Creators of Peace Circle revealed that ‘good always triumphs over evil', in Salaban Village; Baringo County, Kenya

The Creators of Peace (CoP) Salaban workshop took place from 24-26 August at the Ilchamus Cultural Center Grounds. It is an area mostly dominated by the Ilchamus community who have suffered displacement due to heavy rains. Within the community a lot of forced marriages are practiced. This has caused a lot of women to live very bitter lives, especially those who had dreams and visions for their lives. With shattered dreams some have had to quit their marriages to start new lives for themselves.

Grace, who is also the area Assistant Chief, was among the participants. She was happy to share with us about her past in a forced marriage and how she ran away from it and rose to become a chief. It is a tough journey she said when one is denied a right to education and freedom to marry a person of your choice. She said that she would forgive the teacher who had married her forcefully because he was probably just a victim of the bad cultures practised in her community. She is also working very hard to enlighten other young girls not to fall victims but go to school to attain a bright future.

‘In life even when one is doing wrong things one is never alone. There are always fellow negative people who support the evil actions. I have realized that they are all destroyers of peace and are very risky to have in our lives. It is good that I surround myself with positive people with whom we can create peace. Peace is life. And without it nothing makes sense any more,’ she concluded.

Maria had reached the end of her tether trying to reconcile with her blood sister who had become a perpetrator of violence in her marriage. Her sister constantly Maria’s husband lies, which made her marriage very rocky and sometimes she suffered physical abuse. During the workshop she wished that her sister would attend such a workshop. She promised to reach out to her and see if they would be able to work out their difference and be friends again. This was an issue that had caused Maria sleepless nights and lack of inner peace. She vowed to work on it.

Margaret said that she had been challenged to be a starter of peace since it is the foundation of every home, society and nation. She added that long gone are the days when men were expected to start all the things and it was time women also stepped up in doing the right thing for the sake of their lives, families and future generations.

To crown the workshop, Grace, the Assistant Chief, volunteered to work with the women peace ambassadors and register a community based group for them. Together they decided to talk about peace issues whenever they got an opportunity in community meetings as well as starting being creators of peace in their own lives and families.

Facilitated by Mary Ann Ntausian, Rachel Wamalwa and Mumbi Wambugu

Report by Mumbi Wambugu