Walk into almost any community meeting here and look for the people doing the organizing rather than the speaking. More often than not, they are young women.
They run the savings groups that keep households afloat between jobs. They organize the rota when a neighbour is unwell. They mobilize turnout for clean-ups, clinics and school meetings, usually without a title and often without being thanked.
The barriers they face are practical rather than mysterious. Care duties at home eat the hours training happens. Safety shapes which routes and which times of day are possible. When money is short, girls’ fees are often the first to be dropped, and days of school are lost for want of sanitary products.
What removes those barriers is equally practical. Daylight sessions in spaces that feel safe. Childcare during training. Transport support. Sanitary products available without anyone having to ask twice. Mentors who have already walked the same path and can say plainly what worked for them.
When a young woman gets that support, the benefit rarely stops with her. It shows up in younger siblings staying in school, in a household with a second income, and in a street with one more person who knows how to organize other people.
Our programs are designed with those realities in mind. If you are a young woman looking for training, mentorship or simply a room where you are taken seriously, you are welcome at Kibra Youth Network.
