Conflict between tribes, such as between the Rendille and Borana of Marsabit, totally disrupts lives with an atmosphere of constant fear, destroys families, and impoverishes innocent people.
This environment of fear and violence contributes to intergenerational animosity toward ‘the others’.
Sauti Moja has targeted two groups as potential peacemakers – widows of conflict and primary school children from these communities.
Women impoverished and widowed due to livestock raids, but wishing for a new start in life, formed peace groups with ‘enemy’ widows in similarly dire straits. Their commitment qualified them for livestock loans, but in contrast to regular banks, their loan is paid off by giving female offspring to another widow of conflict from the enemy community. Watch a video.
Reconciliation between widows is facilitated through a healing process that includes repentance and forgiveness which provides the foundation for their peace. They model and then advocate for restored relationship between their communities. Their request for school children to be taught about conflict and peacemaking led to establishing Peace Clubs to help stop the cycle of violence.
These women of conflict have become Peace Ambassadors who were invited to give testimony of personal and community transformation through song and drama in neighbouring communities, county events, and nationally as well as told stories of reconciliation on radio. Their witness to peace has motivated new groups of moms, including those displaced by ethnic conflict, to reconcile, model and advocate for interethnic harmony.
Peace Clubs are established in primary schools to teach skills in conflict resolution, help students critically think about the conflict in their relationships, family and community, come up with peaceful, creative solutions to such conflict, and promote and model peacemaking. An adaptation of this training has now been integrated into curriculum for Adult Literacy classes.
Donate $90 for a Peace Club meeting to address interethnic conflict
