A Rich BlessingBy Stella Ndiho, Kenya Director of DevelopmentOn 16th June 2017, at 9 am the Mawewa Primary students waited for students from four neighboring schools so they could start the Children4Peace Walk. It was a cloudy morning that threatened rain, but our students didn’t care about the weather. Their excited chatter focused on the concert after the walk when they would see several popular Kenyan musicians perform.As the eduKenya team planned the peace initiative, the aim was not only to create a memory of seeing a famous musician but to help the students recognize the power of the collective voice of children in Mathare. Five years ago, Mawewa students had a similar peace walk just before the last Kenyan election, asking the community to remain peaceful during and after the elections. The result - the community where the peace walk took place there were no recorded incidences of violence in 2012. So, as Kenyans prepare to vote again in August, we are teaching Mawewa students to speak peace in their community through action and words.The teachers at Mawewa school teach the value of living in peace despite ethnic, religious, and political differences. Through their efforts, we have witnessed Mawewa students growing in confidence and learn they have a voice. The children were encouraged by many community members throughout the march for peace. A rich blessing in a community that believes “children are meant to be seen and not heard.”[caption id="attachment_3620" align="aligncenter" width="565"]
An encouraging business woman[/caption]As we approached a ‘matatu’ (24 seater mini-bus) terminal, there was a concern for the safety of our students walking through an area of great chaos with passengers looking for the right bus and matatu conductors trying to attract customers. On a typical day, other motorists are intimidated off the road to create a way for the matatus, and children are ignored. But on this day, we not only had encouragement to keep speaking peace to the community, but a few matatu conductors even joined us for a few minutes![caption id="attachment_3621" align="aligncenter" width="565"]
Walking through the bus terminal[/caption]By lunchtime, the students had recited poems and sang songs of peace and enjoyed many songs by the local artists who joined the peace initiative. As we draw closer to the elections, we eagerly wait to witness the impact of the Children4Peace Walk.[caption id="attachment_3622" align="aligncenter" width="565"]
Performing artists, Wahu & Pete Odera[/caption]