Mothers' Union Training for facilitators in Naivasha

Where were the women of Kenya when all this happened! (Graca Machel)

From February 16^th to 21^st , 38 ladies from Kisumu, Nakuru, Nairobi, Eldoret and Mummias dioceses of the Anglican church attended a training for facilitators in Naivasha

All know that in December 07, violence erupted when the results of the elections announced Kibaki President of Kenya. 'Nobody imagined this can happen to us'! Salome (Mothers' Union Coordinator) tried to explain why it took all by surprise. It is pride when we underestimate our capacity to act cruelly. People are still afraid to go back to their homes when the majority is from a different tribe. The Luo and Kikuyu were the most violent but the Luya, Kalenjine, and others took side. When asked why the Massai did not take part in the violence, Salome (Massai) told us that they respected their traditional leaders who said none of them should kill, rape or burn. It makes me wonder about the wisdom of Western democracy in the African context. Who has power in reality? We were also told the elders or traditional chiefs of the Luo and Kikuyu were the people who fueled the violence.

In November 08, Rhiannon, a couple from Rwanda and Congo conducted a very successful workshop. This time I, Rhiannon and Daniel from Congo listened to wonderful testimonies of incredible healing and forgiveness from the last seminar. During the training we taught them how to prepare a seminar, how to arrange a lesson and lead people in discovering and applying truth vs telling them what to believe and what to do, and how to deal with different situations during the workshop. The ladies sat in groups to dig into the material (HWEC), organize topics, do presentations and give feedback to their colleagues. We also gave our input, comments or suggestion. It was encouraging to see the ladies spending day and night working hard. We were also impressed by their creativity.

We had some problems because not all were from the same level of education. We also had 2 extremely wounded ladies who were not in the first seminar, so in need of special care. The husband of one was killed by Kikuyu, her house was burnt. The second was raped by many, left for dead. Her husband abandoned her, accusing her of being 'garbage'. We praise the Lord that at the end, they gave a testimony of forgiveness.

It was obvious that the Luo (from Kisumu) were of very low education but they tried hard. 1 group of them took us through the cross workshop for further healing. We were impressed to see the result since people did not act as if it was just practice. Now the ladies of Kenya declared: ' now we have something to offer'.

Don Brewin from UK reminded them that they have 2 years to work very hard before the next elections. We are encouraged that the Archbishop of Kenya took the reconciliation program by Mothers Union seriously and promised full support. This time, Rwandan tragedy is benefitting twice Kenyans. Koffi Annan worked high to attain a political agreement to stop the violence. He was probably redeeming himself because he was the UN Security Council head who ordered the withdrawal of UN troops during the 94 genocide. We also shared with the ladies our successes and failure and believe the Lord is going to use them to heal and bring reconciliation. We are very optimistic about the ladies because the Anglican Church takes full ownership of the ministry. These are some comments by the ladies:

Important to go through follow up before training;

The facilitators have a good feel of the group working with;

We should get teaching before training;

Our team plans to run an evaluation, debriefing and capacity building for the ladies in September this year. Our gratitude goes to Helping Hands, a Christian organization who hosted us for free.

May the Lord bless the 4 new teams and their plans in different towns!

Testimonies

1. I am a lay leader, I was unable to preach or teach the congregation or women's group. After the seminar, God dealt with my low self esteem, I was able to preach but God also gave me a strong message that is relevant for my church. My marriage has been restored.

2. I praise the Lord. I had a burden but the Lord gave me rest. My son used to draw our house before and after the violence. The house was destroyed. I could see he was angry and filled with hatred. I helped my son and my husband to release those who burnt our house. We offend each other every day, I have learnt to ask forgiveness and forgive in my daily life;

3. The Lord changed me. As I left, the next day I met with our women's group and told them I forgave the Luo, they could not believe. I was very bitter before. After the violence, I was greeted by one woman of the other tribe and I refused. I encouraged my fellowship to reject the other members and we expelled them from our fellowship. After the seminar, the women in the village could not believe their eyes when they saw me with the very person I hated before. I told them I forgave and asked their forgiveness because as a leader, I led them astray. I was already suffering from sicknesses when I carried hate. I am a new person.

4. I want to praise God, I received peace. The next day, I was given to preach as our group visited a displaced (due to the violence) member. It was easy for me, I had a message that could comfort the victim and all the group. God has healed many in the group. I used to sit in the church because I was the wife of the pastor but I did not enjoy. I was not involved in the life of the church. After the violence, our choir scattered but nobody cared. After the seminar, I was the one to draw people to form a new choir. The other members of the church were amazed. My husband got a letter of transfer to another village church but this time I did not complain. My friends wives of pastors tried to poison my heart with bitterness against the bishop but I resisted. I simply said: 'let God 's will be done'. My prayer was that God gives me more time to live the change and be a witness of hope and healing in my church. God worked a miracle. One week before the transfer, the bishop called my husband to say the transfer was cancelled. For me I knew God was with me.