16 days of activism against Gender-Based-Violence

The elimination of violence against women and girls starts with me! 💪

This was the main message spread through the Public Campaign that we carried out, on 27 November, in Shianda market area and its surroundings.

Contributing to the activities organized at the sub-county, county and national level in Kenya within the 16 days of activisim, we considered appropiate to raise awareness in a market day since it brings a lot of people to the area.

The campaign started in the outside area of WEFOCO office📣 Why did organized such an activity? We opened with a brief explanation of the occasion and the day’s program. 

With Salvation Army Band playing we marched until the Deputy County Commission Offices to officially open the day, we picked up the official guests (DCC representative and OCS) and we continued with the procession to the market area.

During the march we used a mobile speaker to explain the reasons of the campaign and send key messages to the population. 

Once in the market we had two drama plays in two different locations, to attract the crowd and raise awareness about VAW. 

Drama is a great tool to communicate messages to people of all ages and backgrounds. They run to see the plays and follow us after to see more!
After, we marched to the ending point were the last drama play took place.

For closing, the different organizations who participated sent clear and concise messages and we had speeches from the officials invited, the Deputy County Commission Representative, County Security Representative and Gender Office Representative. They emphasized in the devastating consequences that violence has in the victims, families, communities and even in the country development and sent a call to each individual and his/her responsability to eliminate violence.

Thanks everyone who made possible this day! 💜💛

“Many small people in small places doing small things can change the world”. Eduardo Galeano.

Working in a Special School in Kenya!

       

It’s been three months already since I arrived in this beautiful country, time flies! 

The main focus of my deployment here would be to build capacity in the local community, mainly training teachers in special schools to support children with physical disabilities.  The reality of a child with disabilities here is quite different from what I was used to seeing in Europe, and the first time I entered in Rise and Shine Special School, I could not be indifferent to the number of children moving around without a wheelchair or any assistive device… just crawling on the floor. Seeing the knees already covered with a hard skin layer because of the constant pressure contact with the grown, it was not easy I have to admit. And the first thought that came to my mind was… “There are so many issues…from where should I start?”

Children playing with the teacher in outdoor activities.

Well I started from the beginning, with a lot of observation and multiple conversations with the teachers and staff, understanding their needs, motivation, and attitudes. We discussed, planned together actions to improve the classroom and dorm management providing to the children opportunities to change the positioning, to eliminate cases of children seating on the concrete floor, strategies to improve hygiene, knowledge on transferences, positioning and so on.

Despite the lack of infrastructure, assistance and support these children developed ways to move, wash themselves, wash their clothes, eat…etc that a child with the same disability in Europe would not be able to develop without therapy. This made me think about a Portuguese saying “a necessidade aguça o engenho” “necessity is the mother of invention” and when there is no other option these children do create their own way with amazing strength. Being a child with disabilities here is not easy, not only because of the environment physical barriers but mainly because of the attitudes towards disability. Sometimes the discrimination comes from parents and family, sometimes they hide and feel ashamed of the child, believing the disability was caused by a curse. Others families feel that because of the disability the child will not be able to learn, and so it’s not worthy to go to school. Having large families with a lot of children,  and struggling to afford them being in school, it’s a difficult choice for parents, and the child with disabilities sometimes needs to be in a special school where the fees are even higher compared with regular schools. This puts children with disabilities in a very vulnerable situation.     

Rise and Shine despite being a school for children with physical disabilities, accommodate students with intellectual and multiple disabilities. The lack of knowledge about the proper school the child needs, the inefficiency of the referral system and the geographic location of the school creates this situation. Since this is the only special school in Shianda's area, the parents choose it based on proximity.

Being a school for children with physical disabilities it was not set up with an alternative curriculum and vocational training, the teachers adapt in the best way they know to each child's academic level, but they do see the urgent need to implement vocational skills training in the school. To inspire them and the children we decided to do a “Rise and Shine Jobs week”, a week where the children had the chance to go to the community visit different professions and learn some skills. 

During this week we also invited an adult with a physical disability to inspire the children to trust in their abilities and prepared a workshop on shoe repairing, where they had the chance to learn this art and, at the same time, repair some of their own shoes!   

The older ones will have the chance to continue mentorship in shoe repair during the school break and we are preparing a proposal to present to the education office to support the implementation of vocational training in the school.

Andreia Silva

EU AID Volunteer in Shianda, Kenya

25th November in Shianda

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a day which aims to raise awareness to prevent and eliminate violence cases. 

As we know, violence against women continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace as well as to the fulfillment of women and girls’ human rights.

For this occasion, WEFOCO worked hand in hand with New Vision, Soroptimist, People Against Poverty - PAPO, and UDPK to organize a forum to bring key stakeholders together to discuss about the issue.

The discussions went around three main topics: (1) Understanding VAW, the different forms and consequenses (2) Identifying VAW in Kenya, Kakamega County and particulary in Shianda: reality and challenges (3) Finding solutions and acting together to eliminate VAW.

 Amongst the main stakeholders invited they were the Deputy County Commission, Office County Security representative, Kakamega County Director Gender Office representative, Education and Social Services Deparment, as well as chiefs from different communities. 

Participants were very active, discussions were very fruitful and one of the main initiatives taken is to ensure that institutions and civil society work more together. Everyone also agreed that raising awareness on violence against women and gender-based violence at different levels (public places, schools, stakeholder training, etc.) is necessary to tackle the problem of violence.

We join the 16 days of activism and next Wednesday 27th we are organazing a public campaign around Shianda market place now to raise awareness among the public and share with them some of the points discussed during the forum. I will share more! :) 

Opening the forum singing and praying

Security Officer sharing about Shianda situation

Discussions

Elimination of VAW, starts with me!

Civil Society-Organizers

Täna algas viimane nädal Shiandas

Nüüd on siis rannikul käidud- Mombasa, Malindi, Watamu. Panin neid puhkuse pilte FB sse ja sain kommentaari, et jah, nüüd on tunda päris Aafrikat. Kuid mis on päris Aafrika? See tundub olevat see, mida me tuleme otsima olles lugenud raamatuid näiteks nagu Livingstone "Reisid Lõuna Aafrikas " või Hemingway "Aafrika haljad künkad ", seda Aafrikat enam pole.
Seda Aafrikat etendatakse turistidele, sest seda nad tulevad otsima.
Ja kuigi seda Aafrikat enam pole, leiad sa siit ikkagi midagi, mis on väga ürgne ja väga soe ja kodune. Maal vanaema juures...

Palju paberimajandust on vaja ära majandada :-) : kokkuvõtteid mitmes erinevad vormis ja keeles...
Kokkuvõtteks saan ütelda, et umbes 90 % kõigist mõtetest, mis pähe tulid, on ka teostatud selle poole aasta jooksul. Neist olulisemad minu jaoks olid Mondo toetusprogrammi laste ekskursioon Kisumusse, õmbluspoe remont ja sisustamine ning mangode, avokaadode ja sidrunipuude pookimisnädal. Teostamata jäi Bukura Põllumajandusinstituudi külastus Chair Ladydega, see jäi tegelikult juba Microfinants projekti algstaadiumis kõrvale, kuid vaikselt lootsin, et rahaülejääkidega saab seal siiski see nädal ära käia, kuid kuna rooter wifi jaoks officile on siiski eluliselt tähtsam hetkel, siis nii ta ongi.
Jääb selle käigu korraldamine järgmisele vabatahtlikule minu positsioonis.
Põllumajandus on selgroog nagu Salim ütleb...
Ja õige kah, kui süüa pole, siis kuidas sa ikka õpid ja edened ja kasvad ja oled jätkusuutlik :-)

 Pookimas Chenda Kalas.

Üks esimestest käikudest naistegruppidesse. Pildil koos Abrahami- mentori ja tõlgiga, kellele olen väga tänulik. Jalutuskäigud külades ja turul, kõikide teede teadja ja kõikide inimeste teadja ja Suahiili keele õpetaja. Ja väga palju naljakaid juhtumeid.

Üks on kindel, ma tulen tagasi, et vaadata kuidas läheb nendel 104-l puul.
Kui Jumal tahab, ütleksid kohalikud.

Shianda Sunday Soundtrack!

Shianda Sunday Soundtrack!

Today is Sunday and you feel it in the air! Why?

Because since around 5 a.m. the vibrant music and voices enter through the room window to wake you up with blessings!  In Kenya, every day is a good day to pray, but definitely Sunday is the most special one.

Being a predominant Cristian country (more than 80% of the population), the presence of worship places is noticed everywhere. Christianity, with Roman Catholicism, was brought by the Portuguese in the fifteen century and was spread with the missionaries’ through the 20 century. But nowadays the most common Christian church we see in Kenya is Protestant. And it can diverse from Anglican, Gospel, Presbyterian, Reformed, Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal churches and even more. 

If you say you went to the church, the most common question that follows is "which one?" Personally, I totally get lost in such diversity, so I just say… “I don’t know… it was a Church” The question that follows is “And which one you go in your country” and then the answer can vary with what you feel, and how comfortable you are with the person… so sometimes I might say  "Roman Catholic",  others I just say "I don’t go to church I pray at home". :) 

    

But even if you are not religious, to have a Church experience in Shianda is quite interesting. Being raised in the Roman Catholic Church back in Portugal to experience the energy of service here was really interesting. While a Roman Catholic mess normally lasts 1h maximum, here the service can go from 5 a.m. until afternoon. This allows people to go early morning and then still go to work in the market at 8h... or go later and then open their business in the afternoon. 

Last Sunday I was invited by a friend to attend a Pentecostal Service with his family, and it was an amazing experience.  The joy, the energy that is spread by singing, dancing praying out loud, the verbal expression of gratefulness, the feeling of hope that emanates through all the persons, the strength of their faith and how they vibrate in the service is super powerful, I had goosebumps!

When you vibrate your religion in this manner, for sure it will reflect in all aspects of life. 

Here God is present everywhere… in the Matatus (minibus) is quite common to see religious citations and in the hotels/guesthouses you find a bible or in the room or the common room. In the community, you always have prayers before you start the workshop/campaign and when you finish. Also to inspire and motivate action it’s common to say that your actions will be paid by Gods will, and if you perform well you will get consequent blessings in your life. Or to put your own wish our desire in God’s hands through your prayers. 

In schools, Christianity is part of the curriculum and it’s common to see teachers (especially women) reading the bible in the break time.    

Something I found super funny last Sunday was to see people during the church service looking at their phone and swiping up and down. In Roman Catholic Church in Portugal this would be considered quite disrespectful, but here is totally fine since your simply checking your E-bible! J When the service was finished, we went home for lunch, we talked… and guess what? Watched Cristian TV music channels until evening! Because this is the…

Shianda Sunday soundtrack!  

(Two different churches in Shianda)

(Florence and her kids going to Church "looking smart" = with nice clothes)

(Pentecostal Church Service - prayings wishing children good luck for the primary school exams)  

(Sunday with Daniel and his family after the service) 

Oktoober

Täna 19 oktoobril algab minu viimane kuu Shiandas. Homme 20 oktoobril on Mashujaa ehk Kangelaste päev, neile, kes võitlesid Keenia vabaduse eest.
Praegu on meid Shiandas seitse vabatahtlikku. Piltidel oleme õhtusöögil Wefoco direktori Estheri juures, õhtusöök kujunes meeleolukaks koosviibimiseks vaatamata vihmasajule.
Ilm on muutunud, kui varem hakkas sadu kella 5-6 paiku õhtul, siis viimasel nädalal on sadu alanud isegi kell 1 päeval, ühel korral sadas õhtust hommikuni ja seda märkisid ka kohalikud ära.
Oktoobrikuu põhisündmuseks on olnud Mondo uute toetuslaste valimine ja mõõtude võtmine koolivormide õmblemiseks.
Kui me augustis lastega Kisumus käisime, siis lisaks sellele, et lapsed olid väga vaiksed, tundusid osad lapsed minu meelest ka liiga kõhnad.
Mikrofinantseeringu toel sai poodi muretsetud kaal ja kohandatud ka pikkuse mõõtmise koht.
Kehamassiindeksi - BMI arvutamise tulemused on kahel järgneval pildil:

Kokku on tänavu alatoitlusega tugiprogrammi lapsi 12, neist 9 poissi ja 3 tüdrukut.
Oktoobri kuu jooksul toimub veel järgmisel nädalal tikkimiskoolituse II osa ja Novembri pookimisnädala ajakava ning kohtade kinnitamine.

Esimesel pildil puhkehetk Chenda-Kalas kus käisin poogitavate puude arvu täpsustamas ja teisel pildil minu enda aiandus- loodan, et vähemalt 2 avokaadot/mangot saavutavad pookmiseks vajaliku suuruse ning jäävad siia mõnesse gruppi suurt saaki andma :-)

Selle rahuliku tugeva kohaliku looma pildiga tundub sobilik see postitus lõpetada. Asjad edenevad aeglaselt kuid kindlalt ja minu viimane tegevus siin enne ärasõitu saab olema seotud maaga ja naistegruppide tuleviku parendamisega parendatud puude näol.
Puid saab olema 100.
Umbes nagu Eesti 100 :-)
Ikka kurb on, et see aeg siin nii kiiresti on läinud, no alles ma ju tulin...
Tervitustega,
Ester

256 days on the field

Dear volunteer,

of course every experience is different and every volunteer is someone with his or her own personality. But somehow, my experience shows that there are some qualities, which are familiar to each volunteer. For example, joking, all the volunteers I’ve met like to joke and laugh! What an important quality to have. And of course caring! We do care immensely about our job and the people and the organisations we work with. Even though we are put off sometimes we still try to push on through, showing persistance and strength. Finding reasons and solutions and not losing the motivations is a challenge which is very common in a volunteer life. And we do it!

So, here’s to volunteers! “It is what it is” ;) :)

My first month in Shianda village

Habari zenu? How are you all?

After my first month in Shianda, a rural area in Western Kenya, I would love to share with you some of my feelings and experiences J  let me introduce myself first!

My name is Inma Ortiz, I’m 28 years old and I was born in a village of Cordoba, in the south of Spain. I studied Psychology and later on International Development and I specialized on gender issues. I have been in the field before in Kenya and Tanzania that’s why I’m so happy to be back in these amazing lands.

As an EU Aid Volunteer, my duty here is to start a gender project, together with my colleague Marion, mostly advocating for gender equality and raising awareness to prevent violence against women and girls. This first month we have been meeting the WEFOCO team, different schools and groups, sharing, observing and doing some sort of needs assessments with the different collectives we will work with.  The identification of the needs it is really useful and crucial before starting any project, especially when the context is new. So…let us start the action properly and then we will share how it goes!

For now, I would love to share how it actually is to live in Shianda for me. Before coming I was living in a city and I was really tired of it, looking forward to live in a more peaceful and natural environment.  And…here I am!! :D I find my life here simple and humble, a way more sustainable and respectful with the Earth. What do I mean? Let me share some examples…

At home, we do not have running water so we have a water tank outside and we collect water from the tank with a bucket to take it inside, for shower, toilet, kitchen…everything! The truth is you get used to it very quickly and, at the same time, it makes you aware of the water amount you use, you become more careful. With my flatmate Andreia, we are reusing the water in all the ways we can to not waste it. During late afternoon and evenings it usually rain, what do we do apart from enjoying the fresh air? We collect the rain water.

What about eating? We get our veggies and fruits every two-three days from the market, it means we eat fresh food, then the waste becomes compost and/or food for the chickens we have in our garden, a beautiful cycle isn’t it? Legumes, rice, pasta, oil, soap…most of the things we need we find them in the local market as well. When avoiding supermarkets, apart from supporting small businesses you are avoiding plastic waste, in fact, I’m producing so little non-organic waste. In Shianda , there is not a waste management system so people just burn the trash; as an alternative, Andreia and I always think if it can be reused and we usually find what do with it- it boost your creativity!

Apart from these pieces of my daily life, I’m connecting with nature more, it cycles, understanding we are nature too and we should learn to live all together, in harmony.

Life is simple, the reality is that we do not need so much; we just need to value the ones we have and give thanks every day.  Let’s be conscious, every change starts with you!

Beautiful sunsent from home

Collecting rain water

Creative fruit platters

Creative furniture

Creative furniture

Trying to grow avocados

Chickens enjoying our organic waste