Category: Updates

Training of Soccer Coaches and Managers:

CEEC with support from DKA Austria conducted a four days’ training for soccer coaches and managers from Kikuyu Sub – County on how they can embrace positive masculinities as a way of preventing and appropriately responding to gender based violence. The training took place from 31^st January to 3^rd February 2017 at the Victorian House, Kikuyu. The 26 young men who participated in the training were drawn from football teams based in five wards in Kikuyu Sub – County namely, Karai, Sigona, Nachu, Kikuyu and Kinoo.

The training was informed by the fact that the perpetrators of gender based violence in Kikuyu Sub County fall under the youth age bracket. Under the project, CEEC has trained two previous groups of young men in 2014 and 2015 respectively and this training was building on that work. The training helped the young men to start making a connection between flawed masculinities and gender based violence. They also began to understand how serious the problem of male disempowerment is and how it leads to a host of problems for men, women and children. By the end of the training, the young men were able to appreciate that violence of any kind is not an expression of manhood but rather, it stems from disempowerment. Another achievements was that the Kikuyu network of male champions against gender based violence had acquired 26 new members!

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On 25^th October 2016 CEEC conduted an evaluation of the project Building the Capacity of Communities in Burnt Forest for gender inclusive civic engagement and participatory governance. Under the project, a total of 63 community leaders, both men and women, were trained on participatory and gender inclusive governance in July 2016. The leaders were from eight farms in Burnt Forest namely, Lingway, Kamuyu, Rukuini, Kaplelach, Ndungulu, Chuiyat, Barekeiywo and Kagongo. The trainees then conducted dialogue forums in their respective farms in October 2016 in order to sensitize other community members ahead of the general election next year. The thrust of the project is to ensure that women who are normally excluded from governance and decision making processes are able to enjoy their rights and discharge their duties and responsibilities. The project’s focus is not only the general elections but also other processes at the family and community levels. During the forums, CEEC was able to assess the trainees’ understanding of gender inclusive governance as well as skills such as facilitation, communication and mobilization. At the evaluation meeting, the trainees first assessed themselves after which CEEC gave them feedback on their performance. The evaluation was meant to help them prepare for the next set of forums which will take place in December 2016.

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As part of the project“Building the Capacity of Communities in Burnt Forest for Gender Inclusive Civic Engagement and Participatory Governance” CEEC with the support of GIZ/CPS facilitated civic engagement dialogue forums between the 4^thand 7^thof October 2016. The forums were conducted in eight farms within Burnt Forest namely,Ndungulu, Barekeiywo, Kaplelach, Chuiyat, Kamuyu, Rukuini, Lingway and Kagongobringing together about 500 community members. 63 community leaders (men and women) trained by CEEC in July on inclusive and participatory governance facilitated the forums with the support of CEEC staff.

The dialogue forums were organized in such a way that men and women first met separately and then both groups came together for a joint engagement. Each group had guiding questions that sought to understand why women do not participate in governance, what they need in order to participate and how men can support them. The discussions generated healthy debate and joint solutions with women sharing challenges some of which are cultural beliefs, gender stereotypes, lack of confidence, burden of responsibilities, lack of financial resources and limited access to information. A deeper look at the challenges pointed to patriarchy which is supported by a deep rooted culture and manifested in gender stereotypes and discrimination. Both groups acknowledged the need for change and as evident from the sentiments of one male participant, “If my wife left, I would be lost in that house. If she can lead our home, I believe she can lead in the public domain” This is a view that was echoed by many other male participants in the eight farms.

The men pledged to support women by sharing information, educating their daughters, socializing their male and female children to respect each other, sharing domestic responsibilities thus freeing women to attend public forums, offering financial support, respecting women’s rights and acknowledging that women too can lead. The forums also provided space for discussions on how the choice of leaders had impacted the community especially when it comes to development. There was general consensus that good governance that leads to sustainable development and peaceful co-existence needs to be inclusive and participatory. The community was in agreement that such dialogue forums were critical as they prepare for the 2017 general election.
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As part of the project “Building the Capacity of Communities in Burnt Forest for gender inclusive civic engagement and participatory governance” CEEC with support from GIZ/CPS, carried out a four days’ training of 32 women community leaders from eight farms in Burnt Forest namely Ndungulu, Barekeiwo, Kaplalach, Chuiyat, Kamuyu, Rukuini, Lingway and Kagongo between 20^th and 23^rd July 2016. Topics that were covered included the difference between gender and sex, the socialization process, objectives of devolution, functions of all the elected officials under devolved governance, rationale for inclusive and participatory governance and skills building. The participants were able to differentiate facts from the gender myths and stereotypes they had all along believed in and which hindered their effective participation in governance. Not surprisingly, most of the women had very little knowledge of devolved governance mainly due to apathy and indifference towards political issues due to the belief that politics were men’s domain. To address the confusion regarding the mandate of the different elected officials, it was important to break down and simplify devolution so that the women would know who to hold accountable for which functions. As they prepare for the upcoming general elections, the trainees are now better equipped not only to make informed choices but to sensitize others within the community.

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All is well that ends well!

The first year of activities under the projectPositive Masculinities: Working with Young Men to combat Gender Based Violence in Kiambu Countycame to an end with an evaluation meeting on 1^stJuly 2016 at the Victorian House in Kikuyu Town. The evaluation aimed at assessing the short term project outcomes from the five wards and receiving recommendations for the subsequent years. During the meeting, the teams also reported on the experience of the travelling theatres which were carried out between March and June 2016 (4 performances per ward reaching out to over 2000 people in 20 different churches). The evaluation identified commitment by the team members, team support and effective leadership as the driving forces to the success of the community outreach activities carried out by the young men. From the interactions, it was clear that the participating youth as well as those they reached out to had an increased understanding of gender based violence and especially the link between this vice and negative masculinities. The message of positive masculinities was timely and the use of theatre was very effective in educating and entertaining at the same time. As one participant put it, “We have been entertained as well as educated and this is something that has spoken to many of us”. Going by the name of#thatguy_ who says NO to GBV,the young men had begun a paradigm shift from negative to positive masculinities.

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Theatre has been used as a tool for social change and CEEC under its projectPositive Masculinities: Working with Young Men to combat Gender Based Violence in Kiambu Countychose this methodology in recognition of its appeal to young people.After a training of 30 young performing artists on combating gender based violence through promotion of positive masculinities, the trainees from five wards in Kikuyu Sub County embarked on community sensitization through travelling theatre. Due to the vastness of the wards the trainees organized one theatre performance per month per ward from March to June 2016. The 20 performances were carried out in different churches reaching out to over 2000 people with the message of combating gender based violence. The skits were a display of the situations that young men are facing in the community and how they are dealing with the crisis of masculinity manifested in alcoholism, inability to discharge their duties and gender based violence including violence against men among others. The performances were followed by a debriefing session by the trainees as well as a question/answer session. Those answered questions correctly were given t-shirts and wristbands with advocacy messages on combating gender based violence In most churches the message of the skit was also used in the sermons, emphasizing the need to address the masculinity crisis by socializing both boys and girls in the right way. It is important to promote positive masculinities/femininities in order to combat Gender Based Violence and raise healthy families. With religion playing a big role in the social construction of gender, the choice of performing in local churches was appropriate in addressing some of the gender stereotypes particularly those relating to the roles of men vis a vis those of women. The message that the trainees were putting across was that roles do not define a man or a woman; they are just roles prescribed by the society. The message seemed to strike a chord with the community members who requested for more performances.

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As part of the project “Working with Community leaders in Burnt Forest to promote nonviolent, gender and ethnic inclusive communities,CEEC with support from GIZ/CPS carried out farm based sensitization sessions on Gender Based Violence and Alcoholism.  The sessions were conducted in eight farms within Burnt forest namelyNdungulu, Barekeiwo, Kaplalach, Chuiyat, Kamuyu, Rukuini, Lingwai and Kagongobetween 21^st and 24^thMarch 2016. The CEEC trained Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) and Village Elders worked together in organizing and facilitating the gender based part of these sessions with CEEC offering technical and moral support.

The alcohol and drug abuse part was facilitated by a recovering alcoholic from Re-awaken Rehabilitation Centre in Eldoret. These sessions raised awareness on the adverse social and health effects of alcohol and drug abuse. The community members got to appreciate how alcoholism is connected to some of the social problems which include gender based violence, poverty, under development, child neglect  as well as general lack of peace and harmony within the community. It became clear that this vice does not only affect the person abusing alcohol and other substances but also the family and community at large. A personal testimony from the facilitator who had fallen out of an engineering course while in third year at the University of Nairobi was very powerful in bringing out the gravity of the problem. It was an eye opener for most of the community members to learn that addiction is a disease and those affected need help not condemnation. They were also shocked to learn that there is a hereditary alcoholic gene which leads to addiction once those who have it experiment with alcohol. In all the farms, the community members requested the facilitator to go back and talk to the youth who are the most affected.
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