Intrepid Women of Kenya

In 2013 I spent four months living in Kenya conducting research on the role women play in community healing and peacebuilding. During that time I ran arts-infused workshops in Kibera and Haruma, two of Nairobi's largest slums. These workshops were conducted with women from eight different tribes, to explore their concept of peace, how they played a role in promoting peace in their communities as the general election neared . . . but that story is for another time.

During my four months in Kenya, I was lucky enough to connect with three women's only villages: one located in the Massai Mara and two in Samburu dsitrict. The latter two had been created out of necessity: by women who had been victims of rape by members of local detachment of the British Military and who had been ostracized by their husbands and family. There is great shame attached to rape in Kenya, and therefore women rarely speak of it.

Another women's only village, the Village of Senchen is another example of a Samburu group of women who created a village in response to the violence they had undergone.  They are surviving by helping one another. It is through creating community that women support one another.