Since the month of June 2014, 13 Creators of Peace Circles (each taking three days) have taken place reaching and sparking personal transformation in over 200 women from different parts of the country - and they are still going on! We must mention that we have taken the Peace Circles to areas that are hard to reach due to poor road network and to people who are mostly forgotten but who matter a lot - the women on the low side of economic life. We will take you on a journey of the different Peace Circles that have taken place, sharing what it has meant for the women and for our country Kenya.

We start off our journey with the County of Nakuru. Here, two Peace Circles took place in two slum areas - Bondeni and Kivumbini.

BONDENI SLUM CREATORS OF PEACE CIRCLES

From 4-6 June, 2014, 15 women, mostly Muslims, from one of the slums in Nakuru came together for a Creators of Peace Circle. The hall for the training was just next to an open sewer, but the smell didn’t seem to bother any of the women - they were happy, hopeful and very energetic. ‘Thank you so much for coming to Bondeni. Many people forget this place because many people are illiterate. But it is not a must for a person to be educated to make a difference,’ shared one of the ladies in appreciation of the Peace Circles.

As always, the training remained true to its nature of being simply transformative. Bitterness, hatred and lack of forgiveness seem to be very big problems, as the different Peace Circles have experienced. These can lead to a lack of inner peace and eventually destroy the sense of outer peace for people. So, forgiveness has been a key aspect in Peace Circles and it has been playing a big role in helping people build a foundation of peace building in their lives and society. ‘I have been carrying a knife in my handbag ready to attack one of my neighbours if I get an opportunity. But thanks to Peace Circles, I made a decision to forgive and have stopped carrying the knife to destroy her - I even said hello to her last evening and she was shocked 'coz she knows I have been bitter with her and was ready to kill her,' shared one young lady.

Another lady who had been repeatedly mistreated, tortured and molested physically and sexually by her own uncle, found in her heart to forgive him.

Two other ladies present in the training couldn’t look at each other eye to eye, but as the training progressed, both forgave and embraced each other in the presence of the group. They promised to work together for peace.

The story sharing brought the women together in tears and laughter. One of the ladies shared her ordeal starting from being married off by her parents when she was under-age. This was followed by a life in hell with a husband who battered her so badly for so long it resulted in four miscarriages and no child. She eventually decided to leave the marriage for good - broken apart and very bitter. She has lived with that bitterness ever since. ‘Today I do not have a child I can call my own, not that I couldn’t conceive but because of battles and beatings by my husband which caused the four miscarriages,’ she shared, ‘but thanks to Creators of Peace Circles it has brought me hope and relief in my heart. I feel that I can accommodate forgiveness now.’ She wrote her former husband a letter of forgiveness even though she wouldn’t go back to him.

Most of the ladies committed themselves to being peace creators by taking small steps first - ‘From here I will go and fight tribalism’; ‘from here I will be an ambassador of peace’; ‘I have learnt and appreciate the fact that to ask for forgiveness is not a sign of fear or weakness, it is indeed the right thing to do’; ‘we have hated our auntie so much, I will go talk to my sister so that together we can forgive her,’ were some of the comments made.

KIVUMBINI PEACE CIRCLES

The next Peace Circles training brought together 17 participants and took place from 1 – 3 July, 2014 in another slum called Kivumbini in Nakuru County. The women were eager to learn and to know more about peace building and how to make the society a better place - but many came to realise that it had much more to do with peace building in their lives, families and close friends before they can reach out.

On the first day, one of the ladies could not hide her hatred and bitterness for one of her neighbours and swore never to forgive her. But by the last day, of her own free will, she had changed her mind and forgave her.

Two sisters, Millicent and Sarah, who were part of the training, were the biggest of enemies. Millicent, who had been offended, saw the importance of forgiving her sister Sarah as the training proceeded. In the presence of all the participants, they hugged and forgave one another and were so grateful to Creators of Peace for bringing them together, something they could not do before.

More than a month later, we contacted some of the participants to know if the transformation that happened to them during the training has continued to impact their lives or whether it was just the euphoria of the moment. It was impressive to learn that these particular women have formed a small group that is training other women in their area about peace. ‘We are now united and working together. Even others who were not part of the training have seen the changes that have happened with the women who participated in the Peace Circles.’ said Peninah.

Syprose told us that her life had changed a lot. ‘I had very bad anger but after the training, I have learnt to control the anger. I am very grateful to Peace Circles,’ she shared.Jane, another participant, shared that after the training, she went home and called all the people she had issues with and made peace with them. ‘We are now friends’ she said. ‘I was also very tribal and discriminated against people on the basis of their ethnic group, but the training helped me to appreciate all people. Now I am friends with people from all tribes,’ she added.

Creators of Peace Circles, in so many ways, continues to bring hope to many individuals, families and society. It is our hope and prayer that the women who have been transformed through the programme shall continue to spread the message of peace to others far and wide.

Annie Gitu facilitated the trainings with the support of Ann Njeri Kimanthi.

We would like to acknowledge the financial support of Irene Prestwitch (IPT) for making this possible.

by Ann Njeri & Annie Gitu