Juliana Nakhumicha and I, Annie Gitu, travelled to Mbuyu, a small village close to Nanyuki, to facilitate a Creators of Peace Circles (CoPC) workshop for 15 women. The training ran from 15-17 April, 2013. The workshop had been repeatedly requested by a lady who had participated in one of the Peace Circles last year and she wanted her women to experience what she had experienced, i.e. - inner healing and peace. This group of women were recently relocated from the Internally Displaced camps where they had lived since the post-election violence that hit the country back in 2007/2008. Needless to say, this was a group of 'wounded' participants, both physically and emotionally.

Mbuyu is very far from Eldoret and Nakuru where Juliana and I come from. Being the rainy season and the roads leading there being rough and tough, we needed much more than just energy and inspiration to go and facilitate the workshop! The commitment and desire for peace in our country is what kept on driving us.

We took the participants through the different Creators of Peace gathering points, namely: inner listening; what is peace; what creates/destroys peace; forgiveness; daily reflections among others. As time passed, the participants started opening up and sharing.  Nancy, one of the participants, shared how powerful the Peace Circles workshop was and that even though she had attended very many other workshops while living as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), CoPC was the best workshop she has ever attended since it started a personal healing process for herself and the other participants.

Another participant, Mary, said that reflections time was the best for her as it encouraged her to listen to her heart. ‘Reflections have helped me to be able to distinguish between good and bad things. I will now be careful before saying things to people especially my children and my neighbours.' she added.

The 'power of forgiveness' was a highlight for many and a point of personal transformation.  Rachael, one of the participants said, ‘I was touched and transformed by many of the topics explored during the workshop. The 'powers of forgiveness' session helped me learn that I should forgive those that evicted and burnt our homes. All our properties perished in our former home in Burnt Forest. I will take time to go back to Burnt Forest and meet with those that evicted us and I will go with the message of forgiveness.'

On the last day of the workshop, the chief and one of the village elders visited the group and they were very grateful for the training that encouraged and challenged the women not to carry and pass on bitterness. The village elder expressed his hope that those who had been trained would reach out to the others who did not have an opportunity to be part of the training.  The area chief said that he will continue working with the ladies who had been trained to reach out to more people in his area of jurisdiction with the message of living in peace and harmony. The chief also expressed his wish for Creators of Peace and Initiatives of Change to go back there and have more sessions with the young people as well as the men.

We wish to acknowledge and appreciate the Friends of Africa fund for the financial support which made the workshop possible.

By Annie Gitu