The unsung heroes inspiring change for women

In 1908, in what would become the precursor to International Women Day (IWD), 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City campaigning for change. They demanded better pay and the right to vote.

Women then, were an oppressed lot faced with many injustices and inequalities. While great strides have been made towards addressing these concerns and still many more strides need to be made.

The theme of this year's IWD is inspiring change by encouraging advocacy for women's advancement everywhere in every way. It calls for challenging the status quo for women's equality and vigilance inspiring positive change.

Women in Kenya have come of age bring global accolades and recognition to the country in various fields. The first lady, Margaret Kenyatta and the Deputy president's wife, Rachel Ruto, have been at the forefront of championing various causes women and there are too, unsung heroes who have taken up the cause of women and strive to better Kenya’s women lot.

Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya

What began as a personal quest for education took Kakenya many miles away from her village of Enoosaen, in the heart of maasailand to the world stage garnering accolades along the way
After undergoing FGM and negotiating with her father to continue her education through high school, she then had to negotiate with a whole village to send her to the United States for further studies.

Through it all, she dreamt of a way to ensure that no girl gets left behind.

On her return to Kenya, she founded the Kakenya Centre for Excellence, a girls’ primary boarding school in Enoosaen which seeks to empower and motivate young girls through education to become agents of change and to break the cycle of destructive cultural practices in Kenya such as female genital mutilation and early forced marriages.

According to her website, http://www.kakenyasdream.org, the centre hopes to impact one girl at time, one community at time, until all girls in Africa have the opportunities they need to learn and thrive as individuals and achieve their full potential.

Africa Biosystems Limited and Life Technologies

For giving a donation of cutting edge test kits for DNA sampling that will help law enforcement to build strong cases against rape offenders.

The Ksh510,000 kit contained 200 samples that take DNA profiling to another level.

In the face of escalating sexual violence case and grim statistics that paint the country as a minefield for many girls and women, these two companies decided to assist in their own way to see that no girl or woman must be allowed to suffer the injustice of allowing the perpetrators to walk free.

The kits they donated helps with the collection of DNA evidence that then links the suspects to the crime scene ensuring a sure conviction.

The police who have previously claimed that it would difficult to link the suspects to the crimes now have no reason other than incompetence.

Hillary Mabeya

Dr. Mabeya is a Lecturer and an Obstetrician Gynaecologist at Moi University School of Medicine in Eldoret, Kenya.

Since becoming the first specialized fistula surgeon in the region in 2003, Dr. Mabeya has improved the lives of hundreds of women who have been suffering from this debilitating condition and therefore improving the quality of their lives.

Fistula affects women of low income who are unable to pay for the requisite surgery and therefore this field is not very attractive to many medical practitioners.

He also founded the Gynocare Fistula Centre - a nongovernmental organization in Western Kenya has been providing reproductive health services to women since 2009 making him a hero for women.
Mary Makokha

Mary Makokha is the director of a non-governmental organization, REEP (Rural Education and Economic Enhancement Programme) which handles child marriage cases.

She has been fighting the escalating cases of child abuse in Butula, Busia County highlighting the numerous cases of child defilement. These cases are handled at the community level by marrying off the children to their abusers.

For standing up for the girl child and challenging age old traditions and culture of silence that threatens the girl child’s very existence she is a hero.

Kennedy Ombima (Kaka Sungura aka Rabbit)

Popular culture has a huge influence on a society and those that make it wield immense power on their audience and the society at large.

The tragedy of this generation is that everyone wants to be famous and rich while doing the least possible. For the few born with silver spoons it is possible however for the majority talented or otherwise, it is an uphill task to break into the mainstream.

Female artists have decried how difficult it is to break into the music industry and how they have to work twice as hard as their male contemporaries.

Women in videos are depicted as sex symbols and mostly appear in various stages of undress while men appear fully clothed in dapper suits. They are also requiring them to gyrate giving currency to the twerk phenomena.

Therefore for Kaka Sungura to feature upcoming artists in his ‘ligi soo’ track with a clean video that features fully clothed ladies, it is indeed a laudable move and we wish many more successful artists would do the same and lift other new artists profiles.

The ladies’ dresses in the video could have been longer however we are glad there is an artiste out here who knows that a candle loses none of its brightness by lighting others.

Akira Chix

AkiraChix is a group of women technologists who according to their website,www.akira.com, aim to inspire and develop a successful force of women in Technology that will change Africa’s future. We plan to do this through our key programs areas of networking, mentorship and training.

The international telecommunications body ITU has been sounding the alarm over few women in technology projecting that there will be a shortage in tech-related fields if the trend of relying on men to fill these positions persists.

The body also mentions that the world is a poorer place when one gender’s perspective is missing from shaping its future.

Akira Chix founders noted this gap that needed to be filled.

“In a continent where women form a majority of the population and half of the workforce, it is an anomaly that the percentage of women working in technology is less than 15%.

Technology is one of the key factors driving Africa’s projected economic rise. As such, there is enormous potential for maximizing the growth of technology through increasing the number and quality of women in technology.