For International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 8th, Shining Hope paired with a number of local organizations (Sita Kinya, CREAW, Kibera Women for Peace and Fairness, NSF, Liverpool VCT, CareKenya, WEL, Women’s Empowerment Link) for a celebration of women in Kibera. We had a huge showing for speeches, performances (including poems and a fashion show by the girls at KSG), and dance-offs. The theme was Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.
First graders present a powerful poem about spousal abuse:
Battered woman
When are you going to learn?
He doesn’t love you
You are on your own
The beatings hurt, the scars have gone
But sooner or later you are sorely beaten
What is it going to take for you to just leave?
Why just stay there until you can’t breathe?
Battered woman
I know what you’re thinking
It’s your fault for what he’s doing
You blame yourself
Over and over again
You ask yourself “will this abuse ever end”
He’s going to keep doing it.
It’s all up to you
You just have to get the courage to move on to something new
It’s not going to be easy.
Take it one day at a time.
They have to subside and you will finally have a peace of mind.
The Kindergarten class strutting their stuff on a catwalk.
