Eid Mubarak! Wishing you and your families peace, joy and renewed hope.
May we find strength in faith, lead with kindness, and work together for a better future.
From a young village girl in Sierra Leone to the Director-General of UNON, @ZainabHawa shares her powerful story for #InternationalWomensDay2024.
Her journey highlights the transformative power of the girl-child education. Listen in: https://t.co/gRx32c7XSE
@unwomenkenya
A warm welcome to His Majesty to our Gigiri compound on behalf of the @UN family in Kenya.
It's a privilege to host this historic State Visit and continue our shared commitment to global progress and cooperation. 🇰🇪👑
What an incredible day it was at the @UN Office at Nairobi.
After almost 3 years, the Long Service award is back to celebrate our dedicated colleagues
A Heartfelt Thank you to all who joined and made it unforgettable!
#UNLongServiceAwards
Our drives home with @SyombuaOsiany from @CrestwoodComms are often sacred times. They are often punctuated with some ‘Mučene’ (couple gossip). Thursday was one of those days. Driving home together & laughing at Mucene motomoto, we bumped into this lady with a handcart (mkokoteni). There was something about her though. She was fairly neat, had a towering height and oozed a rare sense of stoicism.
She seemed to be headed towards the general Kibera direction. We had just passed the traffic lights after waiting for long and so we hurried not to be caught up by the traffic cops who seemed to be allowing only two cars to go past the light in each interval. Yaani sometimes when cops come in to fix traffic, your lane can be so unlucky that they only usher out few cars like panadol: 2x3.
However when we passed the mkokoteni lady, I strongly thought to myself: a woman??!! Pulling a handcart!!!She seemed to have been singing to herself when we passed her. But she had this walk that could tell you that her day had been tiresome.
Something nudged us to engage her. We love listening to people, hearing perspectives, learning & helping if and when we can. So we waited for her 400m ahead. When she finally caught up with us, we flagged her down. For a moment, thinking it was a man merely stopping her, she panicked and gave me the look of, ‘kwani what have I done? What do you want?’, until she saw Syombua. She stopped and drew closer.
We asked her name. She said her name is Caren Barbara. A little more conversation with Caren pointed to a mother with 2 young sons of ages 5 & 1, but who had to do everything to feed her children. I asked where the children were at the time and she said, the older one had returned home from school which allowed her to leave the younger one now. ‘Who is now taking care of the children?’ I asked. She said the 5 year old was taking care of the 1 year home till she returns. We were stunned. I was broken. I was lost. With tears balancing in Syombua’s eyes, she whispered to me, ‘Can you imagine our 5-year-old Tabby having to take care of a younger sibling alone??!!’ We couldn’t bear or believe it.
We further asked her about where the 5-year-old baby goes to school, and she told us while fighting tears. The child’s fee is 4,700 per term but she had only paid 1K to allow the baby be in school as she hustles for more. That baby was the reason she was pulling a mkokoteni. She wanted to pay the baby’s fees and feed them.
Asked about whether she is married, she recounted how her husband couldn’t bear with the biting poverty and left the house, never to be seen again. (She seemed believable but I have learnt to listen to both sides of the story before judging, so I won’t vilify him without hearing him). If true however, then it is sad!!!
We immediately decided to get her some shopping for the month. I reached out to get some money for her to help with a decent shopping for the children, clear the child’s fees & give her some stability for a while. As I handed Caren the cash, she said thanks numerous times. Her eyes spelt GRATITUDE in such an authentic manner. Then BOOM!! She dropped another surprise. ‘I am a diploma graduate from Kenya Technical Teachers College. I studied Information Science & even did teaching practice at Railways Technical Institute. Please help me secure a decent job in a library or archive’. Her fluency caught me by utter surprise but also made me grieve a bit. The mismatch between her chore at the moment & her qualifications broke my heart.
What a stellar attempt at education, yet now unable to implement that knowledge meaningfully. It made me ask how many more are in her precarious situation.
Caren hails from Funyula in Busia County. We are working to try & get a job that would match her skills. Please join us. Get the word out there for any institution in need of a librarian.
God bless you Caren & your children. We have cleared the year’s fees. To support, call Caren on 0708132452.
Wycliffe Oyier: before taking a loan, determine whether you are able to service the loan. If not, don't take it because that is bad debt #Twitterspaces
https://t.co/H497v4WBNZ
"Gender inequality is a question of power.
I call for urgent action to equalize power in 3 ways for women & girls:
1 Increase their education
2 Promote their full participation & leadership in STEM
3 Create a safe digital environment for them."
@antonioguterres at #CSW67 Opening
When women are #empowered, they can become agents of change in their families, within their communities and beyond, driving progress and making the world a better place for all. #WomenEmpowerment#AgentsOfChange#BetterWorld
🔑📚 Education is the key to unlocking a world of opportunities and empowering women. With knowledge, we break down barriers and shatter glass ceilings for future generations. 👩🏽🎓Let's continue to strive for education, chase our dreams, and lift each other up! #WomenEmpowerment
@UN_Women Women and girls face unique challenges during emergencies and it is imperative that we prioritize their safety and well-being. We must always keep in mind that their protection is non-negotiable.