Category: Updates

With support from GIZ/CPS, CEEC organized an exchange visit by elders from Murang’a to Burnt Forest as part of the project “Working with community leaders in Burnt Forest to promote nonviolent, gender and ethnic inclusive communities” between 14th -18th March, 2016. 28 village elders from Ithiru and Githumu locations in Murang’a County visited their counterparts in Tarakwa and Oleinguse locations in Burnt Forest. This was part two of an exchange visit program with the first one having taken place between 22nd to 26th February 2016 during which Burnt Forest elders visited their counterparts in Murang’a. The design of the visit was such that every elder from Murang’a was hosted by an elder from Burnt Forest. This enabled the visitors to learn their counterparts’ way of life, culture as well as their experiences of being village elders. The Murang’a elders were also taken on a tour of cultural sites, geographical attractions and farms in order to get an overview of the general way of life in the region. On the last day of the visit, all the elders came together in an experience sharing forum. Alcohol and drug abuse had emerged as a common problem that contributes to gender based violence in both regions and a specialist from Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital in Eldoret was invited to make a presentation on the topic during the forum.

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Training of Trainers

CEEC with support from DKA Austria, for the project “Positive Masculinities: Working with young men to combat gender based violence in Kikuyu Sub-County” held a four day training in Kikuyu town from 16^th-19^th November 2015 on gender concepts, gender based violence and  positive masculinities. The trainees were twenty seven (27) young men from Kinoo/ Uthiru, Sigona, Karai, Nachu and Kikuyu wards who are members of church based youth groups involved in performing arts.

CEEC previous interaction with the youth in Kikuyu Sub-county in 2014 revealed that the main perpetrators of gender based violence are in the youth age bracket. Additionally, young men are engaging in crime, alcohol and drug abuse. Flawed masculinities and male disempowerment was seen to be the root of the vice thus the need to help the “generation of lost young men” to reclaim their dignity, self-worth and develop a healthy sense of identity. This project is a response to a request by trainees in the previous phase to reach out to a wider constituency of the youth. They felt that the knowledge, information and skills they had acquired are invaluable and very much needed by every young man not only in Kikuyu Sub County but the entire country. To appeal to the young people, the project will use performing arts to not only disseminate the message but also nurture youth talent.

On their last day of training, the trainees were joined by trainees from previous phase to come up with ward based action plans ahead of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence which will be marked across the wards through theatre and walks. At the end of the training the youth accepted that there is a problem with the socially constructed perceptions of masculinities which necessitated need for change of mindset and deconstruction of the same.

As one participant noted “We have shunned laziness, domestic violence, self-pity, alcoholism and all the other avenues that some men tend to vent their hopelessness to when they fail to live up to the traditional roles of a man. Now that we are well equipped with concepts of positive masculinity, we shall move out to our wards and chapa (hold) shows depicting positive masculinity and how it helps our societies” Ng’ang’a Njenga. 

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As part of the Burnt Forest women income generating project, CEEC made contact with a women’s group called Sanata Women’s group which is based in Gilgil.One major similarity with the women in Burnt Forest is that Sanata women’s group comprises of women who were displaced by the 2007/8 post election violence and left destitute. The group has achieved considerable success since it was started in 2008 making and selling products such as bags, bracelets and sandals. On 11^th November 2015, the 26 women who had undergone the IGA training under the project Alleviating poverty in Burnt Forest through women’s economic empowerment visited Sanata women group in Gilgil for a learning exchange visit. The women visited the sewing, screen printing and beadwork departments where they saw a diversity of skills and products. Sanata women’s group shared their experiences highlighting the challenges they have encountered along the way and how they managed to be successful. The Burnt Forest women who formed and registered a group called Laituchu Women Group were also given the opportunity to try their hands on bead work and discussed the possibility of working together. Sanata Women’s Group will send a beadwork trainer to Burnt Forest to train the women to complement tailoring.The visit was a great eye opener and motivation for the Laituchu women’s group and they promised to work hard and make a difference in their community though economic empowerment.

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One of the lessons that CEEC has learnt in the course of women’s empowerment work is that failure to engage men often leads to resistance and even backlash. It is in this regard that CEEC invited a group of male allies during the launch of a women’s Income Generating Activity (IGA) Project at PCEA Kamuyu, Burnt Forest on 30th October 2015. The project Alleviating Poverty in Burnt Forest through Women’s Economic Empowerment is supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Nairobi.  It involved training of 26 women on tailoring and beadwork as well as providing them with the necessary tools and materials to enable them run a tailoring and beadwork business. This will help the women earn a decent living thus reducing poverty and vulnerability to gender based violence.

The men who attended the meeting are the women’s male significant family members whose support is key to the success of the project. They were husbands, fathers, brothers and even sons who would take over some of the responsibilities to enable the women participate in the project. Other stakeholders included members of school boards as well as church and community leaders who will help the women in marketing their products. By bringing male allies on board, the project helped the men understand that women’s empowerment is not equal to men’s disempowerment.  That building the capacity of women to contribute to the family income will be beneficial to men as it will take some of the pressure off them. Indeed, by empowering women economically, the project will be improving the economic status of the entire family and communities. Fortunately, all the men who attended the meeting were very enthusiastic and pledged to give the women all the necessary support.

CEEC recognizes that economic disempowerment of women is a major exacerbating factor in women’s rights violations and this is very true of Burnt Forest as well as other parts of Kenya and indeed the world over. This predicament is worsened by feminization of poverty which refers to a situation where women represent a disproportionate share of the world’s poor. Unfortunately, gender based violence does not only affect women, but also men and children. It is for this reason that CEEC with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Nairobi launched a women’s income generating project entitledAlleviating poverty in Burnt Forest through women’s economic empowerment in October 2015. This project aims at uplifting the status of women not only economically but also socially and politically. In the process, the project will contribute to poverty reduction therefore improving the living standards of the entire community. The project will also hopefully contribute to a reduction of gender based violence incidents leading to peace in families and the community.

The project was launched with a four days’ training of 26 women on how to run an income generating activity held at PCEA Kamuyu from 27^th -30^th October 2015. In addition to the training, the women were given 5 sewing machines, 2 over lock machines, accessories as well as other materials that are necessary for a tailoring course. The course will be complemented with beadwork so that the women get a variety of skills.

The project has brought together women from eight farms within Burnt Forest namely Lingway, Kamuyu, Rukuini, Rironi/Kaplalach, Ndungulu, Chuiyat, Barekeiywo and Kagongo. They represent the two main communities living in this area, Kalenjin’s and Kikuyu’s whose relationship is characterized by mutual suspicion, mistrust and sometimes outright hostilities. The project therefore aims at contributing to improved inter – ethnic relations and harmonious co-existence.

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On 9th October 2015, CEEC carried out a needs assessment at Kamuyu PCEA Church, Burnt Forest to explore further capacity building needs in the context of gender based violence prevention and response. The exercise was informed by an expressed need for enhanced capacity and community GBV prevention and response structures. The participants were representatives from 8 farms namely: Ndungulu, Kamuyu, Kaplalach, Chuiyat, Rukuini, Kagongo, Baragweiwo and Lingwai.  The team brought out the areas within which they need further training as well as other forms of support that they require in order to serve the community better.

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CEEC with support from CPS/GIZ carried out a four days’ gender based violence prevention and response training for Tarakwa village elders from 5th – 8^th October, 2015 at Deliverance Church Burnt Forest. This was under the project titled,” Building the capacity of village elders to prevent and appropriately respond to gender based violence”.During the training a total of 31 village elders were trained including the chief and his assistant.

The main objective of this training was to make the elders understand the dynamics involved in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and particularly the connection between flawed masculinities and GBV. Topics covered included Gender Concepts, Masculinities,  forms, types and consequences of GBV as well as legal responses to GBV among others. An expert on alcoholism was also invited to talk to the elders about alcohol and drug abuse which are two vices that are closely related to GBV. Due to the high incidence of GBV committed against minors particularly defilement, early pregnancy and early marriage, a children’s officer was invited to help the elders understand children’s rights better.

The elders appreciated the training which opened their eyes to the fact that they were not presiding over cases in the right way due to limited capacity. They undertook to use the newly acquired knowledge and skills to ensure all members of the community including women and girls enjoyed their rights and where these rights were violated they got the necessary redress.

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On the 27th Of March 2015, CEEC carried out an evaluation of theBuilding the Capacity of Village Elders in Burnt Forest to Prevent and Appropriately Respond to Gender Based Violence project. The evaluation meeting took place at Kamuyu PCEA church and the village elders got an opportunity to share their experiences of how the project had helped them in handling gender based violence cases as well as the challenges they were facing. As a result of the project, changes have occurred at three levels – personal, work place and community. The village elders shared moving stories of personal transformation with one of them confessing that he used to beat his wife but he has now stopped. In the context of their work, two important changes have occurred; first the elders are no longer biased against women due to cultural influence and secondly, they no longer preside over criminal cases and particularly sexual violence. Instead, they advise those affected on how to seek legal redress, sometimes even accompanying them to the police station and hospital. Within the community, the elders, who previously used to wait for cases to be taken to them have now become proactive and in their own words, they are now ambassadors against gender based violence. It is encouraging to note that the elders are also sensitizing their colleagues who were not at the training especially on the importance of not presiding over criminal cases and not discriminating against women.

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