Violence against women and girls remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations across the world. In many communities, it has become normalized, with survivors often blamed or silenced. Yet, this is not an inevitable part of life. Preventing violence requires shifting how we perceive women and girls in society, challenging harmful norms, and fostering safe spaces where they are valued and protected. Prevention starts with recognizing the root causes of violence—patriarchy,...

In my previous blog I focused on how a fragmented society looks like. Today I feel like it's important to shed light on how dysfunctional relationships affect us. Human beings are social beings. Social bonds help us build our community. Family is part of this community. All this to say that romantic relationships are important. We often see happy couples then years later learn that they were surviving abuse. Then wonder how we missed the signs. However, we forget that it's part of human...

I have been getting to know what adverse environments look and feel like. More so, reflecting on the kind of environments I was raised in between years 2000 and 2010. Looking back I noticed alcoholism was a common thing, so was violence and children being kept from going to school. Now that I'm older and more informed, I actually noticed the power dynamics. Whoever had the most money, whether real or perceived, had a say. Except, their words actually ruined or shaped the society in a...

It's mental health month. I've been checking out what lessons we can carry forward from last year. Trauma is a growing field here in Kenya. I feel like more people are becoming aware that it's not all in our minds. We have been hurt by the system, government, and society. Part of this hurt comes from being in a dysfunctional system starting from the home and immediate family. Which then trickles to the different regions and countrywide. This dysfunction I speak of is because of living in...

April has been quite the busy month. There were many sensitive conversations on various mental health themes. We focused on stress and alcoholism as they are huge problems in the Kenyan society. Did you know that the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) of Kenya stands at 54,000 years. Those are the numbers of lives lost to alcohol. That number does not account for childhood trauma, financial stress, or terminal illness caused by alcoholism. So we dived deeper into asking, what now? So...

It has been hard to ignore the overflow of grief, insults, in-sensitivities, demands and counter demands during the last months. Between January 1 and April 15, over 50 women have been murdered in the confines of intimate relationships. These >50, are the cases that have been reported in the media. If we know Kenya, there are many other cases that never reach the mainstream media, because families, relatives, and friends of the families collude to hide the real reason a woman died. Aren’t...