Africa Center for Engendered Security

SOWED gave the youth an agenda. It was as simple as organize, register and reach out to fight violence against women and children. They gave us training, gave us tools, and sent us forth. We formed the group -Je Wajua (Do You Know) a youth self help group registered as a community based organization with the objective of creating awareness of the link between HIV/AIDs and Gender and Based Violence. Our target is primary schools in slums. So far we have had 29 awareness sessions in 10 schools focusing on primary prevention of child abuse, and HIV/AIDs. SOWED Kenya, has been walking with us since 2009. We are now scaling up thanks to SOWED. They provide us with sub-grants and the profile. We are a group of 36 young people between 18 years and 27.

Sowed has made it a personal business to change lives one life at a time thus the impact is bottom up from the grass root to the national level.

Sowed Kenya for me is the first port of call for all cases regarding rape, battery, and defilement. They also help us when we are having trouble with police over failure to arrest perpetrators or when they mishandle crucial cases and exhibits. We have done this for the last 7 years. Whenever we require training on issues of the rights of survivors at our health facility we call them. We are fortunate.

My story with SOWED is that of a young girl straight out of college seeking to find her place in a big world -without a road map or a fall back strategy. That is how I first landed at SOWED Kenya. I Google searched NGOs got huge number of them -narrowed down to a few and picked SOWED, for no apparent reason. I then visited their website, their facebook page and finally dropped them an email looking for an entry level career opportunity. Unlike most organizations that don't care to respond or even acknowledge. They responded by asking me to drop my CV and gave me direction to their office. They explained that they didn't have the funds to employee me but there was work to be done. I agreed to be interviewed for a volunteer position and to be matched with a community group. I have since known who I'm, and what is my space in this big world, and what I want to do with it. I have made this known to countless people who I have I touched with my big heart. I thank SOWED donors for making it possible for me to be of use to others without who I would still be lost in my self. Now I know who I'm and what I want to do with myself -serve, serve, serve

In my profession as a development worker, I have sat in the boards of a variety of non-profit organizations. The experience is never the same with each one of them. But the motivation, at least for me, has remained the same across all boards; to find an NGO that will give me a social responsibility platform to give back to deserving communities without taking from them any more than is necessary. I found that platform in SOWED Kenya; a growing organization, that has remained relevant to the needs of indigenous communities while working with state and other non-state actors to demystify development using innovative gender, health and social justice programs. Their advocacy clarion -every woman, every child -is the highest recognition that an organization can accord to a particular group of marginalized community members. Am proud to be associated with SOWED Kenya.

I have known SOWED Kenya since when I turned 21 years, after I was invited to be a member of the organization's board to represent the youth on a two year renewable term. I was later elected by members of the board to be the organizations's secretary. I was still a student at the University of Nairobi. As a young woman, at 21 it isn't many organizations that would consider a student to sit in the board's executive, leave alone a youth representative. Surprisingly, that was the first time I discovered that young people can have a voice; they only need space and support to move the world. I found a very youthful team of staff, with more passion than they had resources. Resources were raised from our own pocket savings. Both the board and staff -took turns in the field. The transformation was one person, one household, one village at a time. Looking back, the organization has grown. And my greatest joy is that we have kept that tradition of digging deeper into our pockets -venturing deeper into communities and reaching deep into the core of human suffering to light the lamp of hope. We are not stopped by terrain, remoteness or hardship, and for every one dollar donated 80 cents reach the beneficiary at the foot of the chain. We know our donors by name -and don't allow them to be a statistic no matter how far or near they are.

Poverty being widespread in Kenya -imagine how more cruel poverty can thus be among groups of women and children living in low-income informal settlements, rural-villages and peri-urban slums spread across marginalized settings that are already reeling under the heavy burden of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, hunger, crime, sexual violence, illiteracy, forced marriages, forced female circumcision and high maternal deaths. That is where SOWED Kenya works and those are SOWED Kenya clients. We were inspired by this work and the sheer responsibility of one organization, SOWED Kenya to begin ether over 100 Community Based Organizations to fight violence against women, and was leading in the fight. SOWED Kenya invited us to the alliance and sowed in us the inspiration to focus on women and children economic empowerment. 5 years down the line -we are providing legal aid, low-cost sanitary towels, trading in recyclable shopping bags, and a land buying projects that have gone a long way in helping to alleviate suffering among deserving women and children headed poor households with preservation of human dignity. As we write this review -we want to dedicate it to that woman today who views tomorrow with hope because today SOWED Kenya, EPJI and many other are doing something about their challenges.

I have known SOWED Kenya for the last 5 years as social justice organization with a strategic focus on women, children in the broad and specific context of sexual and reproductive health and gender based violence with its Head offices in Kajiado County - a rural pastoralist county.

SOWED Kenya has always been at the forefront in mobilizing and engaging with communities, actors and stakeholders with the view to informing and influencing community, institutions and government policies and practices for women and children's access to health and gender justice.

I have also known SOWED Kenya as the focal organization for Health NGO's Networks. SOWED Kenya has played a key role in advocating and convening County Civil Society caucus in engaging the Ministry of Health in improving health indicators at Community, County and National levels.

SOWED Kenya has worked with development and strategic partners such as Liverpool VCT, UN Women, HERAF, NACC, KANCO, AMREF, ETWA, Global Funds, Urgent Action Fund for Women, FEMNET among other partners that have funded the work of SOWED Kenya to help achieve its strategic objectives as a sign of the partner's confidence in the organization capacity. My own organization Beacon of Hope has benefited from SOWED Kenya expertise in training of paralegals.

SOWED Kenya has spearheaded training's for the Police, health workers, community leaders, paralegals, custodians of culture, government officials, teachers and students and CSO's with the aim of building capacities within communities to help further women and children's rights in line with SOWED Kenya's strategic focus.

SOWED Kenya always strives to be relevant to community needs and keeps abreast with current affairs to help make informed strategic decisions without deviating from its vision and mission.

As an intern, working with SOWEDKenya gave me the knowledge in the field of research,capacity building and empowerement of women in kajiado north about gender issues as wellas family planning issues,the importance of knowing your status,i greatly acknowledge these organisation for their great work being done.

As a finance proffessional providing accounts services to small and medium scale organization, I have known and interacted with SOWED Kenya in several activities and mostly in the finance sector. SOWED Kenya has for the past ten years, managed to handle grants from local and international donors. They are a focused organization with great potential to grow.

i have volunteered with SOWED Kenya for six months as a student at Marist International university college.I have interacted with staff,partners and beneficiaries of this organization and experienced their policies and been part of their practices.I have to admit that there are few big organizations with such a huge impact on the lives,rights and welfare of communities far removed from the minds of developments planners and decision makers.Few staff, huge motivation,great positive impact.Am proud to have been a part of and to be associated with this great organization.

I have interacted with SOWED Kenya as a legal adviser.As a health driven organization,SOWED has made major strides in Kajiado in as far as health and gender based violence are concerned.The organization's interventions have seen a rapid decline in maternal deaths,disease outbreaks as well as as the spread of HIV/AIDS.Remarkable results have also been achieved in the organization's relentless fight against gender-based violence.The organization's overwhelming dedication,motivation and resilience are truly outstanding.

SOWED engages everyone regardless of age religion culture social status to make sure that set goals are met.

SOWED does great work - with very few staff and resources, it makes things happen - I can only imagine how much more would be done if finances weren't an issue. It's great to have great allies and advocates that are truly passionate about what they do. Kudos for all the work done, and here's looking forward to many many more powerful years. More fire!