INTRODUCTION

“Laikipia Teachers’ Peace Initiative” was a project of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, Laikipia Branch undertaken during the year 1999.  The branch had a membership of approximately 3,000 teachers drawn from all the primary, secondary school and tertiary educational institutions within the District.

The peace initiative was born out of the branch’s objectives, which include promoting both professional and socio-economic development of its members, as well as responsible citizenship. There was a felt need by the teachers within the district to play their part in bringing about peace and reconciliation after the tribal clashes in which six teachers lost their lives and several schools were closed.

PEACE INITIATIVE BACKGROUND

(i)     The Kenya National union of Teachers, Laikipia Branch, covered Laikipia District, Rift Valley Province.

(ii)     The ethnic composition of the area was mixed and hosted both the indigenous inhabitants and immigrant settlers.  The indigenous inhabitants practice pastrolalism while the immigrants are mainly agriculturalists.  The main communities represented are Baluhya, Boran, Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Kisii, Luo, Meru, Maasai, Pokot, Samburu and Turkana.  The different tribes have lived together peacefully for many years.

(iii)     In the recent past there has been animosity between members of the various ethnic groups in the area.  The animosities have led to loss of lives and of property, maiming and the raping of women and schoolgirls.

(v)     While the cause of insecurity was explained in many ways and assurances given by the Government that peace would return, the potential for more violence remained high.  Members of different communities were still divided and could threaten to use even more violent methods should fighting erupt.

MISSION AWARENESS

To restore peace within the Laikipia District; the KNUT, Laikipia branch, had a duty to be part of the peace and reconciliation process.  As opinion leaders at the grass roots level, the KNUT membership had a moral obligation to initiate peace in the area.  Teachers have a pivotal role to play in bringing about peace and reconciliation.  This is mainly due to the following reason:-

(i)    As opinion leaders at grass root level, they had the capacity to get to the root of the matter and to develop local solutions through their interacting with the local people.

(ii)    Young people are very vulnerable since their minds are at formative stages.  If teachers are consciously guiding their pupils towards peaceful coexistence, then the possibility of violence amongst communities occurring in future is minimized.

(iii)    Teachers are already accepted by the community as “agents of change”.  If they are involved in a Peace Initiative, it will just be a continuation of a process to positively change the community’s way of life.  This is as it should be, for culture is dynamic and changes with time to meet a community’s changing needs.

(iv)    Once this peace initiative produces good results in Laikipia, it would be replicated elsewhere in the country and even the rest of the world where tribal clashes could occur.

AN OVERVIEW OF OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED

The project achieved four broad objectives:-

(i)    Provided a forum for teachers and community leaders from the district to share experiences on the causes of conflict within the communities where they live.  They also examined solutions that had been applied in the past towards the reconciliation and how effective they had been.  They then examined other methods of conflict resolution that had been applied and evaluated their effectiveness and how they could be used.

(ii)    Examined how conflicts had affected the attitudes of children and determined what would be done to correct them.  Teachers discussed to impart concepts of peace in the minds of children through Peace Education for Schools.

(iii)    Formulated a curriculum to be used in schools for peace education.  While the curriculum was based on the Laikipia Disrict experience, the ultimate aim was to provide one, which inspired a national curriculum to be used in all schools in Kenya

(iv)    Created a pool of resource people equipped with knowledge and skills in conflict resolution.

TRAINING OF TRAINERS

The target group included primary and secondary school teachers, as well as selected members of the affected community.  The training emphasized a multimedia approach and community participation.  It encouraged the trainers to make use of such folk media as music, poetry and drama since these used local resources and were inexpensive.  Participants trained another 3,000 colleagues.  They also initiated peace education as an extra curricular activity in their schools.  The same trainers became outreach agents through forums that were available to them including women groups, Christian associations, peace and justice commissions sponsored by churches, human rights groups and others.  Such networking took advantage of the already existing peace initiatives so as to draw on experiences already gained.

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT

While the project used material produced by other organizations on peace and reconciliation, civic education etc., it produced its own original literature to suit its initiative. The literature used in the seminars and workshops was simple and to the point.  It was freely available and interpreted in all languages spoken in the area.  During the training of trainers, the trainers developed materials focusing on peace and reconciliation for pupils and student.  It was appropriate that the teachers developed the books since they knew this target group better.  Other training and outreach materials included posters, video documentary, audio cassettes, handouts and calendars with messages on peace and reconciliation.

THE PEACE EDUCATION CURRICULUM

The project produced Peace Education Curriculum materials for use in schools. This curriculum emphasized practices leading to peace, democracy and lawfulness, and advocated the application of such values as patriotism, loyalty, self reliance, tolerance, patience, cooperation, diligence, honesty justice, fairness, respect, peace, responsibility, equality, equity and love.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Community outreach started as soon as training was over.  However it was accelerated after the production of training and outreach materials.  Outreach used the methods outlined under the heading “Training of Trainers”. Emphasis put on working with women, as they had been hardest hit by the tribal clashes.  They were also more effective in spreading messages because of their commitment and network organizations.

During the outreach, emphasis was put on use of folk media and the dissemination of the written materials that were developed.  The interaction with the local groups was based on participatory methods and feed back.  The groups were encouraged to create their own “Peace Initiative Programme” which would enrich the earlier phases of the programme.  The project management networked with the trainers to guide and monitor the progress of their outreach programmes.

The overall objective was to induce the culture of dialogue at the lowest levels of communities.  Citizens were also made aware of their rights and responsibilities in an effort to create an informed society.

Finally, the communities developed the capacity to prevent conflict and resolve them when they occur.  They also learned the importance of peace and living together in harmony.


BY:   DR. ALEXANDER N. KARIAVU
         KNUT HEAD OFFICE