterhood tries to be a bridge that safely transports these impressionable young teens to be responsible adults. The program runs in high schools in Nairobi and its environs and adopts a curriculum based on the needs assessment of the school and the students. Core topics that are always addressed include self-esteem, HIV & AIDS and goal setting. The program also tries to hold educational fairs where the students can get guidance and career advice especially before they choose what major units to take up in their final years of study. The program is run on a pro-bono basis and an effective way of inspiring the girls is to bring women who grew up in the same locality and who may have even attended the same schools and have excelled in their respective fields. This I have noted is the best approach to take as the girls and the mentors can identify with each other. Within Nairobi, “Sisterhood” deliberately targets slums and informal settlements where this information is much more essential. Quite recently Sisterhood has started a similar program for the boy child and has incorporated mixed secondary schools into the target populous.

Based on the teenage empowerment program, I had the privilege of attending the YWLI feminist leadership training which a six month course. Based on the theme of the Institute; ‘My personal is political my power to influence change’ the most humbling thing I was constantly reminded of was that first of all I need to take care of myself to be able to take care of others, This necessarily means that I have to take care of both my physical and spiritual, and mental self. It was insightful to realize that as a young woman most if not all of my decisions may have already been made for me by a political class. It is with this realization that I am embracing my personal as political and using this to air the grievances of both women and young girls and calling for women to rise up and let their voices be heard. During the fellowship, I had the honor of being indulged by remarkable women leaders who have left lasting foot prints in the fight for gender parity in Kenya and beyond. It was also truly comforting to form solidarity unions with other young women leaders who are doing remarkable things to make a better world for future generations. The greatest lessons I took with me from the institute was probably that the journey to self realization and to make an impact however small start with me and my first small steps….

The institute equipped me with the skills that I need to mentor the teenage girls and boys and to embrace my personal as political and use this understanding as my power to influence change Following the Institute, Sisterhood is formally undergoing registration and aims to continue running mentorship programs for both girls and boys within Kenya and hopefully on day beyond that geographical confine…

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 

Lina Zedriga Waru Abuku a lawyer and an expert in “women, peace, and security.”

We bring you a story of one very charming and courageous  alumni; Lina Zedriga who has beaten various odds of life but refuses to be silenced and has ventured to speak for women’s peace and security.

Who is Lina?

Born in 1961 to Magdalene and Karlo Abuku Lina was the third last and only girl. Which also was the case as she was still the only girl in her class at PLE and emerging the best, she went to Sacred Heart Girls Secondary School Gulu. She married in 1982, and is mother to 5 children.  Currently the Director Women Peace and Security (RACI), Lina has served in various capacities right from being a teacher to Magistrate. She is a very ardent advocate of UN SCR 1325 on Women Peace and Security,  a passion that has driven her into becoming an International; Trainer of Trainers, Mediator, Mobilizer, Strategist, and Mentor.

Since the disappearance of husband, an opposition politician 12 years ago ( August 2001), she is the sole parent to five  children plus three she adopted. She went from being a magistrate to a war widow but she refuses to be called a “victim.”  And says “We are the stakeholders. Nothing about us without us.”

 An experienced leader in peace and conflict resolution matters; Lina has been the Director of Women Peace and Security Program aimed at empowering women for durable peace and reconciliation since 2011.  With one of her distinguished experiences being the staging of a media and grassroots campaign to get women into the negotiations for the Juba Peace Talks leading to a four-day march into areas of war and rape, and then flying into Juba where she delivered a peace torch to the Chief Mediator  in the LRA /Gov of Uganda, H.E Dr. Riek Machar. She has consulted widely both nationally and internationally including consultation for the ICAN/MIT carried in a report “What the Women Say on UN SCR” http://www.icanpeacework.org/unscr1325caseassessment/2010. She recently participated in high panel presentation at the UN SCR New York among which she was on a panel with Mary Robinson the UN SC Secretary Generals Representative on the ICGLR Frame work of Hope aimed at bringing peace in the DRC.

Lina shares a light moment with Mary Robinson

In 2005 while serving as the Program Adviser to Northern Uganda Peace Initiatives, she designed the Women in Peace Building and Reconciliation Program, which included bringing together 300 internally displaced women and other Northern Ugandans to advance peace in the region. And prior to that she was Associate Director of the Center for Conflict Management and Peace Studies at Gulu University, where she coordinated community outreach programs, led research, and helped develop a post-graduate diploma in conflict management and peace studies.

She holds a master’s degree in human rights, a law degree, and a certificate of laws from Makerere University. She is a member of numerous professional associations, including the Network of African Peace Builders, the African Judicial Network

Sharing her AWLI Experience

I remember very vividly the application process in 2006; I was actually given an exception rule under the age bracket. I was working in Northern Uganda then, the whole process of the AWLI was a complete turn of events and my life’s journey just re-started. I got to put on a certain unique lens of being a driver of my destiny, something within me that has closed in on me just gave way from the inside, I was re-newed; re-born. Being very much older among the participants was a blessing to me, the Africa wide experience of women’s issues from exclusion, to being targeted as battle fields with rape and yet we continue to keep together the social fabriq.

I was determined to embrace this challenge and start an initiative that would not add women but target them as primary stakeholders, it had to be grassroots, peace and security of the person premised on the adage that Prof Sylvia Tamale had shared “The Personal is Political” Hence I set to create a community of practice where women were not considered victims but critical stakeholders and where sustainable peace ultimately rests on their full participation at all negotiation tables and implementation of outcomes of such negotiations be it Peace Negotiations, Commercial negotiations, family name it. Secondly I had not come to meet any woman mediator so I was convinced that we needed to have women mediators.

For me the unique aspects of the AWLI were the selection of the participants who were practicing women’s rights defenders, social entrepreneurs, who had all personal experiences that were so enriching. Secondly the mode of delivery of the training was centered on experiential learning, the blatant honesty.

We created a network across the Continent that was visionary we went out as determined agents of change armed with the “tools” and confidence. The AWLI helped to determine one thing I could die for, or work for no pay and yet get full satisfaction and then conceived RACI, planned how it would operate, target groups especially how we would invade the peace process in Juba creating women actors.

Her advice for sustained Advocacy of issues affecting women

We should move from organizing “events” to creating a community of practice that is socially active and politically literate grounded from the grassroots to the grass tops.

A glance into her next 10 years

Lina aspires to become an Icon of Women Peace and Security influencing decisions at the AU, UN SC and preparing to retire from active activism as there will be younger advocates in place at all levels

Long after we are gone…

She wants to be remembered for “UN SCR 1325 on Women Peace and Security Monger, Advocate, Defender”

AKina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) 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 AMwA please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 

www.akinamamawaafrika.org/