Shaban Varajab Reflection on my work with Rural Women Peace Link

Name: Shaban Varajab

Born: 1986

Education Background: Bachelor of Education Arts (Mathematics and Economics) from Moi

University and (Certificate in Peace Building and Conflict Transformation from) St. Augustine

College of South Africa in Collaboration with African Peace Building Institute

Employer: Rural Women Peace Link

Assignment: Youth Development Officer (Yes Youth Can Project-2011-2012) and Program

Manager (Peace Initiative Kenya-2012-July 2014)

My 4 years (2010-2014) at Rural

Women Peace Link has been the most

positive and enriching employment

experience I have ever had in my life. I

would like to thank the Rural Women Peace

Link board and staff for giving this

invaluable opportunity and accepting me as

one of their employee and above all a

mentee.

It is quite lucky for me that in the

midst of this 4 year period I was able to

witness RWPL flourish in its mission to

mobilize, influence and promote local women

and youth participation in peace building,

community governance and development

process. To me, this signals the evolving

role of RWPL in coping with the changing

development priorities of a Kenya and the

world. As an employee and a mentee who

has dreams to be an icon in human rights

advocacy, peace building and development

work, this was very interesting to observe.

The leadership and board of

governance at RWPL are incredible. Since I

set my first foot into RWPL I met a team of

cheerful and charismatic leaders. I met

loving, supportive and caring mothers,

sisters and brothers. From them, I observed

and learnt a lot of great leadership qualities.

I enjoyed working with my fellow

colleagues. I found them to be a team of

very high caliber and with great insights in

their work. I found RWPL experience truly

a steep learning curve for an upcoming

ambitious young leader like me.

Being part of huge and challenging

HIVOs funded project (Empowering Women and Girls as Active Citizen and Change Agents-2011-present) where I served as a

volunteer Program Officer, and USAID

funded projects including (Yes Youth Can Project-2011-2012) where I served as a

Youth Development Officer and (Peace Initiative Kenya-2012-August 2014) where I

worked as a Program Manager was an honor

and a big experience for me. Working in

conflict zones exposed me to different social

issues women, youth, children and elderly

face during and after conflicts. I loved being

part of the teams, solutions and projects that

helped reconstruct, rebuild and give hope to

these vulnerable groups in the society.

Report writing, work plan development,

facilitation, project proposal writing,

mobilization, community organization,

program budgeting, evaluation and

monitoring, stakeholder meeting

representation, training and providing

mentorship to other mentees (women

groups,youth groups, interns and volunteers)

made up a good part of my work. I enjoyed

every minute of my work since the team I

worked with was keen on giving me the

widest exposure to their work, from

attending conferences and trainings (locally

and internationally) to compiling project

documents, to conducting

evaluations/research projects to inform

RWPL project development. Every

experience of my work was challenge to do

more and I did learn a lot. Thanks to my

team leader, supervisors and teammates

who did not hesitate at all in teaching me

and guiding me through my work.

I attest that, beyond work, RWPL has

enabled me to meet dine and interact with

high-level officials from the Kenyan

Government and International leaders too. I

also met with very enthusiastic activists

from Kenyan and International NGOs who

are well versed and passionate about women

and youth issues. The mix of people that I

encountered was very telling of what is

going on in Kenya and across the world.

Everyone I met was very resourceful and

inspiring. I have made a broad network of

friends and had numerous interesting chats

and learning moments. Some have their own

personal ambitions in their minds, some

have brilliant life experiences eager to tell,

and some have unique perspectives both in

looking at Kenya and the world.

My experience at RWPL was helpful and

insightful since it informed me more about

the role of local and international

organizations in Kenya’s development

efforts. In particular, I was able to pinpoint

that Kenya’s NGOs were much more active

than I thought and represent a very

promising community devoted to the

betterment of Kenya and the global society.

I will live to remember my participation in

the 2013 Mennonite Central Committee’s

sponsored Africa Peacebuilding Institute

(API) Short Course (1 month) training

Program on Conflict Transformation and

Peace Building that took place in

Johannesburg -South Africa. This program

that took place in June-July 2013 convened

old and young peacebuilding practitioners

from more than twelve African countries

(including South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria,

Zambia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Uganda,

Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, DRC,

Mozambique and South Sudan) as well as

Canada and Sri Lanka. While there, my study

focused on different peace building modules

including: (1) Introduction to Conflict

Transformation, (2) Non-Violent Faith-

Based Philosophy and Practice, (3) Art

Approaches to Peace Building and Gender

and Peacebuilding. We also had outside

classes, where we visited historical sites

such as The Apartheid Museum, Nelson

Mandela and Desmond Tutus Homes in

Soweto, The Calabash Foot Ball Ground

(one of the many football fields that hosted

the 2010 World Cup), Soweto slums and

Sonke Gender Justice Organization. This

field experience helped me discover how

each contributed to today’s South Africa’s

stability and development and the

interconnectedness with other developing

countries in Africa. The program brought a

lot of insight, lessons, experience,

knowledge and skills not only in the

peacebuilding field but also in what cultural

diversity and development means to human

beings. API helped me learn a lot about

conflict transformation and peace building

process from an international perspective.

It increased my ability to connect and

strengthen my peace building practice and

theory. Today am in a better position to

analyze and find creative solutions to violent

conflict and how to be a human rights

advocate. I also made many friends and

networks with which I share ideas, dreams,

thoughts and experiences.

At last I must make a note on all that

RWPL working areas (including West Pokot,

Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Nandi, Samburu,

Laikipia, Baringo, Kisumu, Kakamega,

Bungoma (Mt. Elgon) Counties) offered me.

While each area has its own unique issues

and strengths, to me, setting a foot in ever

community was a life time eye opener and a

big socialization process. Apart from

discovering so much about the social

problems facing different communities in my

country, I learnt how rich Kenya’s diverse

cultures are. Every community has

something unique to offer including, Art,

Songs, Music, and Dance, generosity,

hospitality and much more. I found every

cultural element in these communities

strong. There was so much to see and to

feel that even the 4 years of work with

RWPL was simply not enough for anyone to

make the most out of these communities.

Every part of my experience was even more

memorable.

Going forward, exposure and

experience I had at RWPL has increased my

desire to further pursue my education and

career dream in Peace Building. That is

why, am grateful for Kroc Institute for

International Peace Studies generosity to

provide me a full Scholarship to pursue a 2

years (2014-2016) Masters studies in Peace

Studies and Conflict Resolution in a

prestigious University (University of Notre

Dame-Kroc Institute for International Peace

Studies) in Indiana USA. This will expand

further my experience knowledge and skills

in Peacebuilding work and make me more

competitive in this 21st Century job market.

After graduation , I plan to come back to

Kenya and continue giving back to my poor

rural community, through Youth Star for

Change Development Network (YSCDN)}, an

organization that I co-founded in Kakamega

to empower and provide youth with skills,

resources, mentor-ship and opportunities to

develop their leadership, social

responsibility, entrepreneurship and

networking necessary for them to realize

their potential, live healthy, peacefully and

become champions of positive social

change in their communities.

While it is a welcome decision to go

pursue my further studies, I find it a sad

moment to say goodbye to RWPL and the

wonderful communities I worked with.

Above all, I must say that being with RWPL

was an experience that I learnt the most,

and more importantly, enjoyed the most.

Working with RWPL really gave me a very

unique perspective to look at not only Kenya

and the world issues but also discover

myself. I sincerely thank RWPL management

once again for granting me this opportunity.

May God bless you and may you have the

most interesting projects for the sake of

humanity.

Photo Gallery of my Work