Power to Read

1998 was a year of many firsts

i graduated with my degree in december

and what a grand day it was!!

looking back at the photo

i looked so young

gosh

and to think that some classmates

were already mothers by then!!

i had also just landed my first real job

and getting into the thick of being

a

mukereketwa!! hehehehehehe

well

20 years later

am still reading

and doing all that pertains

to that degree

as I was ordered back then!!

cheers to many more

Face of hope....

Remember this one?????

HE IS GRADUATING FROM KENYATTA UNIVERSITY TOMORROW DEC 14!!!!

MAY GOD BE FOREVER PRAISED!!!

Face of hope...

February 3, 2010 at 7:10 AM

All the stories recently in the media about KCPE, bursaries, corruption, needy deserving bright Kenyan students reminded me of what happened last week

Last Friday morning I was seating in a colleagues office in Marsabit town just chatting on different things – the kind of peace work they are engaged in, the girls and boys that are involved in the peace soccer tournaments that they organise, the fact that there are numerous human rights issues that happen all the time within Marsabit but cant be spoken about etc etc….what was evident was that growing up in northern Kenya compared to the rest of Kenya are two very different realities that either side simply cannot appreciate unless they consciously make an effort, hence no wonder the policies are so biased when it comes to what is relevant to Northern Kenya…and so on.

Then we got round to speaking about education and she mentioned that the levels of poverty are so high just like many parts of Kenya and the children who manage to at least finish primary school, simply end up lazing about in the village – the girls will probably be married by then and the boys become local ‘soldiers’. And we spoke on the different possibilities of getting support for these children because for instance several members of the soccer team that they sponsor will probably not go ahead to secondary school because of school fees. So far most of the scholarships offered one has to have had 350 points and above out of the possible 500– we ranted over how such scholarships should consider how difficult it is even to get these grades in these parts of the country and you cant have the same marks applied to all.

However, there was one advert from Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) which she placed outside their office and a Board member from a certain village 20km away told her that there was a young man from her village who has the requisite qualifications and so she asked him to come and see her. He came (on foot) and together they tried to complete the forms and get the requisite documents for the application. She had made copies of the forms they had filled so that he sends the originals by post. And so since I was coming back to Nairobi she asked that I carry the copies to JKF since she was not sure if the boy managed to post them and even if he did it would probably not meet the today (3rd February) deadline.

Imagine when she opened her office door, there he was, with his father, they had come back to her office so that his father can see who is helping his son and also to show her the extra supporting documents that they had managed to gather…so now this means that I was given the originals to safely deliver at the JKF offices on Enterprise road in Nairobi – I mean the look of hope in both their faces was palatable…the numerous thank yous that they were giving us was heart rending – at that point I really wished I was a JKF person so that I could give the assurance that he had the scholarship!!! Despite my colleague saying that all we are doing was ensuring that the form gets delivered, we are in no way associated with JKF and when they get the scholarship is when they should really thank JKF….

I can only imagine what was going through the old mans head, here was a man who had two other children who had equally passed their KCPE despite the odds, had been called to good secondary schools but their hopes of joining secondary schools were dashed since the father could not raise the requisite fees…yes I know this happens all over Kenya as well, but my hearts strings were really pulled as I sat meekly in that office accepting the envelope that was given to me with both hands as if to say, it’s a done deal!

God please help this young man get this scholarship and give him a fighting chance to get his family out of the unending cycle of poverty.

UDHR@70

funny story

before joining COVAW in September1998

- cool 20 years ago,

I had never had of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights!!

so when there was all this hullaballoo around in in December 1998

and the celebrations to mark 50 years of the declaration,

i just went with the flow

now this year marks 70 years since the UDHR

and what really has changed??

one things for sure,

the fight goes on!!

welcome to the double digits!

so lil ms sunshine turns 10 today!!

imagine that!!

one day she was one

and now 10

how time flies

her name, means joy

am told it also means abundance

in amharic no less

some people have called her

rahab!

others

furaha....

its Raha, short & simple

and her name is my wish for her

everlasting joy in her life

may God always hold you

my raha

in the palm of his hand!!

Liberated

Liberated

there is something liberating

about finally making a decision

you know the thoughts

that have taken trips

round your head

for ages

and finally you have called

that important

'board' meeting with yourself?

you know

the one that has

me, myself and I present?

and you make THE DECISION

totally liberating

hashtag/ current situation

Quarter 4, lets do this

so september is over

we have 3 more months to end of year

what a year this has been

if stress had a year, then 2018 is the year for me

as i turn over a new year in my life

i pray that q4 brings with it

peace

traquility

rest

travel

and of course

new beginnings

...and then i received this encouragement as i was writing this note

Here is your word for today:

Verse:   Philippians 4:13

'For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.'

- His presence in our lives changes the dynamic of everything around us.
- It takes us from being overcome to becoming overcomers.
- It takes us from struggling and striving to flourishing and thriving.
- Let His strength invade your life, and you will do what seemed impossible.

PRAYER: Lord, I ask that You will give me Your strength right now. I don't want to operate under my own power, but I want to operate in Your strength and in Your enabling power. Amen.

Have a blessed final quarter of 2018!!

Day 1....20 years ago!

September 4th 1998

I reported to my first real job!!

anxious, excited, worried, anxious again

I walked into the offices on Ngong road, eager to start this brand new role....me, new and the first person to officially take up this task in this upcoming NGO. I had been told to report at 9am and there I was, I think earlier than 9am. I found this lady at the reception and she welcomed me and told me to wait for someone to come and talk to me. Another lady came, greeted me well, but wondered who had called and asked me to come that day! I told her the name of the person who had contacted me (mercifully I remembered the name) and she went back into the other room. My mind was racing....for all the celebration we had already done for this new job...how come there seems to be confusion as to whether I was to be here or not!! Anyways, said confusion ended and I started off!..with an audit no less!

I stayed in said organisation for a cool 6 years!! I would never have thought that I would be in this organisation for that long. I learnt so many new things and in hindsight, its best if your first job is in a small organisation since you do/learn  e v e r y t h i n g!! you can pick calls, do proposals, do budgets, heck even do radio talk shows when the station calls for that slot you have pushing for and none of the program staff are around and the Chair tells you...well by now you know the issues, go and talk about them!!!! That was COVAW for you - Coalition on Violence Against Women!

However, the downside of being at the frontline, or so I call it, is that you see all the bruises first hand. It gets to you at some point....thats all we talked about...everyday....whole day....the stories even at lunch revolved around violence against women..and children....sad, agonising, shocking, amusing tales of what women/children have gone through.....you can become cynic number ONE even with the group counselling sessions we had. I had to leave.....urgently......I looked for an exit earnestly and finally was got my next job.

But COVAW has a special part in my heart!

I made lifelong friends who I cherish to this day. I worked with interns who I relate to to this very day!! Some got bored cutting out newspapers and filing them in the scrap book.....got bored combing through the newspapers daily for advocacy issues that we must respond to, and faxing endless press statements to all newsrooms..........while others did this with so much enthusiasm! no wonder they are successful now....A T T I T U D E is everything I tell you!!

I worked with at that time young women with fire in their bellies....full of energy and zeal...thinking of new ways of doing things, of getting the message across! we celebrated when the messages got printed in papers! its easier now...all you have to do is tag all the relevant media! We did campaigns all year round....its all about having the conversation going..once we did a silent march in Nairobi - i dont where someone got the idea...but the essence was that we shall not be silenced like the silent women walking along the streets!!......we printed posters tshirts leaflets you name it!! once we did the tshirts late and when they go to Taita Taveta, they had the wrong message!!!! .......the climax of the campaigns was end of the year....the 16 days of activism campaign! that was something!!

In 1998...the year I joined COVAW we also marked 50yrs since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - that was the first time I was hearing of the UDHR...and of course we marked it in a big way!!

such a roller coster of emotions working in the frontline! its intense...its sad....and there are numerous happy moments worth celebrating....

Cheers to all in the frontline!!