Afri Partner, Abjata Khalif and the Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network

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Abjata Khalif (right) presents a solar powered lamp to a midwife in Sankuri, Garissa, Kenya.
Abjata Khalif (right) presents a solar powered lamp to a midwife in Sankuri, Garissa, Kenya.

Afri supports the work of the Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network, founded by Abjata Khalif, which promotes sustainable development, conflict resolution and protection of human rights. Afri particularly supports these communities through providing solar lamps to school going children and midwives.

These enable children to study after the hours of darkness and help midwives to deliver babies safely.  You can read about this work here: “Tapping Renewable Energy”;  “Traditional Birth Attendants in Garissa, Kenya, now using Solar Lamps“; “Northern Kenyans adopt nocturnal life to escape extreme heat”

Abjata also visited Ireland a number of times as Afri’s guest, speaking at some of our events as well as to students involved in Afri’s educational programme.  He spoke at Sustaining Activism’s Fire in 2013  as well as at Féile Bríde in 2014.

Here is a short film about Abjata Khalif and the work he does (made by Dave Donnellan):-

Northern Kenyans adopt nocturnal life to escape extreme heat

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Asha Abdi, a woman in the northern Kenyan town of Atheley, sits outside a shelter designed to protect residents from stifling daytime heat. Photo: Abjata Khalif/Thomson Reuters Foundation
Asha Abdi, a woman in the northern Kenyan town of Atheley, sits outside a shelter designed to protect residents from stifling daytime heat. Photo: Abjata Khalif/Thomson Reuters Foundation

This report from our partner organisation, the Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network, shows the harsh consequences of climate change and how solar power is helping people to adapt.

By Abjata Khalif

ATHELEY, Kenya – It is 6 pm in Atheley and as the sun sets, bringing with it a cool breeze, this village in northern Kenya breaks out in a flurry of activity.

People gather outside, schoolchildren shout and play, and the sound of ululating fills the air. But this isn’t a wedding or a festival. The residents of this drought-stricken village are celebrating nightfall, because it means they can finally emerge from the shelters that have been protecting them from the extreme heat of the day and carry on with their lives.

“The ‘day’ has started and people are out of their hideouts ready to attend to their daily chores,” says community elder Abdi Abey. “Don’t mistake the celebration for a traditional festival. It’s a celebration of the changing weather.”

Over the past decade, Atheley and other villages in northern Kenya have suffered through a series of every-worsening droughts that have made normal life increasingly difficult. This year, for the first time, temperatures hitting over 40 degrees Celsius during the day have made farming, schooling, healthcare and other daily activities a struggle. Continue reading “Northern Kenyans adopt nocturnal life to escape extreme heat” →

Impressions from Sustaining Activism’s Fire: Caring, Campaigning, Creating

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Report by Andy Storey

The words of the Pakistani novelist Nadeem Aslam came to mind as I listened to the contributions here today:

Participants were invited to record their expectations of the event at the start of the day
Participants were invited to record their expectations of the event at the start of the day

‘I think despair has to be earned. If you were to say to me the world is damaged beyond repair, suitable only for the rubbish heap, I would want to see a record of what you did to change things, to repair it. You are not allowed to make that statement unless you have tried a hundred times to make things better — if you have failed again and again and again I might be willing to respect your opinion. I can’t take empty complaints seriously. The fact of the matter is that if you are the kind of person who has tried to alter things a hundred times, you would still say, “Let me try one more time.” You would never give up. Only the complacent ones, the bourgeoisie, the privileged ones, would say, “Throw this thing called life onto the rubbish heap.” ‘

Abjata
Abjata Khalif spoke about his campaigning work with the Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network

I was also reminded of the words of a relative of mine who, upon hearing that I was spending much of yet another weekend doing campaigning work, asked: ‘why do you keep doing this, when it doesn’t change anything?’. Well, as we have heard here today, it does change things, sometimes at least. But even if it did not, the journey itself is often its own reward – for many of us here today this is where we enjoy being, where we feel at home. And we are here to, as Rose Kelly put it today, help find out how better to traverse that journey safe and well. We agree then with Abjata Khalif when he says that ’activism is a calling’, albeit few of us have been called to do anything that requires his courage and his ability (again using the words of Rose) to ‘live in right relation’ with his community and his environment. Continue reading “Impressions from Sustaining Activism’s Fire: Caring, Campaigning, Creating” →

Introduction to Abjata’s Blog

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I am 34 years old award winning journalist and development worker born, brought up and based in dry patched remote northern region of Kenya. Am a development worker, community educator, mobiliser, community journalist, activist and advocate for social justice.

I am currently working with non- profit development organisation, KENYA PASTORALIST JOURNALIST NETWORK. But my activism and community work started way back when I was a young boy after witnessing human rights violation, armed attacks, brutality among others that gave me courage and determination in empowering my pastoralist community.

I undertake many activities and work in northern Kenya and among them are: Human rights Education and awareness campaigns, Human Rights Defenders work and program, Human rights profiling, reporting and monitoring, Conflict resolution and management through mediation and traditional mechanisms, Peace education through community radio and traditional media like folklore, traditional dance, oral narratives, storytelling, non -violence means and education, Women rights education and campaign, Women empowerment projects,
Women radio listening project, Gender equality, Climate change

education and adaptation, Climate change projects like tapping clean solar energy, community food security program, Using indigenous knowledge in addressing climate change , Climate justice project, Anti-human trafficking campaigns, Refugee rights, Eradication of small arms and light weapons ,Health rights and education, Fighting environmental crimes and organised groups like terrorist outfits and armed militias, Rehabilitation of ex-combatants ,civic education and undertaking anti-corruption campaigns and education. Apart from above mentioned activities, I am a member of various national and international networks.

I was born and brought up in a village called Wagalla in Wajir, Kenya. One incident that happened on 10th, February 1984, changed my life and built my resolve to create change, educate and empower my community and building their capacity to attain social justice.

On 10th February 1984, contingent of Kenya army invaded Wagalla village and flushed the residents out of their homes to an empty field where we were subjected to severe beatings, women and girls gang raped by the army in full watch of the besieged residents, we were surrounded in the open field without food / water and under scorching sun.

In the Wagalla field people started dying of hunger, dehydration and severe bleedings from bullets wounds and gun butt injuries. After some days under siege some victims broke the cordon and snatched guns from the security men surrounding us in the field. Other officers panicked and started spraying bullets to the people and it’s here they
killed many people. Others managed to escape including me, while others were walking and dropping dead while escaping due to bullet

wounds and bleeding. I was saved by a brave and daring Italian Nun late Analina Toneli, who was rescuing escaping victims, and offering them water and first aid. She was killed some years ago by forces that executed and ordered the Wagalla massacre.

The security forces collected the dead bodies and dumped them some 200 kilometres for hyenas to feed on them.

This violation and armed attacks from politically instigated conflicts, raids, security operations in our village moulded what I am today and what I do today.

I started asking myself what will you do to address your community sufferings and offer them dignified and normal life built on social justice. This made me to start active activism at age of 16 years and fighting for my community and seeking education under difficult conditions so that I can get knowledge to change.

Many other heinous acts perpetrated by armed militia like abduction of young girls to act as their comfort women in conflict zone, militia inserting gun butt and bottles in women victims private parts and gang raping devastated my upbringing as it was happening in my village and surrounding areas on daily basis.

All these atrocities, heinous acts, human rights violation, gang rape as tool of humiliation and embarrassment and the number of people killed in state sponsored massacres, armed conflicts, security operations and extra judicial killings made me to pursue journalism and use media in educating my people and give them platform of knowledge and information generation, sharing, dialogue and circulation and also I pursued development studies to initiate community developments, offer counselling and build my community capacity in fostering change and usher development.