Letter from Kenya: meeting community leaders
My heart ached when Irene told the group they would have to wait another three months while those who were short tried to save. Although I understood that saving the money themselves gave the women ownership of their businesses, I asked Irene if we could supplement their program. Irene consented, and as she explained in Swahili, the room exploded into cheering, clapping and singing.
Stephanie: Mom and I met Rita Thapa, a soft-spoken woman with an inner fire who was also in Nairobi for the World Social Forum, at a reception for women's organizations held by the Global Fund for Women. Rita was born in Nepal into a very conservative family, but her father's military career and, by extension, her family's nomadic lifestyle gave her an extensive vision of the needs and challenges of Nepali women. By the age of 18 she had developed an intense passion for furthering peace and women's rights in her country, but instead she was forced into an arranged marriage and quickly became a young mother.
With heartbreaking intimacy, Rita described how she had known nothing of sexuality or pregnancy at the time of her marriage (she wondered why her menstrual periods had stopped but wasn't enlightened; no one described the birth process to her). Then, when her first child was born, she was bewildered by her sudden motherhood and resentful at the loss of her independence and education — her desire to work as a social activist caused conflict with her family and she broke from them.
But Rita didn't give up on her vision. Today she has an excellent relationship with her three children, and she is internationally known for her work over the past 25 years for and with the women of her country.
In 1996 she established Tewa, a foundation that raises funds and provides grants aimed at creating empowering women's initiatives. She founded Nagarik Awaz (Citizen's Voice) in 2001, which provides nonpartisan support, including shelter, medical care and counselling, to families and communities devastated by armed conflict in Nepal. In 2005, I later discovered she was one of 1,000 women in the world nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in a special campaign to nominate women.
When I first met Maureen Nyatatu Gitonga, I was struck by how similar we were. We are the same age. Maureen has a similar role in a women's organization and has the same passion for women's issues. With her, Mom and I journeyed two hours outside of Nairobi to Kajiado to a small concrete complex — a long block of classrooms and three blocks of dorms and a kitchen, all with bare floors and tin roofs. This was a Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Centre for Excellence.
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