This is beyond forgiveness! CoP follow up in Meru County- Kenya 

Creators of Peace Circles (CoP) team had yet another memorable moment interacting with women from Meru county during a oneday follow up meeting on the 15 August at the International Peace Initiative’s offices. The meeting brought together a group of 16 women, who had been picked randomly from four different groups that had undergone Creators of Peace training between the years 2011 and 2014.

The women shared on how CoP training had transformed their lives. Some were very moving and unbelievable.

One of the groups that were trained in 2012 committed themselves to becoming peace ambassadors in their various communities. The commitment saw them form a group that moved from churches, market places, chiefs barazas (local leaders meetings) and even village to village talking about peace. And as they continued to reach out to others in the community, micro finance personnel noticed them and offered to train them on table banking and other business management issues. Later on they were given loans and started small businesses that is are now their source of livelihoods.

The story of Charity, a 33 year old lady, is a shocking one, but she is happy about the transformation that has come out of it.  She had the courage to forgive her brother-in-law who killed her husband after an argument that turned violent. ‘But as if killing my husband was not enough, my brother-in-law  went ahead and broke my jaw and I had to spend three painful months in Kenyatta National Hospital recovering,’ she continued, ‘When I was discharged and came back home, I found that my brother-in-law had been arrested. I visited the cell where he was remanded, against everyone’s wish and asked the police to release him because I had already forgiven him and I didn’t have any case against him,’ she shared.

 She recounted how everyone was shocked by her action but she is happy because her brother-in-law, who was equally shocked by her forgiveness, has been transformed.  Due to her courage to do the unimaginable and because of all the work she has been doing to create peace in her community, she has earned respect from the villagers who now refer to her as Mama Amani, “Mother of peace”.  The story is shocking and one that elicits different questions and emotions but that is her experience and her reflected decision.

At this point, it is important to explain that during the Creators of Peace training; yes we do encourage the women to forgive for their own inner liberty, if nothing else. BUT we make it clear that forgiveness is not letting what is wrong go unquestioned. What is wrong must be dealt with and should not be condoned. 

Sabina shared how, out of anger and frustration, she used to throw out to the dogs the piece of meat her husband would bring home very late while drunk. However, she says that the Creators of Peace training taught her how to respond and handle issues in a loving manner. Since then, she confirms that her husband has been changing for the better day after day. To her ‘attitude is all that matters’. She adds ‘When I changed my negative attitude towards my husband and stopped throwing away the meat to the dogs but instead cooked it for the children, and when I discussed his coming home late with him when he was sober, everything started changing.’

The women were glad and noted that CoP was the first program to ever return to check up on their progress after training them. 

Report by: Esthermarrie Inzekellah & Annastacia Munene