Kenya

The idea to set up an association first emerged in 2005 when a few IFP Kenya alumni discussed how they could capitalize on each others’ diverse life experiences and newly acquired knowledge in bringing positive change to the lives of their communities and exert greater influence on their country. The consultative meetings established that alumni experienced problems of re-entry and adaptations to the dynamics of their home society. The alumni felt challenged by the high expectation from both their home communities and the commitments they made before they left for their graduate studies. At the same time, they felt they lacked the platform from which to start working and networking toward fulfilling such commitments. Thus the IFP Alumni Kenya was born.

The IFP Alumni, Kenya brings together recipients of the IFP scholarship who have completed their studies and have returned home. The Association has well over 50 alumni members who have returned from studies from as far as Europe, North America, Australia and Africa itself. Their fields of specialization also vary from Social Policy, Communication, Gender & Women studies, Education development, Social Work to Human rights.
The IFP Alumni in Kenya are as diverse as the communities they come from. Most of them come from the most marginalized regions of Kenya, from as far North East as Marsabit and Turkana- rural and mostly semi-arid regions where schooling especially for female children is a mirage; to areas as far south as Kuria, and Kajiado where Female Genital Mutilation hinders girls and women from participating in education.

Snapshot of Alumni Members
Bound by the urge to invest in their communities and further social justice, alumni, most of whom are back in their communities, are currently engaged in a number of community initiatives that seek to promote social justice. From campaigns to end FGM and promote women’s rights in rural Kuria district, to economic empowerment in Kilifi and working with the internally displaced persons in Kenya’s 2007 post election violence, the alumni are dreaming big and making things happen in their communities.
Through a grant from the Ford Foundation through the Association for Higher Education and Development (AHEAD), alumni have worked to promote peace and education in their marginalized communities. And their dreams are big. Yattani Buna of the semi-arid Marsabit district in Eastern Kenya has been working to ease the burden of education for nomadic children in his village. Dubbed the Mobile School Project, Yattani has supported the pastoral community through donation of camels that transport makeshift schools as the community migrates in search of food and water both for themselves and their livestock.

Classroom items loaded onto a camel ready to move to a new site in Marsabit, Kenya.
 

Dennitah Ghati from the Kuria community is heading campaigns to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation and promotion of girls’ education and women’s rights in her community. She sees education as the only tool to liberate and empower girls and lift them out of poverty. In 2008 she mobilized and rescued over 300 girls from undergoing FGM. The local church provided temporary shelters and trainings for the girls. The girls later graduated into womanhood in December 2008 through the alternative rite of passage.

Dennitah Ghati addresses girls she rescued from undergoing FGM in her community in December 2008.

Kitakaya Loisa plans to establish a resource center in his Maasai community in Kajiado to bridge the information gap in his community, while Edna Nyaloti has endeavored to provide legal aid to poor rural women in Busia district. Lack of legal awareness has subjected rural women to a number of human rights abuses.

A workshop on human rights and grassroots governance that was organized by Edna Nyaloti in Busia Kenya.

Current activities and future plans
As the Mission suggests, the Association continues to build the capacity of the alumni members to be able to address many challenges faced in their communities. A number of training workshops have therefore been conducted to the alumni. These range from job search, career guidance, skills in job interviewing, trainings on investment, grant writing and resource mobilization, project planning, implementation team building among others.

The Association has developed a three year Strategic Plan (2008 -2011) that provides a roadmap for the implementation of its planned activities. The implementation of this Strategic Plan is ongoing. The Association is currently also working on developing an alumni website that raises the profile of alumni and their achievements in their communities and personal lives. A newsletter is also underway that document various alumni activities.
Looking forward, the Association plans to acquire office space and equip it with tools and equipments that will facilitate its work. This office cum resource center will also act as a one stop center for alumni who have also just come back into the country from their studies. The alumni will use the office/resource center in their job search endeavors; gaining first had information and networking. Accordingly, the Association is also contemplating hiring a full time Coordinator to for the office, who will coordinate all alumni issues.
Guided by the five core principles and values of ccommitment to social justice, integrity, ttransparency, non-partisan and volunteerism, the Association is gearing for greater heights as it seeks to mobilize resources to empower the community and realize its objectives.

A section of IFP Alumni Kenya pose after a training workshop on job search skills, resume crafting and financial management.