Creators of Peace Circles Peace in Narok County- Kenya

On September 24- 26, 18 women eager to learn and participate in matters of peace building, most of them from the Maasai community, took part in Creators of Peace Circles which were held in Ololulung, a small town in Narok county- the native land for the Maasai people of Kenya.

Despite having some communication problems due to language barriers, the training started and finished successfully. Right from the start, the women opened up and shared a lot about their lives and it was clear that polygamy was one of the key issues affecting their community and that it has been a a major factor contributing to a lack of peace  at the family level.  Another major challenge in the community as expressed by the women was the retrogressive practice that young girls have to go through-forced female genital mutilation and on top of that, many women have in the past and even in the present been denied education. Many of the women held a lot of anger towards the perpetrators of these historical injustices towards women.

The story sharing session was quite powerful.; One lady named Pesian, shared her painful experience in South Sudan. She started a business and invested heavily in South Sudan but when war broke she was forced to leave everything and come back to Kenya. While running for safety in Kenya, her landlord back in South Sudan broke into her house and took all her possessions. When the situation had calmed down a bit she went back and was told in an arrogant manner by the landlord that all her possessions fitted perfectly in his house.  She came back to Kenya empty handed and a very bitter woman, promising herself to take revenge even if it meant visiting a witch doctor so as to make her landlord suffer. Back in Kenya, Pesian learnt that all the money she had been for her children’s school fees had been diverted to other things. That meant her children were no longer going to school. She did not want to hear of forgiveness- she even walked out of the training room swearing never to forgive some of the people who had wronged. But the session on the power of forgiveness transformed her heart and she willingly made a decision to forgive all those who had caused her so much pain and anger. She said she felt so relieved. Pesian’s story helped the other women to have the courage to share, with pain and tears, their stories and experiences.

After 30 years of not talking to each other as a result of domestic misunderstandings, Eunice, another participant was able to forgive her in-laws.  She wrote a letter to them asking for forgiveness.

Mumbi, a volunteer with IofC was able to let go off the pain of carrying the burden of not forgiving the killers of her husband, leaving her a window at the age of 27. ‘As an agent of peace I believe that forgiveness, though an costly virtue, is the only platform and strong foundation to build peace on.’ she shared. She wrote a letter to the unknown killers and is working on looking for ways to make the forgiveness public for the killers to get the message.

Participants shared how relieved and happy they felt after letting go the burden of bitterness, anger and lack of forgiveness they had carried for so long.

At the last session, the women agreed to remain as a group and they even elected their own leaders and set the date for their first meeting as Peace Creators courtesy of peace in practice.  The certification ceremony was crowned by the presence of some husbands of the participants, church elders, a representative of the disabled from Narok county and community leaders.

‘Everything done without a woman is half done’, as an encouraging quote from community elder Mr. Nkuruna Kantau, who attended the certification ceremony. This made the women feel proud of themselves and they realised that they have a very big responsibility to play in the society.

The facilitators of the training were Rose Njeri and Mediatrix Masava.

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 Judy Mumbi, Rose Njeri and Mediatrix Masava