Creators of Peace Circles in the Home of Champions- Eldoret- Kenya
Creators of Peace Circles facilitators, Mediatrix Masava and Annie Gitu took the training to the town of Eldoret, the capital and largest town in Uasin Gishu County. Eldoret was a hot spot during the ethnic clashes and violence in the 2007/2008 post election violence. Eldoret is known as the Home of Champions, most of Kenya's successful athletes have their roots in Eldoret. Two Creators of Peace Circles took place there, reaching 44 women!
Peace Circles in Kamkunji estate
From 9-11 July 2014, twenty seven women from Kamkunji location, Uasin Gishu county gathered together to understand what peace is. Women cried, laughed and danced their way to being Creators of Peace. As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” This was so true with this group of women. ‘This training has helped me to know the challenges I will encounter as a creator of peace. I have also learnt that peace starts with me and to be a peace creator you need to learn how to live with others,’ said one of the ladies after the Peace Circles training.
The first day was full of realization of personal mistakes, forgiving and asking for forgiveness among the participants. Stellah shared how she had that morning engaged in a quarrel with Rose, another participant. She showed the essence of ‘what creates and destroys peace’- one of the salient points in the training, by asking for forgiveness from Rose. The same happened to Mercy who, for four years, had not been on good terms with her neighbour. At the end of it all, there were hugs and joyful laughter among participants.
Inner listening, qualities of a peace creator and listening to others, were the primary points of the second day. The participants had an opportunity to reflect on their lives and see what qualities they have for creating peace and which ones they need to work on. The exercise of listening to others, was an eye opener to many who realized they were not good listeners and promised to change their attitude towards listening to others.
On the final day, looking at the theme of Peace in Practice, the women, many of whom are burdened by poverty, decided to come together and see how to empower themselves economically. Here, a concept of ‘Table Banking’ currently being campaigned for by the second lady of Kenya, was introduced to them. The idea is to help people start small businesses and become financially empowered and hopefully, the women can become better creators of peace, not only knowledge wise but also economically.
If women are economically empowered, they can become even more effective creators of peace in their homes and society. As Janet Museveni, wife of Ugandan president, shared during the opening of the Creators of Peace conference in Uganda in 2005, ‘It is important from the start to talk about the underlying factors so that when peace comes, it is built on a clean and firm foundation…it must cater for the spiritual as well as the social and economic needs of people, an all inclusive package.’
Creators of Peace in Bondeni Estate
From 17-19 July, 2014, a group of seventeen women gathered at Bondeni P.A.G church in order to participate in the Creators of Peace training. The training was to challenge the women to break the chains of hatred and revenge and to understand the role of a woman as a peace creator, both at home and to the society as a whole. Many of these women were economically marginalized - no jobs or means to survive.
Mary, one of the participants said, ‘I have not been talking to my husband for twelve years. I now understand the importance of peace, and I chose to be at peace with myself and I made a decision to call my husband and ask him for forgiveness.’
There were many experiences and turning points shared by the women after going through the Peace Circles. Stories of courage, forgiveness and moving forward positively were shared by many. Coming from very difficult situations, their personal stories were moving and touching- some so painful and heart breaking. All the experiences brought shared joy and tears.
We called some of the women two months later just to find out how they were doing and how their lives had been impacted by the Peace Circles programme.
It was encouraging to listen to some of their experiences after the training:
‘I used to be sad and lonely after the death of my husband but the Peace Circles programme changed my life. I have learnt how to let go my bitterness and I have grown and changed a lot and become a better person.’ said Redemptor.
Another participant, Mahohka said, ‘I never used to know the importance of loving and caring for my neighbours. Peace Circles has helped me to live very peacefully with them. I even invited them to my house.' Emily, another participant, said that she has now become a person who can ask or give forgiveness with much ease. ‘I have also gained the confidence to be a creator of peace in my community by reaching out to others.’
'Before I took part in the Peace Circles, I used to be a very angry person who caused chaos and trouble all the time.’ said Lilian. ‘I have changed and become a better and more productive person in the society,’ she added.
It is with much appreciation and humility that we wish to thank the Irene Prestwitch (IPT) for the financial support that made this Creators of Peace possible.
By Mediatrix Masava & Ann Njeri