TWINKLE INITIATIVE.

3 ladies, who met in Campus in Nairobi, formed Twinkle Initiative early last year. These young impressionable lasses are very passionate about Women and Girls Rights issues and formed their initiative with the aim of inspiring young ladies to scale greater heights through mentorship. The acronym Twinkle stands for The Woman Is Now Knowledgeable Learned & Empowered. I soon learned that the stars of course inspired the name, and that despite their distance from the Earth, they are beautiful and together shine the world especially on a clear starry night. These young ladies aim to be the flicker of light however great or small for others such as them.

Twinkle Initiative Founders-L-R Mercy,Wambui & Sheila

The International Women’s Day under the theme’ Inspiring Change’ was celebrated by Twinkle initiative on the 29^th of March 2014.Twinkle initiative founders and some of its membership came together to have an informal discussion on the journey of the Kenyan woman and girl and how she has helped inspire change for herself and for her community.

The discussants first tackled the gains and benefits women and girls alike have achieved in the new Constitutional dispensation. Prior to even getting at the gains, it was key for the participants to mention a few oppressions or discriminations that women not to long ago faced. Some of these elements could include inability to inherit property, lack of adequate legal protection especially for single mothers, discrimination at the workplace and suppressed freedoms of movement, speech and personal liberty. It was interesting for participants to realize that as a country and community, things have significantly changed and improved but a lot still needs to be done for gender parity and equality to be realized in full.

Each participant was asked to name a lady who inspires her in various sectors in Kenya. This exercised helped the girls realize that despite all the challenges and struggles, others have made it and so can they. Identifying a woman helped the participants easily identify and feel that their dream is not at all unrealistic and that it can be attained with dedication and hard work. Some of the Kenyan role models identified included; Martha Karua, Njoki Ndungu, Wangari Maathai, Kakenya Ntaiya, Caroline Mutoko just to mention but a few. The participants were also encouraged to give a rational or to explain why they thought the named people could be considered role models. It is not surprising that many of the participants are law students and think highly of legal scholars for source of inspiration. This further buttresses the importance of Twinkle’s mentorship initiative and the impact it has on the development of young impressionable girls and young women.

The meeting took the duration of one and a half hours and participants’ were provided with drinks and refreshments. The participants knew that they may not have solved all of the challenges and come up with solutions to all possible snugs and bumps they my face but they felt alive to the fact that Twinkle Initiative has provided them with a safe space to discuss the issues they think are most important to them in a candid way and without fear o victimization or intimidation. Twinkle Initiative aims to conduct further such informal discussions with young ladies and more structured talks with teenage girls in the future.

Group Work

Many Thanks to the Twinkle Initiative Founders Sheila Wanjiru, Mercy Waweru and Wambui Ngige who made this day possible.