UN DAY 2012 ; UN4U

Faces of Peace Kenya has  been nominated by the United Nations Information Centre(UNIC) to organize an outreach program for the Kenyan youth in the build up to the 2012 UN Day that will be held on 24^th October, 2012; themed ‘UN DAY 2012 ; UN4U’. 

 To mark UN DAY 2012, UN Information Center has partnered with Faces of Peace Kenya to:  (1) reach out  to youth and  inform them about UN (2) Know what youth Organizations are doing (3) find ways of working together in  future (4) promote peace and humanitarian work .

According to UNIC,  “this year we plan to have interactive sessions with youth pretty much like the group you have.  We plan to exchange information with each other and see how best we can enhance the peace and humanitarian agenda as will be deemed fit”.

 http://visit.un.org/wcm/content/site/visitors/lang/en/home/to_see_and_do/lectures/un4u/pid/19466

The outreach  events will be held on;

                       17th  October, 2012 , 9:00 am—12:00 pm ; at Baba Dogo Community Hall

                      and

                    8th  October, 2012 , 9:00 am—12:00  pm at Ruiru Town, Focus  Youth Centre. 

This is a golden chance for us to get to know how well we can collaborate with the UN Agencies. 

We will also run an essay contest. They are to do an original, well-articulated and objective in the setting of; “ if you were UN Secretary General, how would you work with the youth to enhance the peace and humanitarian agenda in the context of globalization” 400-500 words, and  send to fopakenya@gmail.com by 15th October, 2012.  The winners will have their essays published in Faces of Peace e-Journal, attend the UN Day celebration in 24^th October at Gigiri and get books award from the UNIC. 

We hope  to see you 

Faces of Peace at Inaugural International Day of the Girl Child; UN Headquarters

We as Faces of Peace Kenya felt honored to be invited to take part in the first ever Iternational Day of the Girl Child, 11, October , 2012 at UN, Gigiri.

 What challenges faces the girl child? What can be done to alleviate these? What is the African position on MDGs, more so Goal 5? These are some of the issues that came out during the Inaugural International Day of the Girl Child at UN Headquarters at Gigiri , Nairobi,  11 October , 2012.

UN Staff on why girls must work hard to make it, Int'l Girl Child Day, 2012, Nairobi

It was great honor for Faces of Peace Kenya to be invited to this first event of its kind . the guests of the day, young Kenyans from UPEED organization in Banana Kiambu, told their stories that captivated the audience.

The organization of young girls carries out girl child empowerment initiatives in their small way. They have ‘a chama’, an informal saving schemes where they do small savings. This is a good move since the financial inclusion in Kenya , coupled with poor credit rationing, despite the emergence of agency banking, has been very limited. 

The group also has a football initiative, Hopes Soccer Sisters Football Club. Through sports, they are able  to rally the young girls and pass crucial information on health education and life skills.

When asked about the day, their leaders asked for need for genuine involvement of youth  from the grassroots , in all spheres of development.

And we toured the UN Complex freely with friendly guides 

And admired the works of Prof. Wangari (RIP) the village girl whom became a world champion through little things:

 UPEED Girls at tree planted at UN by Prof. Wangari (RIP) in 2004

There were also presentations about UNFPA, Tunza, UNIC, and a billion tree campaigns.  UNFPA according to the youth officer, Baluda, involves the youth through policy making, trainings, life skill education, and advocacy. 

The most inspiring talk came from Linda of Ghetto Radio. According to Linda girls have to dream and dream, “never stop dreaming even if you will achieve what you want at 90”. She talked of a tweet she read in the morning that: “if all presidents were women, there would be no war”.

Faces of Peace asked for need to focus on girls in rural and slum areas and also to mentor them during holidays. 

From the personal testimonies of the UN staff, the ladies who made it against all odds, it was evident that girls need to work hard and not settle for less.

According to Linda of Ghetto FM “what a man can do, a woman can perfect” . Happy International Day of the Girl Child, 11, October , 2012.

4th October, 2012, a Children’s Show at Lang’ata Women’s Prison

Have you ever imagined that some women are imprisoned while having weeks old babies. Some are single mothers with no one to take care of the babies when they are jailed.

That is what some babies and children face at Lang’ata women’s prison.

During our visit there on 4^th October, 2012, we wanted to give the children some reason to smile and be happy.

Yes, it was that good. They are welcoming and happy and friendly.

We talked, laughed and played , and too they sung for us.

Some have ‘few teeth’, making them more beautiful and shiny., some are cheeky and playful, some are very shy.

Since this was the week of the Nairobi  International  Trade Fair , that happens just some few kilometers from the prison, we want the children also to have a ‘show within the prison walls’.

As we shared with them, we realized that they are very smart and looking forward to a bright  future.

 As we talked to their mothers, we realized that they need a lot of things such as clothes and reading and playing materials, and personal effects. But we asked their mothers to change for better once released and ensure that the children are educated. Its good that the convicts have short courses in hairdressing, computer skills, farming, cooking etc that can enable them set up enterprises after serving their terms.

The deputy officer in charge made us have a deeper reflection. We never thought of this: “you know the children get happy when they see men, a father figure, they miss this in their lives”. That was the message. The children are growing up without interacting with male adults since most wardens are female.

So how can we peace together the missing link? Yes we did it for some hours, but more visits would enhance their growth and development.

As usual, we do appreciate the work of officers. And as we left , we brushed their shoes, as a sign of humility, and asked them to keep shining in their service. 

We were happy, as we left, but sad that we had few clothes and some items to give.  Some children cried as we left. Then we became sad again.

What can you do to help an innocent  baby; child whose mother is jailed for life? Over to you !

The Day it Was and yes it was ; Buru Buru Peace MEET

On 29^th  September, 2012 Faces off Peace in partnership with Hatua Youth, Smart Youth, and One People had a successful event with the police at the Buru Buru Police Station in Makadara, Nairobi .

The event dubbed 4^th Usalama Wetu Urafiki Wetu Initiative was very interactive and fun filled as usual.

We had cleaning of the  cells (Buru Buru cells are very clean), garbage collection and cleaning of the compound. It was honor to have students from Germany join us in cleaning Kenyan cells. Kudos!

As usual, the Faces of Peace advocates for greening Kenyan and greening police stations. We planted 50 seedlings in a week that the world remembered the environmental icon, Prof. Wangari.

The most captivating part was the I AM 4 PEACE CAMPAIGN. that began with the singing of the National Anthem. Vitalis led the crowd in a peace march across the suburb ,. So sorry we created ‘traffic snail up’ but it was a price for peace. One tout supported us, he shouted ‘Amani ni Lazima; peace is a must’ . so he was not annoyed that we caused some traffic congestion.  During the walk, we recited the ‘I swear I commit I pledge’  at Tuskys with the passersby joining in. And many Kenyans appended their signatures to swear to keep peace.

Peace building is a process and it requires fun side. So we had a youth police gig. Dola did the ‘Adhis’ song and got a standing ovation as the crowd demanded for more. Rama Msanii did his ‘Koblo gi long’ marateng’ thing”. This song denounces poor relations between community and police. And the OCS and Senior SP and the other peace ambassadors joined in. and we danced and danced. 

The Youth-Police Baraza  was more interactive , lively and heated. The questions were hot; why was Hon Waititu not arrested PAP on hate speech, why did police take long to respond in Tana River, are police equiped to handle Gender Based Violence, why do police shout at suspects, the meals served at cells, reporting crime, and the police hotline. 

The OCS and SP and officers did not disappoint. We love you two. They were there for us and appreciate community policing. They answered all the questions articulately . and we all left happy.

We thank all, PAD, Smart Youth, Hatua, Kenya police, OCS Buru, SP Buru, One People, Wasanii Rama and Dola, Hatua Youth , J Cee, and all Buru people. Faces of Peace you are sweet all, thanks to the Buru organizers, Deno, G. and Precilla

 What a day for community policing!

Kindly view the event' s photos at and drop a comment: 

http://www.facebook.com/groups/facesofpeace/