All posts by : Maurice Goga

TeenSeed Africa is a local community-based organization based in Kayole and Kiambiu area of Nairobi County. The Executive Director TeenSeed Africa, Ms. Winnie Obure says TeenSeed Africa’s main program’s focus is on survivors of SGBV – women and teens. Further, they also work around the prevention of teenage pregnancies through Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights […]

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted business operations in Kenya as in other parts of the world.

For Ms. Josphine Jerop, a hotelier in Kinango sub-county, Kwale County her hotel business was shut down. The profit she had made before the shutdown is what she survived on until the normal return. Upon resuming after covid restrictions were lifted there were still fears of contracting the disease through places of gathering such as hotels thus making it hard for her to make a profit.

 Ms. Jerop hopes were revived after she learned about the existence of Jasiri Fund: a microfinance project through a friend.

After being listed as the beneficiary of the Jasiri Fund, Ms. Jerop was able to acquire a loan of Ksh. 300, 000 which she used to boost her business by renovating the hotel, buying kitchen wares and more seats.

“I shared my proposal on how I intend to use the loan and luckily enough I was able to get a loan of Ksh. 300, 000 which I used in doing some renovations at the hotel and purchased more kitchen wares.

After acquiring the loan, she has noticed a big change in her business and hopes to build a guest house where her customers can get somewhere to rest after taking their meals.

“I am looking forward to building a guest house here because many of my customers usually ask for a place to spend their night. I hope when I acquire my next loan I will build the guest houses,” she said.

Ms. Jerop calls on other women in business to embrace the art of acquiring and paying loans if they want to be successful in their businesses. She further lauds the stakeholders in Jasiri Fund for coming to the aid of many women like her by creating an affordable and accessible financial service.

“When you look at Jasiri Fund, it is not similar to other loans – this loan does not require collateral and the interest is quite low. Basically, it suits us women in business,” explained Jerop. With support from Mastercard Foundation,  CCGD has facilitated affordable financial services to women such as Ms. Josphine Jerop through Jasiri Fund. CCGD is currently implementing the program in Kwale, Kajiado and Busia Counties. As of December 2022, a total of 278 women and youth (young women) and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) with existing businesses had received loans worth Ksh. 15, 115, 875. CCGD partners with CREAW and GROOTS Kenya who implement the project in 6 other counties

Members of Baringo County Gender Sector Working Group during the International Day for
Zero Tolerance for FGM celebrations in Kiserian, Baringo South, Baringo County.

When Ms. Bintkhamis Mohammed divorced her husband as a result of gender-based violence all seemed to be lost as the only business she depended on to fend for two children was also affected by the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic thus leaving her and the children devastated.

“During the breakout of COVID-19 in Kenya, there were some rumours that mitumba clothes were among those items spreading the virus. Mark you at that time I had a bale of clothes for kids and it was difficult for people to buy out of fear that the clothes were spreading coronavirus, she said.

However, Ms. Mohammed says things took a different shape when she was trained and on-boarded as a beneficiary of a low-interest loan from Jasiri Fund.

Jasiri Fund is a non-collateral loan that seeks to support women affected by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic. The features of the loan include a minimum and maximum borrowing of Ksh. 30000 to 500,000, the beneficiary of the loan has a one-month grace period before they start servicing at a fixed interest rate of 8.38%

Ms. Mohammed was able to get a loan of Ksh. 30,000 which she used in reviving her business in the sale of lessos and bedsheets. The mother of two said she was given a period of nine months to service her loan, however, due to her already existing customers, she was able to service the loan within six months. This made her qualify for another loan where she took Ksh. 39,000 which she is in the process of repaying.

Apart from venturing into a new business, she also opted to digitize her business by taking pictures of her stock and sharing them on digital platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook.

“I do an online business where I take pictures of my products and share them on WhatsApp Groups as well Facebook where my customers are able to see them and make orders,” she said.

She says online sales help in cutting running costs: “I saw the responsibility that I have – I have two kids and if I decide to rent a shop which is Ksh. 10,000 per month and there are also licenses to be paid that would be costly. So, I told myself my business will be done online to cut the cost, said Mohammed.

The mother of two has also insured her business against disasters. A move that she says should be emulated by other businesswomen to avoid witnessing the same situation as witnessed during COVID -19 pandemic or any other disaster such as fire.

She looks forward to getting her third loan which she intends to build a rental house on a plot she had bought earlier. “Due to the proximity of the land to Kwale KMTC, I intend to use the money to build bedsitters which can be rented by students who usually seek a place to stay from their second year at college.”

Despite being a survivor of GBV and her business being affected by the effects of COVID-19, Ms. Mohammed now wears a smile.

With support from Mastercard Foundation funding to the consortium of   CREAW, GROOTS Kenya, and CCGD women such as Ms. Bintkhamis Mohammed can access loans from Jasiri Fund. CCGD is currently implementing the program in Kwale, Kajiado and Busia Counties. As of December 2022, a total of 285 women had received loans worth Ksh. 16, 412, 575.

By Maurice Goga

People believe that they should stay in marriage until death does them apart even if the marriage is abusive simply because “God hates divorce and marriage was instituted by God”.

Hamisi Bakari (not her real name), a survivor of gender-based violence (GBV)  went against societal expectations and social norms to divorce her husband.

The mother of two says that marriage ceases to be meaningful when you are being poisoned by going through gender-based violence all in the name of saving the marriage.

Ms. Hamisi decided to file a divorce against her husband whom she says tortured her psychologically. This she says made her develop a phobia and fear of men and also lost trust in everyone.

She adds that she took the decision so to save her two children from being affected by the abusive marriage. “I saw the need to walk out of the abusive marriage so that my children are not affected by it. I did not want my children to take violence against women as normal ­– where my son would see abusing women as normal thing while my daughter grows up knowing that because she is a woman she should be abused.”

After filing the case, the husband sold all the properties they had to ensure that Ms. Hamisi did not benefit from any of the properties.

“We had a rental house with 12 rooms, two motorbikes, and a Mpesa shop. All these he sold,” says Ms. Hamisi.

She adds that she walked out of her marriage to act as an example to women who are having similar experiences in their marriage. She also wanted to send a message that GBV should not be encouraged and that a woman can also take care of her kids alone.

After having a successful divorce, she faced stigmatization from the community. “After the divorce, I was afraid of how people will take me because in our culture, the Mijikenda, as long as your parents were paid the bride price, you are not expected to walk out of that marriage and when you do all fingers will be pointed at you.”

The healing processes

After getting the divorce, Ms. Hamisi says she needed to go through a healing process so that she comes out of her phobia and fear of men. “When I was done with the divorce process, I needed to heal. So, I sought the services of a counselor where I would have two sessions per week. At the onset narrating the ordeal was painful, but as time went by, I grew over it to point of counseling other women who are going through GBV in their marriage a similar case that I went through.”

She calls upon the state and non-state actors to invest in GBV prevention and response approaches such as psychosocial support services to come to the aid of many women and girls who are suffering silently in abusive marriages.

CCGD continues to work with the state and non-state actors in the prevention and response to GBV through various programs including the partnership with Kajiado, Kwale and Busia County Governments to support t   establishment of Gender Based Violence Recovery Centres to provide clinical and psycho-social services to GBV survivors.

The youth have called for their involvement in the prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV). Speaking during a youth dialogue in marking the 16 Days of Activism against GBV held on 6^th December 2022 at American Space Nairobi, the youth noted that they are always seen as perpetrators of violence against women and girls but on the flip side, they too are survivors of GBV which sometimes emanate from domestic and or sexual violence.

Mr. Deogratius Magero, Youth Technical Advisor at Plan International Kenya called on the stakeholders in the GBV sphere to unpack the anti- GBV information to the youth saying this will enable the majority of the youth to join the campaign towards prevention and response to GBV and finally to its elimination in Kenya by 2026.

“We need to unpack information for the youth to be active audiences in speaking out on issues of GBV,” said Magero.

Ms. Magdalyne Were, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Coordinator at Collaborative Center for Gender and Development (CCGD), noted that youth have been victims or perpetrators of GBV unknowingly saying that there are different forms of GBV which majority youth are not aware of, as a result, this makes them either victims or preparators of such forms of GBV.

“GBV does not go after married people only. There exist diverse types of GBV that you and I have either been a victim or a perpetrator unknowingly,” she said.

The SGBV Coordinator called upon stakeholders championing for the elimination of GBV in Kenya to sensitize the youth more to increase their participation in matters of prevention and response to GBV.

Power imbalances in the household were also cited as a major cause of GBV witnessed by domestic workers who are mostly youth.  Employers often take advantage of their authority to abuse the Youth.

“The cases of GBV on domestic workers are on the rise due to power imbalance in our household,” said Ms. Winfred Akumu, Deputy Executive Director, of Africa Youth Trust.

On his part, MC Kim, the Executive Director at Street Talent Africa urged stakeholders to take advantage of the skills and talent the youth have in arts to champion prevention and response to GBV. 

The dialogue forum was collaboratively organized by CCGD, Plan International, American spaces, East Africa Civil Society Forum (EACSOF) and Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) -Kenya, the forum attracted 53 youth drawn from 20 organizations.

By Maurice Goga

As you make your steps to Nikumbuke in Lunga Lunga, Kwale County, the presence of young girls in uniform will not fail to attract your attention. To a certain point, you may mistake the place for a private school. But on a keen look, the girls are either in a small room busy with their sewing machines or are reading books.

Their innocent and calm faces do not betray the experiences some of them have undergone. Behind the smiles are some survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

The project launched thirteen years ago is a brainchild of a group of 120 women who had a vision of empowering young women and girls who were seen as rejects by the community. To date, a total of 4000 women and 6000 girls have been empowered through the project.

Ms. Bernadette Muthina, the project’s director says that the women and girls at Nikumbuke are trained in the basic understanding of English and Mathematics as well as business skills.

“Most of these women and girls here have never been to school and others are dropouts of either primary or secondary school. So, I offer them literacy in English, basic in mathematics and business skills,” she says.

“At Nikumbuke we also conduct a mentorship program for young girls in both primary and secondary schools – highlighting the importance of education as well as its completion. Further, we also have a business department that is training on entrepreneurship.

Ms. Muthina adds that the center also offers vocational training in tailoring which targets young girls. To date, at least 300 young girls have been trained in tailoring and have done their National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) exams.

“For vocational training, this year am having 32 girls but we have trained over 300 girls who have started their businesses or have secured employment in private businesses as tailors,” she says.

Despite the success stories, Nikumbuke projects have their challenges–   a number of women from the Maasai and Nuruma communities can only understand their own language thus teaching them in English and Kiswahili is not possible.  For vocational training, the center has only 14 sewing machines vis-a-vis the 32 girls who currently are being trained thus the girls have to share the machines.  Technical skill training options are also limited to tailoring for girls and women and do not expose them to more lucrative any gender -stereotype courses. 

On top of the technical challenges, the centre also faces social challenges where a number of men are not friendly to the fact that the centre only offers training to women and girls.

“The men were not believing in what I am doing. Some of them used to question why am working with women and girls alone while others denied the women opportunity to undergo the training,” says Ms. Muthina

Nikumbuke Project was born out of Ms. Muthina’s vision of becoming a teacher, however, that dream did not materialize as her parents were unable to take her to college.  Being a secretary of a number of women’s groups in church and market, she was able to influence the women to start the project.

Currently, CCGD is empowering women like Ms. Muthina through Jasiri Fund – a Response, Recovery and Resilience Project in partnership with CREAW and GROOTS Kenya with support from Mastercard Foundation. Jasiri Fund is an affordable financial service accessible to women and young girls with an existing business.

By Maurice Goga