IASSW GRANT FINAL REPORT
Tangaza University College, Nairobi, Kenya
December 2018
Topic
In the time of urgent political conflicts: Post-election training and empowerment of community
leaders, social workers, and social transformers for peace and social cohesion in Kenya(Tangaza University College), South Africa (University of Pretoria), and the United States(Dominican University).
Program in Social Transformation
Institute of Social Ministry&Mtanni University (Huruma Campus)
Both programs under Tangaza University College
10/4/2018 – 10/13/2018 in Nairobi, Kenya
Rationale and the Purpose of the Project
Aligned with the Social Work and Social Development (SWSD)’s 2016 global agenda1 on“promoting human dignity and worth of all peoples,” as well as the mission of the International
Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) to “enhance cooperation among schools ofsocial work world-wide,” Tangaza University College in Kenya is respectfully submitting a grantapplication for the collaboration focused on empowerment and capacity-building forcommunity leaders, social workers, and social transformers in the time of urgent politicalconflicts with four universities in Kenya, South Africa, and the USA. Kenya has just comeout from a much tensed election process that has left the country divided. One of the major tasks
ahead for social workers and development workers is to build social cohesion amongstcommunities. The similar needs are detected also in South Africa and the USA with recent
political and social conflicts and elections, and the partners involved in this project see the urgent
call for training and empowering community leaders, social workers, and development
professionals on the ground. Coordinated by Tangaza, faculty from four schools of social workand social transformation in three countries will gather for a two-day training and empowerment,a day of community engagement dialogue (community dialogues between the leaders and theircommunities), and a two-day conference:

The objectives were:1

As a reminder, in addition to the 2016 agenda, our team is mindful of the mission of 2018 (promoting
environmental and community sustainability) as well as that of 2020 (strengthening the importance of humanrelationships). We believe it is important to maintain our cross-national work directly relevant and consistent tothose missions for the long run.

(1) To empower, train, and learn from communities leaders for peace building and social
cohesion efforts in the informal settlements in Nairobi (Huruma, Korokocho, and Mathare ).
(2) To create forum where the communities leaders interact with students and faculty in Social
Work and Social Transformation. Through this engagement between the community leaders,faculties, and students, we will share experiences and generate knowledge and skills toenhance the social work and social transformation contribution towards sustainable peace andsocial cohesion.
(3) The research will be carried out with the faculty and students on the benefits ofinternational collaboration in the between the four universities.
(4) Partner universities will also discuss the possibility of signing an MOU for a lasting
collaboration and partnership.
Appendix One for the detailed schedule of the project (three activities).
Appendix Two for the Active Non-violence Training (activity one).
Appendix Three for the Mentor-Mentee Dialogue flyer (activity three).
Project Outcomes, Dissemination, and Future PlanThree main activities were accomplished during the project.
ACTIVITY ONE – participating in and gathering data from the Active Non-violence Training at
the Huruma Slum Campus with community leaders and peace ambassadors.

ACTIVITY TWO – conversation among students from the main campus and Mtaani University(Huruma Campus) for the first time. Transportations and meals were provided for the sessions.
Faculty and students from graduate programs also participated.
Here the main role of the project participants from all three universities was observing, listening
to, and taking notes to collect data. Prior to all presentations and conversations, the purpose of
the project was explained and consents were asked for.

ACTIVITY THREE - there was a dialogue/workshop focused on discussing issues aroundmentor-mentee relationship in academic settings and how both parties fulfill their roles in an
efficient and ethical manner particularly to empower students. The project participants learned
much about some of the challenges faced uniquely at Tangaza as well as the common obstacles
encountered by academics everywhere. We broke into groups to further discuss some of thepossible remedies. Last two days (other activities) – the project participants spent a couple ofhours together to reflect, discuss, and write up on the sessions held during the week. We also
took some time to plan some of the action plan items for coming months.
There will be three specific efforts to continue our project and disseminate the outcomes:(1) We have collected a significant amount of data from all activities. The project
participants continue to organize and analyze the data and share their experiences andfindings with their respective universities.
(2) We plan to submit an abstract to present at the 2020 Social Work, Education, and Social
Development (SWSD) in Italy. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) orSociety for Social Work and Research (SSWR) will also be an appropriate venue
depending on the timing of the research progress.
(3) We plan to publish our findings in a peer reviewed journal for better and effective
dissemination. We anticipate this will be finalized by 2020.
Special thanks for the Mr. Ombok who facilitated the Active Non-violence Training forthree days (photo with the project participants – Brother Jonas from Tangaza, Prof.
Lombard from the University of Pretoria, and Prof. Shim from Dominican University).

Appendix One
Tangaza –Dominican- Pretoria Univesities Collaboration
PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES -2018
Dates: 8 to 13 October
Venue: Tangaza and Huruma
Activity One
8-10 Octobera. Workshop
Training of Huruma Peace ambassadors on non-active violenceb. Participants: Peace ambassadors (Huruma community leaders andalumni of DCDE)
c. Venue: Huruma
d. Facilitators: Mr. Ombok Otieno & Mr. Richard Kakeeto
e. Coordination: ISMM
Activity two
11 Octobera. Symposium: Pedagogy of social transformation - Dialogue between
Huruma students and Tangaza Community
The symposium brings together students, alumni of Huruma, Tangaza students
and faculty to discuss the pedagogy of Social Transformation. The symposium willattempt to answer the question: what pedagogy kick-start the process of socialtransformation. It will be based on the practical experience of the students ofHuruma. At the end of the symposium, we will award some students who areactors of social transformation in the slum.
b. Participants: Huruma students, Tangaza Students, and faculties
c. Venue: Tangaza
d. Facilitators: Ms. Saraphina Njoki, Ms. Gillian Nyambura, Prof.
Antoinette Lombard and Joyce Shime. Coordination: SASS

Activity three
12 Octobera. Workshop
Topic: Dialogue on a mentor-mentee relationship in academia of cross-cultural:
Exploring diverse identity and empowering students
This workshop builds on the workshop organised by prof. Faith Maina on thementor-mentee relationship. It aims at building a good mentor-mentee relationshipso as to enhance the post-graduate research process.
b. Venue: Tangaza
c. Facilitators: Prof. Joyce Shim and Prof. Antoinette Lombard
d. Coordination: Post-graduate

Other activities
Joint Research on social accountability
Ms. Gillian Nyambura, Prof. Antoinette Lombard, and Joyce Shim & Br. JonasAppendix Two (Activity One)TANGAZA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE - UNIVERSITY MTAANI

Presented by:Charity Gathungu
SCOPE➢ Introduction➢ Active non violence➢ Definitions➢ Conflict•
Causes of conflict•
Conflict curve•
Outcomes of conflict•
Analyzing conflict•
Conflict mitigations❖ Conflict management❖ Conflict transformation❖ Conflict resolution➢ Violence•
Versus violence•
Causes of violence•
Conflict types of violence•
Results of violence•
Common responses to violence
INTRODUCTION
With the ongoing Kura Yangu, Maisha Yangu (KYMY) (My vote my life (MVML)) project,many issues have been arising and many people are getting the information on how having award agenda, maintaining peace, and voting wisely is important to the community as a whole.
Many peace ambassadors among them DCDE students and peace keepers in the community havebeen taking part as well. Several peace ambassadors’ trainings have been done before all ofwhich have had different but equally helpful focus areas. This peace ambassadors training was
focusing on active non-violence.

Kenya has just had the general elections earlier in August 2017. A lot has been happening and inorder to understand active non-violence, these activities were first discussed and evaluated tohelp us understand our current position as a nation. Among the major happening that has been
the trend/ talk on the lips of almost every Kenyans before, during and after the election include:➢
➢➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢

Death of IEBC officialGeneral elections
Nullification of the presidential results
Death of citizens after elections
Call for cessation
318 or more petitions in court
Proposal of amendment of electoral laws
Continued demonstrations
Intimidation of individuals and/or institutions by politicians
Division among communities
Hatred among citizens
Poorly performing economy

The peace ambassadors were active on the ground in various ways relating to peace keeping in
the community. From the activities they were carrying out, they shared the successes and thechallenges they faced.
Successes• Peace dialogues were held and embraced• Meetings advocating for peaceful coexistence• Building our communication with our immediate neighbors• Preaching peace especially to parents with disabled children and to the community
around them
• Reporting incidences on social media and on free toll numbers given by peace cop• Not taking sides and convincing people based on facts
Challenges• People had the stand that without justice there will be no peace which is not wrong, onlythat to them justice is when their preferred candidate wins even in unjust means• Students that were invited to facilitate in the communities were often mistaken for IEBC
officials• Peaceprenuership among the community members• Police interference with peace• Community members provoking the police• Non-partisans among police officers, IEBC officials and Peace advocates• Blame game
• Community profilingThis peace ambassadors training targeted three different groups each of which could attend thetraining for two consecutive days. The first group attended on 11th and 12th Oct 2017 with anattendance of 20 and 16 participants respectively. Second group of peace ambassadors attended
on 16th and 17th October 2017 with 17 participants for both days. The third group only attended
on 18th October 2017 and the participants were 11. The total number of participants reached was
81. The facilitators were Mr Nicholus Dola and Rev. Antony Sasaka, both from Chemichemi yaukweli.
Since the training offered was the same for all the three groups of participants, the content andmethods used were the same. To better understand active non violence, a foundation was laid tofirst understand conflict and violence and the issues around them.
DEFINITIONSConflict is misunderstanding or level of disagreement. Conflicts are not necessarily bad ordestructive. They are important in every society for its development. What make conflict bad arethe negative responses that may arise from it. However, positive response is possible. Conflicts
can occur within a person, among individual, or communities and nations. Level, reasons, causes
and results of conflicts vary depending on the type of conflict and how we respond to theconflict.
Current causes of conflicts in Kenya• Understanding of the constitution and its application• Act of parliament• Court’s ruling

CONFLICT CURVE•CRISIS➢ TRIGGER e.g.
Leagued election
Hate speech▪

➢ LATENT e.g.
StereotypeRumors

RECONSTRUCTIONe.g. resettlement of theIDPs

OUTCOMES OF CONFLICT✓ Anarchy✓ Division among communities✓ Weakening of some institutions✓ Lack of trust and fear in the community✓ People relocation✓ Misinterpretation/ misunderstanding✓ Pain✓ Ground is hostile
ANALYZING CONFLICT
Several methods can be used to analyze and understand conflicts. In this training, two methods
were used to help focus any given conflict. Analyzing conflicts helps realize and distinguishbetween the problem, the root causes and the effects.

(i)

Use of the problem tree
Using the analogy of a tree, the roots represent the root causes of the problem, thetrunk represents the problem itself and the branches represent the effects of theproblem(ii)

Use of the analogy of the onion
The red ring onion used in this analogy has many layers. The outer layers represent
the current position of the conflict, mid-layers represent the interest of those involvedin the conflict and the inner most layers represent the underlying needs.

This shows that in order to uncover the underlying issues and the root causes of the problem, it isa process that needs time.
CONFLICT MITIGATIONS
Mitigation is a way of making something less severe. Conflict mitigation is a way of making theeffect of a conflict less severe, finding out and tackling the root causes to alleviate and end theconflict. This involves several methods or processes such as conflict management, conflicttransformation and conflict resolution.
Conflict transformation is the dynamism of a conflict either by its progression to become
violence, or by being reduced/ eradicated and the processes involved.

Conflict management revolves around the short term processes involved to ensure the crisis of aconflict is handled without turning into violence. To reduced or eradicated the conflict, conflict
resolution takes over to offer the long term solution.
Conflict resolution is about the processes and methods applied to give long term solutions to aconflict.
VIOLENCE
Violence is the use of physical force, usually intended to cause injury or destruction. Violence isoften referred by scholars the weapon/tool for the weak.
The relation between conflict and violence.
In most cases, violence can be prevented through conflict mitigation processes, but the failure to
do this leads to the development of conflict into violence.
CAUSES OF VIOLENCEIn Kenya today, some of the reasons why violence occurs are;
❖ Politics❖ Differing ideologies❖ Missed opportunities❖ Power and leadership❖ Resources❖ Ethnicity❖ Socialization❖ Education and values❖ Culture and tradition
TYPES OF VIOLENCE
The types of violence are mainly determined by how they affect the victim. They include❖ Physical violence❖ Emotional violence,❖ Psychological violence and❖ Structural violenceThis can affect social, cultural, governance and/or religious systems, for example inmatters of allocations and distributions. To handle it, it is important to build trust before
taking action.
RESULTS OF VIOLENCE- Pain- Curfew-Deaths
Militants-Extra judicialkillings-

Destructions
Riots
Displacements
Anger
Injuries
Detention
Ethnic tension
Property lose
Genocide
Sexual harassment
and abuse
Rape
Taking over

13 - Tangaza
When violence erupts, different reactions arise. They are unfortunately mostly negative, unlessthere is an intervention to make it otherwise. Those helping to end the conflict commonly
responses to violence by counter-violence and passivity where they neither take part in nor takesides to any of the parties involved in the violence. An example is in the mediation or arbitration
process.
CONCLUSION
Active non violence is an attitude of the mind, and a way of life that seeks to transform anindividual and the society into a situation of sustainable peace without recourse to any form ofviolence.
It can also be said to be a system of personal, societal and international change based on theforce of truth and the power of love.
The understanding listed there before about understanding conflicts and violence is also the basisof understanding how then do we have, and bring to effectiveness, active non-violence. It is
important to deal with conflict instead of waiting to take action when violence strikes.

14 - Tangaza
Appendix Three (Activity Three)

Tangaza University College
Dialogue on the Mentor-Mentee Relationship in a
Cross-Cultural Academic Settings
Oct 12, 2018
9am-1:30 pm
withProf. Antoinette Lombard (University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa) andProf. Joyce Shim (Dominican University, Chicago, USA)
9:00-9:30designate

Welcoming remark - Prof. Selvam Sahaya – DVC Academic
Introduction of the workshop: Dr. Edel Churu – Dean School of
Art and Social Sciences

9:30-10:00

Expectations from participants

10:00-10:20
Joyce

Experience of supervising/mentoring post-graduate students –10:20-10:40

Experience of supervising/mentoring post-graduate students –Antoinette

10:40 – 11:10

Health Break

11:10- 11:40

What is the agenda / themes to be discussed

11:40- 12:30

Group work or open dialogue

12:30-1:30

Reflection and way forward

15 - Tangaza