Pillars of a nation, Peace Circles in Kailer village, Baringo county, Kenya

The Creators of Peace (CoP) Circles training took place from 20 to 22 April, 2016 in Kailer Village.  It brought together 19 women from the Ilchamu and two from the Endorois communities.

It was the first ever workshop for Salina and she said that she felt so informed and enlightened. She also admitted that she thought that hers was just to live life and do her daily chores but never thought that she had a very big role to play in peace building in her family besides taking care of them. Salina declared that from then onward, she would play her role efficiently, even in the society.

'Peace is not just an absence of violence.  Let us hold our families together so that we build a nation with a strong foundation,' said Jennifer. She added that she was very impressed by the story sharing session. ‘If what was shared today had happened to me, I don’t think I would have survived even a quarter of it. Now I feel more hopeful and can handle any situation with courage and faith.’  This made her call her three other co-wives and tell them what she had learned from the workshop.

For Lekesio, it was different because after day two of the training she said that her nights were full of thoughts. She brought a lot of laughter to the rest of the women as she narrated how she had finally found out that even her chicken, cat, goats and cows needed peace else they would disturb everybody with irritable behaviour. ‘Money is nothing without peace,’ she concluded. After a good and fruitful day it was obvious that she would sleep comfortably without unsettling thoughts.

The power of forgiveness is another session that enabled participants to examine very old memories. There was  bitterness, hatred, plans of revenge, lack of forgiveness, and a lack of ways to deal with the issues in a sober and friendly way. Since the year 1991 Salina had carried bitterness towards Christine who was also a participant. She boldly said that she had an enemy in the room and would like to end animosity after 15 years. Christine could not hold back her tears as Salina confessed and reminded her of the particular event that had created enmity between them. After they ended their dispute they were both thankful to CoP for being mediators through the workshop.

‘A woman is the foundation for peace in every level of the society,’ advised Esther. She promised herself that the workshop would not go to waste in her life. ‘If every one of us is careful with what we say or do then it will be easy to make things right where we stand and be the pillars that hold the nation together,’ she concluded.

Another lady, Patricia, echoed that people do not live in the bushes but at home. If the evils are tamed at the family level then there will be a higher possibility of taming violence before it occurs. All the rest of the women echoed the same and as their way forward they decided to train other women in peace creation with every opportunity available to them.

The ladies had the privilege of having their area Chief accompanied by the Headman to officially close the workshop with so many words of encouragement and hope to the women. Both promised to work hand in hand with them to bring peace in their area. The workshop ended with a lot of positive feedback and much expectation of change.

Facilitators and Report by Judy Mumbi and Rose.K. Njeri