UNITED IN ONE VOICE

With a passion of uplifting the welfare of my fellow women, what started off as a volunteer secretary in my local Church group Catholic Women Association has grown being the Chairperson in the Archdiocese of Nairobi that include both Rural and Urban setting. This has also given me opportunity to serve in various boards where Holistic empowerment in the core i.e. the Caritas. I am also at pains in supporting my women from the grass-root that happens to the slums – Kiandutu (Jiggers) where I first experienced my leadership skills. We have started the Merry go rounds, Fuel saving Baskets, Environment Conservation. This is continuous and is done through workshops and demonstration groups to self awareness and direction agenda.
From this humble beginning and with skills I never thought I possessed, I am now actively involved in empowering my church group in building its own Pastoral & Retreat Centre in a town known as Thika, in the outskirts of Nairobi. This has been warranted by the fact that despite the group being over 30 years in existence, we have continued to meet in church halls and open fields. During our feast days Annunciation and St Monica’s Day (our Patron Saint), and since we are a large number with an average of 5,000 in attendance to our celebrations, adverse weather conditions has always been a challenge. I realized for us to be dignified and respected as women, we had to respect ourselves first by way of changing the way we look at things and also the way we carry ourselves. I championed for a funds drive in August this year where we raised a reasonable amount, enough to start us off.

My dream will be realized when the women, regarding of their backgrounds, will one day raise up in one voice and say enough is enough – take it upon ourselves, roll-up our sleeves and do what it takes to make us live a dignified life.
My vision is to see to it that during my tenure in the leader, something tangible will be achieved for the other to follow and that I will have empowered upcoming leaders to take up challenges facing us in-order to take the women agenda and of course families another step higher.
I like surfing very much, and I like anything to do with peace (I am a Woman Peace Maker) – that’s how I came across the Peace and Collaboration link, which then connected me to AWID and then – Pulse World. The name Pulse had me thinking – you know – as in Rhythm – which is what I had been searching for, for a while. A continuous rhythm to l keep me going, our joys, challenges, networking, uplifting, uniting, solutions where possible and even listening. When I read about all this inspiring stories – some which are from my own Country , I feel that I still need to do more, it urges me on.
Pulse World ,keep the fire burning!