Mathare Community and Fellowship ImmersionDialogue Report · James" comes" from Kericho,"...

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Fahamu Pan African Programme

Induction and Community Immersion

3rd-‐ 5th July 2017 | Shalom House and Mathare, Nairobi

Compiled by : Leonida Odongo

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Abbreviations ABN: Africa Biodiversity Network COTU: Central Organization of Trade Unions ESIA: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment GROOTS: Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood GDP: Gross Domestic Product FPAP: Fahamu Pan African Fellowship Programme ICE: Institute of Culture and Ecology KHRC: Kenya Human Rights Commission KHRDC: Kenya Human Rights Defenders Coalition KTDA: Kenya Tea Development Authority LAPSSET: Lamu Southern Sudan Transport Corridor project LRC: Labour Resource Centre NIB: National Irrigation Board NEMA: National Environmental Management Board PAR: Participatory Action Research PBI: Peace Brigades International TB: Tuberculosis TBAs: Traditional Birth Attendants UDHR: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Acknowledgement Fahamu would like to appreciate the contribution of diverse individuals and institutions for making the Fellowship Induction a reality. We thank Ford Foundation without whose support the project would not have become a reality. We acknowledge the faculty members for sharing their experience and shaping alternative worldviews amongst the fellows during the engagement process. We thank Cristina Sandu of Oxford Brookes University for editing this report. We thank the communities and movements represented for the sharing of experiences and realities of struggles in their respective communities.

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Background Fahamu’s Pan-‐African Fellowship Programme (FPAP) seeks to nurture organic leadership through enabling skills enhancement, experience sharing and practical advocacy methods, in order to realize meaningful change in the target sites of struggle. This report highlights induction of the 3rd cohort of Fellows drawn from 6 counties namely Tharaka-‐Nithi, Kirinyaga, Kakamega, Lamu, Nairobi and Kericho. The Fellows’ struggles entailed gender justice on property rights, protection of sacred sites, people centred food justice, protection of the rights of indigenous people, workers’ rights and reproductive justice. The struggles, though contained in the 6 counties, are a manifestation of the day-‐to-‐day life of millions of Kenyans and many Africans in the continent.

Introduction The objective of the induction process was to take the fellows through an understanding of Fahamu as an organization and in-‐depth sharing of the Fellowship Program, including deliberations on the various struggles by the fellows, their strategies used in the struggles, the challenges faced, and some ways in which these challenges have been overcome. To gain better understanding of the Fellowship process, the fellows were taken through a documentary highlighting the debates the Fahamu alumni fellows were undertaking and the diverse struggles within the alumni’s localities.

Day 1: Wednesday, 3rd July 2014

Ice-‐breaking The fellows were asked to share their name, mention one African country and the reason they admired that country. The responses were: Doreen, a fellow from Kakamega County, represents the Luhya community, her country of preference being Rwanda because though affected by the genocide it is picking up in terms of development. Elosy is from Tharaka Nithi County, from Tharaka community, her struggle concerns the protection of sacred sites and she likes Rwanda because it was the first country to ban paper bags. James comes from Kericho, represents the Kipsigis community, his struggle concerns workers rights and he likes Mauritius because it has a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is more organized. Gladys is from Kirinyaga, she represents the Kirinyaga community, her struggle is on land rights for farmers and she did not mention her country of preference

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Mohamed hailed from Lamu, he is from the Swahili community, he focuses on indigenous peoples’ right to land and he likes Nigeria because of the similar kind of struggle the Ogoni People are facing, and because of what is happening in Lamu; he also likes Mozambique because of its successful fishing facility rearing large numbers of prawns. Victoria, a fellow from Kiamaiko, representing the Mathare community, names Rwanda as her country of preference because of the level of women’s empowerment in the country.

Fellows getting to know one another

Session 2: Creating Safe Spaces for Learning The Fellows were asked amongst 4 values (respect, commitment, non-‐judgmental and confidentiality) which value was most important to them and why. The responses were: Value Relevance Respect -‐Respect is mutual and once one respects others, they too

are respected. Commitment and self-‐ care/community care

-‐In activism one has to commit their energy because activism is a lengthy process -‐There is need to take time off to re-‐energize; in advocacy work activists should also take care of the community and avoid taking personal risks

Confidentiality -‐This means keeping things secret; people may share personal experiences to create personal connections with a given struggle. The shared information should not be divulged beyond the confines of the current space

Non judgmental -‐People shouldn’t attach negative tags to others, there is the need to acknowledge our uniqueness as individuals

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Expectations and Fears Asked to share their expectations and fears with regard to the Fellowship, the fellows’ responses were: Expectations

● To learn more on reproductive health rights and how to overcome health related challenges

● Learn more about other people’s struggles in the continent to have ideas on how to deal with local problems

● Learn more on real life situations

● Learn about struggles in fellow communities

● Learn and share experiences e.g. how Fellows have addressed local challenges

● Acquire more knowledge from Fahamu and know other communities on land matters

● earn inspiring stories from the communities (the different ways of organization)

Fears ● Being judgmental (individually) ● Insecurity because of proximity

to Westgate ● Live in an environment where

there is no peace ● Hostile reception by the

community ● The other fellows being

judgmental ● The fellowship programme

might collide with other commitments e.g. family demands

● Being disillusioned ● Being a slow learner, delaying

on responding to questions ● Lack of adequate support from

the Fellow’s movement may inhibit achievement of the desired vision

Addressing the Emerging Fears The Fellows were assured that Fahamu would ensure they had their desired personal space. Moreover, safety would be maintained in collaboration with partners. Fahamu would make the programme flexible and share the program content, including objectives. Accountability on the part of the fellows would be ascertained through information sharing about the fellowship with community members in the Fellow’s local communities. Mutual respect amongst the fellows was highlighted as important, as well as the usage of both English and Kiswahili in the debates to enable effective understanding of the discourses.

Session 3: Overview of Fahamu The Fellows were asked about their thoughts when they heard about Fahamu for the first time. Their responses were: ● It means understanding (from the Kiswahili word) ● It’s an advocacy organization that helps people ● Had initially thought that all the fellows were dealing with the same issue

(property and inheritance rights) ● Thought all other organization (representative movement) dealing with

property rights issues ● An organization that provides a platform for comparison/comparative

analysis of issues

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In response to the fellow’s perspectives, Fahamu was described as: ”A political organization that seeks to raise consciousness among people and expose social injustice”. The role of Fahamu and Fellows in Social Justice Activism Fellows’ Role in Social Justice Activism

● A human rights defender in the struggle related to lifestyle, background, high rates of violence in the locality; stand up for the people

● Being raised up in an environment of anti-‐government

● Inherent feelings of being enslaved despite Kenya’s declaration of independence (the case of rice farmers in Mwea)

● Sacred sites protection, Tharaka has their own natural way of living, the government’s way of recognizing the sacred sites is inadequate, pervasive environmental destruction

● Work on property rights: women and girls not allowed to own property, selective development amongst the genders, lack of respect for unmarried women, the negative impacts of HIV in the community, women deemed as the cause of HIV infection in the community, women chased away from matrimonial homes, deemed as bad omen

● The fellow was once a victim of work related oppression. This resulted to their engagement in workers rights activism .The fellow was elected to become a shop steward to bring out issues affecting workers. The other oppressions affecting

Fahamu’s Role in Social Justice Activism ● The major aim of Fahamu is to

situate the struggles amongst grassroots communities in a broader continental perspective

● Fahamu is a Pan African organization with Pan African thinking, as Africans have been subjected to similar oppressions, to laws making them inferior

● Fahamu was established in 1997 with the aim of contributing in solving historical social injustice, i.e. African people putting efforts together to address systems that oppress them

● Discrimination of gender results into many African countries and communities treating women as inferior; despite this, there are organizations headed by women and showing excellent performance

● Most revolutions have been a result of workers demanding rights e.g. American Revolution and French Revolution, Russian revolution, South African miners going on strike because of exploitation by Mining corporations

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farmers growing tea is that they can only sell their tea at the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) and are not allowed to sell their tea to any other entity and cannot process the tea on their own due to lack of capacity and prohibitions as KTDA is the only government recognised entity

● Injustices happening in own community –the case of farmers oppression by the National Irrigation Board (NIB) in Mwea Irrigation Scheme

Analogy of Social injustice The population grows, their needs grow and the population is finite. There appears to be fewer resources in the African continent because some people take more than they need. Fahamu tries to ensure people get equal share of the limited resources, thus the fellows were encouraged not to undermine their issues at the local level as this adds up to the greater effort. Fahamu as an organization appreciated the fellows being part of the programme and hoped their experiences would enrich the organization and other grassroots communities to further understand the injustices facing them. It was further hoped that the fellowship would enable cross learning and facilitate deeper understanding of political education.

Session 4: Basic Concepts in the Fellowship Process The fellows were taken through an understanding of basic concepts in the Fellowship process as: Pan African: Involving the people of African descent either in Africa or in the diaspora. Fellowship: Association of people with similar concepts/solidarity of social justice activists Why Fellowship? ● Lack of adequate skills and knowledge among activists at the grassroots,

Fellowship provides an opportunity to access knowledge ● Helps in building networks in the ground within and outside the fellow’s

community

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● Brings together actors in the struggle, becomes a platform for sharing experiences on the African continent

Cross section of Fellows

● Creates awareness of real life situations in

different communities

● Provides a common understanding e.g. inter-‐linkage between reproductive health, environmental rights, land rights etc. to enable in-‐depth understanding

● Provides space for understanding that the struggle is not confined to one community only

● Enables to learn from one another in a democratized space Core tenets within Fahamu Fellowship Programme Reflection ● After a given time period, the fellows are expected

to reflect on what they have learnt, these reflections will inform the changes they want to see in their communities

Analysis and Evaluation

● In each situation, analysis is relevant because it enables gathering in-‐depth understanding of a situation the fellow is struggling with; evaluation enables the fellow to ascertain whether they have achieved both their short term and long term objectives

Democratization of knowledge

● The Fellowship is about sharing knowledge and cross learning, its about empowering grassroots communities to enable them achieve their desired change

Companionship in the struggle

● The Fellows struggles, although in diverse localities, have some commonalities e.g. land struggles in Lamu have a correlation with property right struggles among widows in Kakamega

● Through the fellowship, fellows learn from one another and use the information gathered from one struggle and modify it to fit in their communities

Participation and cooperation

● For the fellows to achieve their desired change, community participation is important, they have to

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identify other actors within their localities facing the same struggle and seek to work together with them to achieve a shared vision

● Cooperation is further relevant in the fellowship

identify, its resources can be utilized in movements at the grassroots level

Challenging /questioning situations

● This is when the fellows continue, in the process of fellowship, to challenge the status quo e.g. insecurity in Lamu and Mathare, challenging beyond the things they see, challenging the government e.g. Mwea Farmers on use of outdated laws in the schemes, challenging communities to engage in development activities e.g. construction of roads

● Activism is about contestation, enabling change; the fellows have to ask questions and seek to know why things are the way they are, and identify what they can do to change the situation e.g. Why do workers in tea plantations still lack contracts despite provisions in Labour laws, and Why do widows continue to be evicted from their matrimonial homes? Why is top management team in tea plantations made of males only? Why do pregnant women still utilize TBAs in Mathare in the era of HIV/AIDS and 50 years after Kenya’s independence?

Locating the fellows’ site of struggle The Fellows were asked to draw a map of Kenya and to identify each other’s site of struggle. The exercise was meant to make fellows visualize and relate to each other’s struggles. To respond to the inquiry on why the specific sites of struggle, Fahamu identified the fellows through referral from partners, magnitude of social injustices in the target areas, gross human rights violations (girls and women in Kakamega), including rampant violation of farmers’ rights in Mwea and tea workers in Kericho, prior engagement with a social movement as was the case of Save Lamu Coalition and Bunge La Wamama.

Session 5: Immersion into the Fellowship Programme Fellowship Learning Themes The learning themes for the fellowship were discussed as follows: Social change theories Help to explain why things happen the way they happen

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e.g. why extreme richness amid extreme poverty? Why always have men as leaders? Further identification of which theories explain the various social injustices

Movement building Work together collectively to address community problems

Community organizing

Analysing what can be done to change the problems our communities are going through

Participatory Action Research (PAR)

The community identifies a research, reflects on findings and translates the findings into action aimed at improving the community

Session 6: Presentation of the Fellows’ Struggles Protection of Sacred Sites in Tharaka

Sacred sites along River Kathita in Tharaka -‐Nithi are under threat; this is a Result of persistent environmental degradation of the community through farming along riverbanks, charcoal burning, lack of awareness of sacred sites, and the failure to recognise

sacred site protection by laws by the national government. The Fellows were taken through the core elements of the Fellowship program, which entailed: Strategies used by the activists to advance their struggle included mapping the sacred sites, community awareness to highlight importance of protection of sacred sites, and engagement of the custodians of culture to facilitate inter-‐generational transfer of knowledge. Property and Inheritance Rights among widows The death of a husband spells doom for many widows in Kakamega because they become subjected to property disinheritance. This is attributed to the patriarchal nature of the community, these women have no option but to vacate their homesteads and find solace in shopping centres where they are at increased risk of HIV infection due to engagement in transactional sex in order to fend for their children. In addition, in their households women are, due to cultural norms, Co-‐education Learning from each other, the fellows also educating their

trainers to learn more about their struggle

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Research Participatory research where the fellows, with support from Fahamu, research and deliberate on the social movement members in order to select a research topic based on their community’s struggles

Study groups Through these the fellows would learn together with their communities and the readings shared

Strategies used by Shibuye Community Health Workers (CHWs) to advance the rights of widows include organizing local-‐to-‐local dialogues and community feedback meetings to share experiences on women’s property rights, training of community based paralegals, forums to create awareness, as well as advocacy against delayed cases of property rights in the local courts. Protection of Indigenous people’s rights to land in Lamu Save Lamu Coalition, comprising of 38 organizations in Lamu, advocate for land rights for the indigenous communities in the wake of mass eviction of local inhabitants without compensation; these evictions pave way for the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-‐Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) project. Through petitions, demonstrations and community awareness, members of the coalition are pushing for participatory consultation between the indigenous communities and the government before initiating development projects in the area; the coalition also aims for compensation for evictees and carries out Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) in the area in order to assess the impacts of development projects on the local population, taking into consideration social, economical and environmental impacts. People Centred Agrarian reforms in Mwea

Within the rice schemes in Mwea, a discriminative regime exists which denies farmers their rights and their opportunity to live in dignity. Law as contained in Cap 147 of the Irrigation Act sanctions this form of oppression.

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In a year, farmers are allocated 12 bags for their personal use while National Irrigation Board (NIB) takes the rest away. The living conditions of the farmers are also pathetic. When children of the farmers reach 18 years, they are forced by clauses in the Irrigation Act to leave their homes where they are at risk of HIV infection as they attempt to survive on their own. Also, the farmers are legally denied the permission to grow any other products apart from rice. Mwea Foundation activists use awareness creation and court petitions to fight the various injustices meted on farmers. Workers’ Rights in Kericho tea plantations Issues adversely affecting workers in tea plantations include poor pay, poor working conditions (lack of basic protective gear), poor housing, inadequate health care, sexual abuse and discriminatory practices with regard to promotion of women in the workplace. The Labour Awareness Centre (LAC) carries out awareness creation, collaborates with media fraternity both locally and internationally to highlight the plight of workers in the tea estates. Reproductive Justice among the urban poor Access to sexual and reproductive health is still a mirage among the urban poor. Within Mathare, women are unable to access health due to costs, the high rates of insecurity also deters women from going to hospital especially at night when they risk being raped. For poor pregnant women, the available options are Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and faith healers where there is further risk of stillbirths and cross infections including the risk of haemorrhage. For girls, inaccessibility to sanitary towels may determine whether they drop or continue going to school and the compounding problem of the lack of adequate and factual information on sexual and reproductive health. Bunge la Wamama social movement adopts research and documentation, mobilization and awareness creation on sexual and reproductive health in order to empower communities on their rights to health

Sharing on gaps in right to reproductive health in Mathare

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Day 2: Thursday: 4th July 2014

Session 1: Community Immersion & Dialogues: Kiamaiko, Nairobi County The community dialogue process was held in Kiamaiko village in Mathare and was hosted by Bunge La Wamama, a social movement advancing sexual and reproductive health for women and girls in various parts of Kenya. The immersion brought together fifty nine (59) participants (38 females; 21 males). The represented organizations included Bunge La Wamama members and partners operating within and outside Mathare1. The participants were taken through tracing the historical background of Mathare community, a visual presentation of struggle for rights to health in Mathare (Mathare through the Decades), connectivity of the struggles for health in Mathare community with the various struggles the fellows were undertaking in their communities. The participants were further taken through rationale for Fahamu engagement in the Fellowship process with Bunge la Wamama and a plenary session to enhance learning and sharing. The participants were taken through a graphic representation of Mathare through decades, from the 1960s until the year 2000, showing the undergone struggles for right to health, including the prevalent diseases: Decade Features 1960s-‐1970s High rates of water related diseases e.g. dysentery,

whooping cough, mumps, measles, polio, chicken pox, jiggers infestation, non registration of children at birth (because women gave birth at home),

1970s-‐1980s Dysentery, whooping cough, mumps, measles, polio, chicken pox, HIV, TB, unsafe abortions (using needles and straws), high rates of STDs

1990s-‐2000s Rising levels of insecurity, mushrooming of private hospitals (Upendo and Corner dispensaries), growth in number of quacks, rising in unprofessionalism in health sector (drunk doctors and absentee nurses), community health strategies devolved to the

1 Mathare is an informal settlement located East of Nairobi with an estimated population of 500,000

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grassroots especially for children, CSOs set up hospitals e.g. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Blue House)

Why Fahamu Works with Bunge la Wamama in Fellowship Fahamu works in partnership with Bunge la Wamama to enable fellows to learn from each other and assess connectivity in struggles between what the fellows are going through, with issues being advanced by Bunge la Wamama.Drawing Commonalities in the Struggles Based on the presentation of the historical background of Mathare and the challenges ensuing with regard to sexual and reproductive health rights among the population, the Fellows were asked to share their perspectives on the linkages between their struggles and the struggles of Bunge la Wamama. The shared perspectives were highlighted as follows: Social movement

Connectivity with Bunge la Wamama’s Struggles

Shibuye Community Health Workers

● Widows when evicted from their homes after the death of the husband go to live in the shopping centres where they exchange sexual favours for money to provide basic needs for their children

● When men get bonus from harvesting tea and sugarcane, they marry younger women hence placing their wives at risk of STIs

Save Lamu Coalition

● During forced evictions, pregnant women and girls suffer, being unable to access health care services

● The Indemnity Act outlawing compensation for victims of government evictions denies the population the ability to access health care services

● Corruption on land titling system hinders control of indigenous people’s resources hence living in poverty

● In both situations, there is struggle over access to land ● Non consultation of the locals in development issues

(deliberate exclusion of local participation by politicians in Mathare, non consultation of Lamu community prior to the LAPSSET project)

Ndunduni Self Help Group

● Environmental degradation leading to emergence of diseases

● Failure of the government to respect environmental laws ● Non consultation of locals when government carries out

activities in the local area (non consultation of elders on sacred sites protection)

● High rates of water related diseases due to consumption of polluted water

● Poor health due to presence of heavy metals in local water sources as a result of pollution

Mwea Farmers Foundation

● Low purchasing power because financial autonomy of farmers is controlled by National Irrigation Board (NIB)

● Poor health as a result of overwork

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● Vulnerability to HIV infection as a result of negative policies (at 18 children have to vacate the schemes)

● When farmers cultivate 4 acres of land they work on land the whole year and only get to use 12 bags of rice

● Children of rice farmers sent away from the scheme once they get to 18 years

● High rates of malaria infection due to swampy terrain Labour Resource Centre (LRC)

● Most managers are men hence women subjected to sexual abuse through transactional sex

● Use of highly sensitive chemicals in the farms learning to automatic abortion among women

● High amount of rape cases (although the trend has gone down as a result of awareness)

● Defilement of girls as mothers leave them unattended ● Long working hours have implications on health ● Negative impact on adverse weather conditions e.g.

prolonged rain and working in direct sunshine without protective cover

● Low pay resulting into inability to afford health care services

Session 2: Faculty Members’ and Resource Persons’ Perspectives on Intersectionality of Struggles

Esther Mwaura-‐GROOTS Kenya Reinforced the historical background of Mathare with a personal experience sharing session on rehabilitation of toilets in Mathare in order to prevent sexual violence against women and girls; the rehabilitation led to the agenda of Mathare inhabitants (especially women and girls) living in poverty to being part of the UN 1997 Conference. Hence, the UN Habitat’s allocated 30% of the meeting attendees to poor people. The faculty member further discussed her role in the Fellowship process i.e. Movement building which would entail definitions, distinctions between movements and organizations, and the process of assessment of level of commitment in movements among members. Salome Nduta-‐ Kenya Human Rights Defenders Coalition (KHRDC) The Faculty member emphasized that organizing was about creating linkages e.g. linking LAPSSET project in the Lamu struggle with workers’ rights in the case of Tea workers in Kericho. Further, the fellows were taken through exploration of how to work together as fellows during and after the Fellowship.

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Elijah Kamau-‐Institute of Culture and Ecology (ICE) Shared on interconnectivity of the struggles and emphasized the legal framework as an avenue for achieving the desired change. This change was to be achieved through conducting an analysis of the laws to identify gaps and using these as advocacy agendas. The need for working in teams was discussed with emphasis on the power of collectivism, being informed and being courageous. The fellows were reminded of the need to interrogate their County specific Integrated Development Plans and link the contents with their community’s struggles (including aspects of funding which they may utilize to help them with their struggles). The land struggle in Lamu was linked to the Land injustices in Kiambu County where original land owners, as a result of dispossession, are currently living in poverty in shopping centres. The non-‐consultation of local people in Lamu through the LAPSSET project was related to the eviction of farmers from Ruiru during construction of Ruiru 2 Dam and construction of Ndakaine Dam where the dam has resulted into changes in the local climate, and in the reluctance of the locals to consume the water despite the dam being situated close to their homes. Ruth Nyambura-‐African Biodiversity Network (ABN) The resource person drew the linkages between food, land injustice and extractive industries. She further reiterated that rural urban migration was a lived reality across the global south featured by confiscation of land for farming in rural areas and land grabbing in urban areas. The Fellows and Kiamaiko community at large were reminded that it was wrong to assume that rights would be automatically granted given that Kenya had a Constitution in place. In addition, the fellows were informed on the relevance of linking their struggles with international instruments. The need for radical organizing was emphasized in cognizance of the fact that the same Constitution might give one right and inhibit access to other rights. The judiciary as a structure was acknowledged to be conservative and the nature in which groups are formulated was noted not to translate into an automatic access to rights. Comments in plenary ● Challenges people are going through in Mathare are challenges that have

been in existence for a long time ● In the era of HIV, Mathare still utilizes TBAs in health care service

provision ● With regard to health, the situation has not changed: when collectives

starts radically demanding for rights, they are threatened ● Within Mathare, menstruation is a challenging moment and leads to child

prostitution and school dropout due to embarrassment during the menses

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● Despite advances in health in Kenya and governments’ budgetary allocation to health (Kshs. 47.4 billion) syphilis and gonorrhoea (as well as other preventable diseases) are diseases still rampant amongst the population of Mathare

Observations on Community Dialogues ● Throughout the decades, rising levels of populations were having a great

impact on health of the people of Mathare ● Despite having political representation in parliament, the health rights of

Mathare people have been neglected ● Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) are the most important source of

health services for poor families in the area ● Mushrooming of unregulated health services in the area poses a health

risk for the locals ● The situation on access to health in Mathare has continued to get worse

and as the area grows, the social injustices in health become more apparent

● Health services in Mathare, though available to a certain extent, are not affordable, and part of the population is forced by circumstances to resort to faith healers popularly known as japolo

● The gravity of the impact of a disease depends on an individual’s financial stability; those who cannot afford delay in seeking health services

Conclusion-Community Dialogues

Bunge La Wamama Mashinani appreciated Fahamu for giving them an opportunity to host the Community dialogue and acknowledged Fahamu’s role in empowering the grassroots movement.

Fahamu, as an organization, was grateful for the role played by Bunge La Wamama, and acknowledged having learnt a lot from interactions with Bunge La Wamama and other grassroots movements. Partners present were further acknowledged for the different roles they have played towards achieving some level of meaningful change amongst grassroots communities.

Day 3: Friday, 5th July 2014

Session 1: Fellows and Faculty Deliberations The day entailed the fellows being taken through a recap of the community dialogue including sharing highlight moments and interconnections between the

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struggles in Mathare and the struggles within the fellows’ own communities. Fellows discussed their “Aha” (highlight) moment as follows The Highlight moment

● Elderly Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) providing delivery services to pregnant women

● The historical background of Mathare with Africans carrying faeces on their backs on wheel barrows for payment on behalf of the Asian community

● Knowing what Fahamu is understating better the role of fellows within the Fellowship programme

● How long midwives had been struggling ● How the struggles of women in Mathare enabled the fellows to internalize

their own struggles ● The power of collectivism by Bunge la Wamama ● Knowing what Fahamu is all about ● Being in Mathare instead of hearing about it on the media ● Use of midwives in Kenya today (50 years after independence Kenyans

still go to midwives) ● Going through the historical timeline, realising that things have not

changed, instead they are getting worse ● Learning about the different struggles from the fellows; comparing the

struggles and realising that some struggles are worse than others e.g. workers in Kericho being harassed but unable to stand up for their rights because of fear of dismissal

● The relief of having fellows share their success stories and assurance that in the Lamu struggles there would be improvement as well

● One struggle can manifest itself in various ways e.g. land being grabbed leading to lack of clinics (there are underlying reasons for social injustice) and land grabbing leading to inaccessibility of space

What was learned from the dialogues ● Land struggle is not a feature of Mathare only but a problem in all the

communities of the fellows ● Helped understand that there are many actors involved in various

struggles in diverse places ● The sharing of successes and challenges faced in the struggles in Mathare

influenced the urge to continue and persist with the Fellow’s individual struggles

● Many other agents are willing to come on board in adding momentum to the struggle

● All the struggle are about bringing social justice to everyone and all the struggles are interrelated

● Genesis of every struggle is poverty ● Gave morale and will to work ● Importance of investing in the historical background of our struggles; it

enables the development of effective strategies ● Everyone should put more effort in order to make a change

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● Helped identify many others ready to assist in the struggle e.g. One million march to Kericho to advocate for workers rights

● If people stand up radically and strongly and say no to violations they can achieve change

Connections made with other struggles ● Through Fahamu, they will connect and network easily at the grassroots ● Enabled networking through fellowships (current fellows and alumni) ● The different types of oppressions work together, activists have an

opportunity to work together ● The power of collectivism and having a “can do attitude” is very critical ● Struggles are about social justice for all ● All struggles are interrelated e.g. reproductive health affects workers,

farmers, etc. ● In every part of the world people go through injustices and the actors are

few, there is need for cooperation and information sharing to enable communities achieve change

● Fighting for natural resource rights is bigger than fighting for other rights (communities may not see connections on environmental violations compared to human rights violations unless they are empowered)

● All the struggles require commitment, if you are not committed to fight violations you cannot make it

Session 2: Struggle for Workers Rights in Kenya-‐ Inter-‐sectionality with broader social justice issues in Kenya and Africa-‐Nduta Kweheria: KHRC The Fellows were taken through the background of Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) with the aim of locating the Fellows’ struggles within a Human Rights perspective. The Fellows were further taken through evolution of human rights as follows: Years Features 1900 Europe was a dominant continent, there was scramble and

partition of Africa with French and British and other European countries drawing resources from the colonies. Sovereignty of nations was emphasized, it was an era of absolutism with authority of Kings and Queens not being questioned by their subjects

1900-‐1914 Struggles over resources ensued with dominant countries treating other countries as inferior

1914-‐1917 Outbreak of 1st World war resulted into death toll of 1 million people. Aftermath of the World War 1 (WW1) resulted into the formation of the League of Nations

1939-‐1945 Outbreak of the 2nd World War, millions died including over 6 million Jews and Africans who were fighting in what was then Burma

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights set up, recognizing all human beings as born free and equal; it is divided into clauses.

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The charter was not tied to any religion due to emergence of possible religious animosity

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Fellowship Process The Faculty member emphasized that the Fellowship was about claiming rights and gave examples of how poor people due to pay more for basic services such as water, while the rich spend very little because they have a higher purchasing power and can therefore buy in bulk. It was further emphasized that people unaware of human rights give up in the process of activism and that there is need to know facts about rights while at the same time recognizing that each struggle is linked to human rights. The resource person summed the session by defining human rights as “what is needed in order to survive and live in dignity”.

Session 3: Interrogating Social Injustice The Fellows were asked to define social injustice in their local dialects, and this helped in deepening understanding of what social justice entailed. The faculty members further pointed out that reasons for getting into activism were diverse, for some it was to advance careers while for others it was as a result of what they have personally gone through. There was need for understanding, amongst the Fellows, the motivation of having a human rights discourse when engaging with government in order to ensure accountability, and that a human rights framework was a powerful and deliberating tool. The Fellows were further taken through a section on unpacking the social injustices they were struggling with using as an example the Lamu county in the following way: land injustice results to improper land acquisitions, leading to massive displacement of rightful owners; the supporting forces in the struggle are the existence of legal documents e.g. the Constitution and National Land Policy. The Fellows were informed of the relevance of questioning why things happen in the course of their struggles, such as why is the community unable to resist land eviction in Lamu? Why do widows continue to be disinherited?

Session 4: Framing Social Injustices: Esther Mwaura–GROOTS Kenya The framing process was undertaken as follows: Main injustice What is to be done by the fellows Adequate Differentiate what rights one has and frame it into injustice,

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access to basic health services

analyse commitments by the government on the right to health, identify who are the power holders in the health sector, assess budgetary allocation by the government to the right to health, assessment of international documents on right to health e.g. Abuja Declaration

Environmental degradation in Tharaka -‐Nithi

Identify where the rights are, what rights can be claimed by the community, sources of the rights and the rights versus responsibilities of the community and of other actors, identification of other actors in the degradation process including Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), NEMA and Kenya Forestry Service and their failures of concerned departments in handling the negative impact of environmental degradation

The fellows were informed that the best way to unpack their struggles was to address the struggles through a template outlined below: What is our right

What is our responsibility

What are the actors

What are the rights violations

What are the laws that govern the injustice

Fellows’ perspectives on Social Injustices ● The Tharaka Nithi based Fellow to assess with her community

alternatives to charcoal as fuel and to encourage afforestation through tree planting to enable the community to have a sustainable way of surviving with the environment

● The fellows need to understand what resources they require to achieve their visions

● As activists, the Fellows were informed that they play the role of providing their target communities with alternatives

Faculty Members’ Perspectives on Social Injustices It was emphasized that the Fellows properly define the stories around their struggles to enable easier understanding. The responsibility of every actor to be clearly defined e.g. in the case of environmental degradation, there is a need for clear definitions of roles of government, responsibility of the community and familiarization with local level administrative legislations. It was pointed out that the fellows need to really understand the change they want to see and this would be guided by the following questions: ● How is our community now, where do we want to go? ● What went wrong in our struggles? ● Can the systems work in the current system? ● What has been availed within the legal system that we can tap in? ● We ought to define our responsibilities in future to enable us to realize

our desired change

In building scenarios with communities, the fellows were asked to envision how

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life was 20 years ago, how their communities are living now and what would happen in the next 20 years. Moreover, the fellows were asked to track the history of their struggles from before colonialism, after colonialism and their current situation. To inform the framing of injustices further, the fellows were asked to go through legal frameworks to help them clarify and redefine their struggles. In the Mwea Foundation’s struggle, the movement was advised not to focus on land titling but on the broader issues of food sovereignty, assess whether the 4 acres allotted to each farmer is adequate in relation to Constitutional provisions and identify the structures used by National Irrigation Board (NIB) to continue oppressing farmers. On workers rights, the fellow was informed on the need to focus workers enjoying a living wage as opposed to a minimum wage, which is difficult to define, and to focus on one area, Kericho, as opposed to Naivasha The fellows were then given an assignment with regard framing the injustices as follows: ● To collectively reframe their struggles together with the community

members they represented ● Get facts about the struggles, be it on Internet, books, interviewing

community members etc. ● Get to know the kind of power the fellows have as individuals and identify

the power holders in the community to strategize on how to advance the struggles

Session 6: Knowledge and Skills Matching Exercise The fellows were asked to identify the knowledge and skills they required to enable them achieve their desired vision. The responses were: Movement Skills required Knowledge required Bunge la Wamama Mashinani

Documentation and recording skills, public speaking skills, critical analysis skills

Knowledge of laws on sexual and reproductive health rights, knowledge of how to carry out research


Advocacy skills, community organizing skills, skills on how to conduct research

Knowledge of laws that relate to the struggle

Labour Rights Centre (LRC)

Advocacy skills, community organizing skills

Knowledge of how to influence power structures


Advocacy skills to influence government structures, community mobilization skills

Knowledge of laws relating to environmental protection, knowledge of laws relating to charcoal burning

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Mwea Foundation Mobilization skills, advocacy skills, community organizing skills, research skills

Knowledge of laws relating to land rights

Moving Forward As part of charting the way forward, the Fellows were asked to respond to various questions and share how they would respond to each query. The feedback was:

Session 5: Visualizing the Desired Change: How will the Fellows be in July 4th 2024 The fellows shared the following as their desired change Name of movement

Desired change


Widows having less struggles in property and inheritance issues

Mwea Foundation

All farmers having title deeds and are controlling their land

Bunge la Wamama Mashinani

Well equipped public hospitals and doctors within Mathare providing qualified sexual and reproductive health services

Save Lamu Coalition

Land problems resolved, Lamu people having control and access to their own land


Community members empowered on responsible use of natural resources, community members having access to clean water and well preserved river sources

The fellows were cautioned against presenting their desired change in negatives and informed that the desired change ought to be an ideal situation and that they should be very focused on the change they want to achieve to prevent confusion.

Buddying and reflection moments amongst the fellows

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Query

How the fellows will respond

Where are you positioned as an activist in the struggle?

● I am an activist within Bunge la Wamama, I am part of the coordinating team

● Lamu: Individually done (position of a coordinator) ● Workers rights: community mobilizer ● Ndunduni Self Help Group: member of the

movement ● Mwea: A member of the movement ● Shibuye Community Health Workers: Activist,

community mobilizer and coordinator Reframing your struggle together with allies

● Bunge la Wamama: Engage with comrades during weekly forums

● Ndunduni Self Help Group: work in a team setting with the local people to reframe the issue, internet search

● Shibuye Community Health Workers: Mobilization of other activists and community members

● Mwea Foundation: consultation with members, mentorship to access facts

● Labour Rights Centre: Meeting with community members

● Save Lamu Coalition: Consultations with movement members and desktop research

What is the history of our struggle?

● Bunge la Wamama: Consultations and interviews ● Save Lamu: Consultations and interviews with the

community, research ● Labour Resource Centre: Involve the community

and research from documents, internet and community interviews

● Mwea Foundation: Consultation with strategic team

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in the movement (e.g. coordinator) ● Shibuye Community Health Workers: Interviews,

consultation with community members, observation

● Ndunduni Self Help Group: Consultation with community members, interviews with elders

Who is doing what in my community?

● Bunge la Wamama: Mobilization through barazas ● Save Lamu Coalition: field research and literature

review of Save Lama’s past records ● Mwea Foundation: Community mobilization ● Labour Awareness Centre: involving the community ● Shibuye Community Health Workers: liaison with

other activists, community leaders and local administrators e.g. chief

● Ndunduni Self Help Group: Mapping, interviews consultation with movement i.e. lay down expectations, organize community meetings to incorporate their views

Changes you expect to see

● Bunge la Wamama: organize with Bunge la Wamama through the use of drawings, discussions with save Lamu

● Labour Resource Centre: consulting the community in formulating a shared vision

● Save Lamu Coalition: government resolving the land issues in Lamu county, indigenous people to have control of their land

● Mwea Foundation: Farmers able to control land ● Shibuye Community Health Workers: Widows

empowered on their property rights and able to access and control their property

● Ndunduni Self Help Group: Community participation in natural resource management

Identifying knowledge relevant to your struggle

● Save Lamu: Consultation with Save Lamu members, desktop search

● Labour Rights Centre: Consultation with members ● Mwea Foundation: Consultation with members ● Bunge la Wamama: interviews with community

members ● Shibuye Community Health Workers: consultation

with community members ● Ndunduni Self Help Group: interviews, consulting

elders, publications

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Conclusion It was observed that though the Fellowship induction and community immersion was a success, Pan-‐African perspective to the Fellow’s struggles was not handled in the process, thus the need to revisit the topic to ensure deepening broader linkages between the fellows’ struggles and the situation in other African nations.

Group Photo

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Annex 1: Fellows Induction Meeting and Community Dialogue Process Day 1: Wednesday 3rd July 2014: Fellows Induction Process 10.00 am-‐11.00 am Getting to know each other

Creating safe space for learning Sites of reflection

11.00am-‐12.00pm Expectations and fears Why are we in these struggles? (Fellows and Fahamu perspectives)

1.15 pm-‐2.15 pm BREAK 2.15-‐ 4.00pm Preparation and presentation of Thought papers Day 2: Thursday, 4th July 2014:Fellows’ Immersion and Dialogue Process 10.00am-‐10.25 am Converging struggle songs

Welcome by hosting movement Getting to know each other

10.25 am -‐10.35am Tracing the history of Mathare community 10.35 am-‐11.35am Visualizing the struggle for reproductive health rights

in Mathare: Historical timeline and plenary engagement

11.35 am-‐12.45 am Connecting struggles in Mathare with other struggles in Kenya Fellows’ Narratives Inter-‐sectionality of social justice struggles in Kenya Africa Biodiversity Network Kenya Human Rights Commission & Institute of Ecology and Culture

12.45am-‐1.30pm BREAK 1.30pm-‐2.30 pm Towards Pan-‐African fellowship in social justice

organizing Faculty Members

2.30pm-‐3.00pm Plenary Session Bunge la Wamama/Fahamu

3.00pm-‐3.15pm Wrap up 3.15pm-‐4.00pm Community transect walk Day 3: Friday, 5th July 2014: Workshop 9.00 am-‐ 10.00 am Debriefing and community dialogue

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10.00am-‐11.00am Visualizing our organizing spaces 11am-‐12 .00pm Visioning our Desired Change 1.00pm-‐2.00pm BREAK 2.00-‐3.00pm Identifying our learning areas 3.00pm-‐3.30 Identifying our learning needs 3.30pm-‐4.00pm Skills and knowledge matching session 4.00pm-‐4.20pm Fellows interviews

Annex 1: Evaluation 1.

What was “Hot”?

● Understanding several historical injustices in a different perspective depending on where one comes from and what their struggle is, the struggles cannot be addressed effectively unless they are properly framed and well defined, and strategies identified

● The induction meeting in Mathare and level of organization at Bunge la Wamama Mashinani

● Meeting all the Fellows, faculty members and Fahamu staff and knowing the history of Mathare

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● Visit to Mathare as opposed to previously reading about it on newspapers and watching on TV

2.

What could have been done better

● Conduct an other visit to Mathare to understand the struggles better ● Flexibility of some rules in the eventuality that some things may

change with time ● Real life examples of struggles as experienced in other parts of Africa

to be included in the learning 3.

What Fahamu needs to do to manage the Fellowship Programme better?

● Fahamu to understand that some of the Fellows are bread winners and work as volunteers

● More material to be availed and the faculty to be more focused on the content the Fellows will interact with

4.

Comments on learning, logistics and communication

● Learning sessions were okay and participatory; however, there is need to incorporate other Fellows from other parts of Africa into the Fellowship process to better understand their struggles, successes and failures

● Fahamu to avail more funds for the research process to facilitate research related activities e.g. Internet usage

● Communication about the Fellowship commencement process to be shared well in advance to enable Fellows be better organized

● The amount allocated to dinner to be increased because prices of foodstuff have gone up; more money to be allocated for transport

● The communication was good ● The learning was okay ● A sent email to be accompanied by an SMS

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Annex 2: Emerging Questions 1. Why are meetings discussing issues affecting grassroots women not

conducted at grassroots but taken to hotels and other venues where it’s only a few who can access? Parallel meetings can be held at the community and used as avenues to raise agendas of grassroots communities to the national agenda, however, this can only be successful if women at the grassroots are organized.

2. a) Can something different other than rice be planted on the rice farms in Mwea?

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Nothing else other can rice can be planted on the rice farms as this is a designated scheme for rice production b) Are the 12 bags provided to a family in the schemes adequate for their survival? The families have no alternative other than rice; in addition, school fees are paid for the farmer. Regarding food, the farmers access on credit from National Irrigation Board (NIB through a communal shop) c) If farmer resists in cultivating the land due to the oppressive conditions, what happens? The land is taken away and given to someone else d) Has the law that has been oppressive to the farmers changed? Although the law has been repealed, farmers are still oppressed by the National Irrigation Board (NIB), implementation of the repealed laws is yet to be effected

3. a) Why can’t the workers in tea plantations ask for contracts prior to employment? The high levels of unemployment makes the workers be submissive, the erratic nature of the work done also makes it difficult for them to seek contracts b) What has Francis Atwoli of COTU done in addressing the plight of workers in the tea industry? Nothing much because workers in tea plantations continue to suffer various injustices despite the existence of the union c) What is the Kericho based fellow doing to address the plight of workers in the tea plantations? Strategies used include international campaigns highlighting workers plight through documentation (Documentaries on plight of workers done with BBC, the Guardian and the Belgian TV)

4. Why do activists get compromised? ● Sometimes people don’t understand the big picture (what they

want to achieve in the long run). Furthermore, many claim to be human rights activists without knowing about the origin of human rights

●

5. Why did Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) not incorporate all issues discussed during LAPSSET meetings in Lamu County? Information that could not be verified was not included in the LAPSSET report, acting on advice from partners, KHRC decided to only avail information whose sources were not credible.

6. What is the fellow from Kericho doing to address the plight of tea workers? Awareness creation on rights, documentaries and sharing these with consumers of tea abroad. This has had some positive effects such as

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certification of tea as an indicator of non violation of rights of tea workers 7. Does the research grant cover all the research work to be

undertaken by the fellows or is there additional funding to the process? Fahamu will discuss this with the faculty member taking the Fellows through research; the aim is to mainstream the research into the Fellow’s normal day-‐to-‐day activities. The research methodology is to be discussed later.

Mathare Community and Fellowship ImmersionDialogue Report · James" comes" from Kericho,"...

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