With women becoming more empowered platforms have also been coming up to ensure that women get the help they need. KikeTele is one of the organizations whose goal is to collect, tell and share African women’s stories, and especially Kenyan women. KikeTele has been encouraging women to be part of a movement that instigates change. The vision of KikeTele is to empower Kenyan women to tell their own narratives and power. This network that KikeTele has formed has been a place where many women can interact with each other and engage in the wider social environment. Their motto speaks for itself as it is community, conversation and change.
To mark international women’s day 2016, KikeTele in partnership with Alliance and Lightbox Africa will hold an event, ‘Women Game Changers’ as a celebration. The 2016 theme is ‘pledge for parity’ that is a call to action for gender equality. The event will be held at the Alliance auditorium on March 7th from 6pm and will kick off with a screening of a short documentary on FGM in Samburu by Lightbox Africa and Samburu Girls foundation followed by a discussion on the same with Ruth Kimani (HIVOS), Josephine Kulea and Loise Towon ( Samburu Girls’ foundation).
The second half of the event will be a panel discussion on the various ways in which Kenyan women are portrayed in the arts as well as young women’s contributions to the arts. The panelists will in who include spectacular women in the arts industry, women such as
1. Aleya Kassam: A writer and performer who moonlights as a copywriter in the advertising world. She blogs at www.chanyado.wordpress.com which was nominated for the best new blog at the blog awards 2015 and has performed in ‘The Vagina Monologue’ and stories from the mall ‘A Westgate memorial’ among others. She is also a proud Jaladan and a member of the weaver’s collection.
2. Monitah: She is a singer, songwriter and poet who hails from Nairobi. She is a graduate from Kenyatta University and studied a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gender and development and a minor in psychology. Her insight into matters to do with women and society will be of much help.
3. Abigail Arunga: Is the author of “Akello”, a poetry collection, and the chapbook “a side of raunch”. She was once the digital editor for Zuqka.com. Prior to that she contributed to several local magazines such as Home and Living and Saturday magazine.
4. Nduta Kairuki: Is a visual artist who paints primarily but dabbles extensively and has working knowledge of most art forms. Nduta graduated with a B.A in fine Arts from Kenyatta University in 2014. She majored in painting and minored in sculpture and Graphic design.
5. Sarah Waiswa aka Lafrohemein: Has a degree in sociology and psychology that led her to corporate positions for a number of years though she decided to pursue photography full time. Her desire is to illustrate the plight of various social issues in the continent in a modern way.
Their events should be a no miss. In the month of March here are a few events you should mark in your diary.
a. Monday, 7th March: There will be films, discussions and performances at Alliance Francaise and will be free of charge.
b. Tuesday, 8th March: Women artists take on #pledgeofparity at the ground floor gallery opening at 06:30pm.
c. Monday, 14th March: Will be about the women in Islam from 6pm and will be free of charge.
Whether you feel empowered or not, such forums illuminate the problems that our fellow women face. It is important to not be ignorant or assume that there is nothing more you can do to help make a change. So join KikeTele in making a difference.
