Aug 14, 2017.
Destination: Twinkle Initiative CC, Kenya
The URI Global Youth CC launched the TRAVELING CCs WEBINAR SERIES which is a monthly initiative dedicated to feature the work of member’s local CCs / activities in their hometown. For each month, there is a corresponding theme. And for the month of July, with the theme ‘The importance of having mentorship and organization in nurturing and empowering women’, the webinar travelled to Nairobi Kenya and featured the Twinkle Initiative CC.
All aboard the Traveling CCs Webinar Series platform, the group travelled to Nairobi, Kenya where we got to hear first hand from one of the founders of Twinkle Initiative CC (An acronym of; The Woman Is Now Knowlegable, Learned & Educated)
Formed by 4 campus friends with the aim of mentoring young people as well as nurturing tolerance among Kenyan adolescents and youth, we were fortunate to have Ms. Wambu Ngige with us on the webinar.
Twinkle CC who have been members of the URI since May 2014, has mentored close to 3,000 high school students across Nairobi, Nyeri and Kiambu counties. Ms. Ngige spoke about the current socio-political need in Kenya to have activities to empower women. Specially now with the elections coming about, their efforts need to be strengthened in order to counter political mobilization that is prevalent especially during election periods. In their next event, they are planning to join the world in celebrating the international days of the girl child on 11th October of this year. This year’s theme is “The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030. Beside mentorship, they hope to donate sanitary towels to the girls in the effort of keeping them in school.
Twinkle Initiative CC aspires to create a changed society where women are viewed as equals and where they are respected. They occasionally mentor the boy child with the hope of impacting positive masculinity. Moreover, their activities are targeted to create “zero- interfaith and intercultural hatred” not only in their local community but also to the world at large.
This is where our responsibility comes in. Twinkle Initiative CC as women’s right campaigner’s, highly suggest that we too do similar activities of empowering women and promoting interfaith cooperation through dialogue forums, because they believe that rightly said, “Women are all stars, and they deserve to twinkle.”
An interesting discussion ensued after this with youth from Malaysia, the Philippines and even Saudi Arabia wanting to know more about the statistics of the number of women being educated in Nairobi. It was the first time of some to get to meet and hear from a Kenyan woman, and hear from their perspective of the current situation in that area. As such, the webinar was not only educational in nature, it encouraged the participants to share their ideas in supporting each other’s cause.
Twinkle Initiative hopes in the near future to reach over 10,000 students in Kenya through the mentorship program. They also hope to reach out to parents, more teachers and other stakeholders so we raise together a generation that will build a new Kenya.
Next month’s theme is on: The importance of going to a Sacred Space as a place of ritual and a place of meaning. The next trip is scheduled on August 26, 2017 at 14:00 GMT. Hope to get more participants to join us during the discussion.
Should you wish to have your CC featured in these upcoming webinars, please feel free to get in touch with either Sharon or Vincent by sending a line to: [email protected]
Come, travel with us!
And together we made it. Twinkle initiative Founders.
