Women Uplifting Women: Reflections from Volunteering at Gihon Women Empowerment Kenya
By: Naomi Jung
Tags: Empowerment, Volunteering, Africa, Kenya, Women

For the past four weeks, I’ve been so lucky to have been volunteering at Gihon Women Empowerment Kenya, a women’s center dedicated to helping impoverished women, survivors of domestic abuse, and other underprivileged women build self-confidence and become independent.

The Women’s Center

Gihon was founded in 2015 by Agnes Gitonga and Lucy Wanjin. It began as a feeding program for children, who didn’t have any food to eat on the weekends when they didn’t have school-provided lunch. The feeding program soon extended to feed impoverished women and men as well, and the founders were inspired to start the women’s program to help women in a more sustainable way, by empowering them to be able to earn money, become independent, and gain the ability to support themselves and their families.

Some of the women from the center

Every year, the center runs a year-long training program for 20–25 women. By the end of the year, the goal is for the women to gain the skills and knowledge they need to start their own small businesses in services such as hairdressing and tailoring, both of which are in-demand services in Kenya. The aim is that the women will be able to have their own salons and shops once they graduate from the program.

Everyday, the women come to the center in the morning, and we start the day with singing and prayers. After that, the day-to-day activities vary, but range from hairdressing and tailoring practice to motivational confidence-boosting exercises to lessons on topics such as financial management, women’s health issues, and domestic violence. Sometimes, we’ll even do interactive computer lessons with the women, many of whom had never used a computer before joining the program. The center also makes sure that the women have lunch everyday, even if it’s as simple of a meal as a plate of rice. For some, this may be their only meal of the day.

Gihon’s Additional Programs

In addition to the women’s empowerment program, Gihon also runs a small support group called Positive Minds, for women living with HIV. HIV/AIDS is such a widespread issue in Kenya, and the stigma surrounding the disease is incredibly negative and harmful. Many think that HIV is a death sentence and often cut ties with family members and friends who have the disease, causing those with the disease to suffer even more. Through this support group, Agnes has helped many HIV-positive women find a family of support and gain the strength to continue living their lives to the fullest.

The children at Rehoboth Learning Center

Furthermore, Gihon also runs a small primary school called Rehoboth Learning Center next-door to the women’s center for underprivileged children in Kitengela. Many of the women from the center send their kids here, which is great because it helps encourage the women to keep their children in school. The school has also taken in many orphans, refugees from the Congo, and children whose parents are living with diseases such as HIV and cancer. Without Rehoboth, many of these children would be on the streets with no opportunity to get an education, and would continue to be neglected by society.

And finally, although not directly related to Gihon, Agnes’s daughter Keren runs Harpy Arts Studio, a dance studio that gives free lessons to underprivileged kids. Many of the students from Rehoboth come to take class on Saturdays, where they are able to express and enjoy themselves through dance. After class, the children are also fed a simple meal of juice and bread, as Agnes and Keren want to ensure that they have at least something to eat, because many might not have any other food during the weekend.

After dance class at Harpy Arts Studio!

Gihon’s Backbone: Agnes Gitonga

Agnes runs the women’s center on a day-to-day basis, and she is a superwoman. Her dedication and passion for her work are unmatched, and it has been so inspiring to work alongside her these past few weeks. Not only does she single-handedly run the women’s program, she is also a single mother of three, teaches at the school in the mornings before the women’s program starts, and runs the HIV support group.

Agnes, the ultimate role model and superwoman.

At the women’s center, she genuinely takes all of the women under her wing, and cares so deeply about their well-being. She gets to know the women intimately, so that she can make herself readily able to help if and when they struggle with domestic violence issues, health issues, and more. When women don’t show up to the center, she always checks in on them, making calls and even home visits to make sure they are okay. Once, when I accompanied her on a home visit, I saw how for almost three hours, she patiently and compassionately listened to and encouraged a woman who was struggling with her marriage and mental health issues.

Her dedication to helping and uplifting the community doesn’t stop with the women, but extends to all the children that she’s met and worked with as well. When she notices the warning signs of child abuse when working with children at the school, she steps in to protect these children, doing whatever she can to take them out of those terrible environments, keep them in school, and give them the care and support they need, sometimes even taking them into her own house.

I could go on and on with praise for Agnes, because she truly is a remarkable woman that does everything, and hearing her talk and reflect on all the things that she has done and wants to do for the Kitengela community wows me every time. She is such a strong and compassionate female leader, and I feel so blessed to have her as a mentor and friend. She is the kind of woman I aspire to be, and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to work with her everyday.

Some Reflections

Volunteering at the women’s center has been such an amazing experience, and I’ve loved every moment of it. It’s definitely opened my eyes to the range of hardships that women face, especially in a poverty-stricken area like Kitengela. It’s saddening to think that so many women suffer from domestic abuse and live in such terrible conditions, but it also gives me so much hope to see these women coming to the center everyday, determined to carve out a better future for themselves. The women are so enthusiastic and kind, and their positive energy and motivation will take both them and their children far.

Being at the center has also made me reflect on what it means to be a woman in today’s world, and how we as women need to continue to uplift and empower each other. Witnessing the women at the center working together to help each other build their skills, opening up to each other about the struggles they face, and supporting each other on a day-to-day basis has really shown me the power of women uplifting other women. I’m really proud to be part of the Gihon community, and I hope to keep the Gihon spirit of empowerment within me even after I leave Kenya.