“My neighbor was about to be raped but she paid them a lot of money. When I heard that I escaped and sought refuge at the police station,” shares a woman responding to the rapid needs assessment through a face-to-face interview in Mombasa. A young woman recalls, “My auntie was slashed with a machete and she died on the spot. They tried to rape me but I ran away”. Now living in camps, many women are desperate to begin rebuilding their lives.

The World YWCA hopes to share these stories and the outcomes of the rapid needs assessment with religious leaders visiting Kenya from January 30 – February 3. The visit, called "Living Letters," is part of the World Council of Churches’ Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010), an initiative promoting peaceful alternatives to violence. The visiting team includes two representatives from the World YWCA, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, World YWCA General Secretary and Geeske Zanen, World YWCA board member. The team, hosted by the National Council of Churches in Kenya, will learn how best the international fellowship of churches can support Kenyan churches' efforts towards peace and reconciliation.

The programme of the visit will include meetings with Kenyan religious leaders, both Christian and of other faiths; government officials and opposition leaders; and churches, local communities and civil society organisations in Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru and Kakamega. “ We will raise the issues women have shared with us with the leaders in Kenya,” Gumbonzvanda explains, “Women should be engaged as partners in finding and implementing solutions to the current unrest.”

In addition to providing shelter for women, the World YWCA, in close collaboration with YWCA Kenya and partners, is responding to the crisis by advocating for women to be involved in the mediation efforts and promoting peace building in communities. Kenya YWCA General Secretary, Alice Mwajuma Abok, has since been involved in mediation efforts joining religious leaders on their visit with President Kibaki and political leaders and raising women’s issues to Kofi Annan’s mediation team, which includes Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela.

Related Links

• Action alert: 250,000 homeless in Kenya after post-election violence
• YWCA calls for peace with justice and protection of women’s rights in Kenya