AT CROSSROADS
Kenya
EMU-Linked Folks in Kenya
Nuria Abdullah Abdi
Priscilla Adoyo
Hizkias Assefa
Nuria Abdullah Abdi (MA ’07) works for International Peacebuilding Alliance (Interpeace), a UN-affiliated organization (www.interpeace.org), where she is the program manager for Eastern and Central Africa, in charge of strengthening the role of women in peacebuilding and decisionmaking through participatory processes. Priscilla Adoyo (MA ’03) recently completed a PhD at Fuller Theological Seminary in California and is teaching at the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology. Hizkias Assefa is EMU professor of conflict studies. See page 16 of this magazine and “Assefa Nurtures Cease-Fire in Uganda” in the fall/winter 2006 issue of Peacebuilder at www.emu.edu/peacebuilder. Babu Ayindo (MA ’98) is a global consultant. See page 15 of this magazine. Jim Bowman (MA ’03) and his wife Cathy (Grad Cert ’02) were representing Mennonite Central Committee in Kenya when the post-election violence hit. In partnership with churches, the Bowmans helped provide personal hygiene items and foods for thousands of displaced people.
Charles Nyoike Ndegwa
Anne Nyambura
Babu Ayindo
Jim Bowman
John Katunga (MA ’05) works for Catholic Relief Services as technical advisor for peacebuilding and justice in East Africa. He and other EMU-linked personnel have played a key role in CRSsponsored “Leadership in Peacebuilding” workshops in South Sudan. Karimi Kinoti (MA ’02), recently completed a PhD at Bradford University in the United Kingdom and works for Christian Aid in Kenya. Charles Nyoike Ndegwa (MA ’05) consults on conflict issues from his base in Nairobi, with a particular focus on the ways that the media can be used to promote sustainable peace. Anne Nyambura (MA ’06) is from Kenya but works as program manager for Mercy Corps, focusing on promoting peace and reconciliation in neighboring Somalia. Doreen Ruto (MA ’06) works for USAID’s Office of Transitional Initiatives. More on pages 14 and 15. Emmanuel Lesiri Ole Sayiorry (MA ’07) is teaching conflict transformation and peacebuilding at Daystar University.
Doreen Ruto
Emmanuel Lesiri Ole Sayiorry
John Katunga
Karimi Kinoti
Ngoriakou Joseph Riwongole (MA ’06) is working in the Kenya office of Catholic Relief Services. Jebiwot Sumbeiywo (MA ’04) is the continental coordinator of Coalition for Peace in Africa, a membership network of individuals and organizations working for sustainable peace in Africa. Tecla Wanjala (MA ’03) is deputy chief of party of the Kenya branch of PACT, a large U.S.-based peacebuilding organization. More than 50 people working in Kenya have received training at EMU’s annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Additional numbers have been educated in other EMU programs, particularly at the undergraduate level and in Eastern Mennonite Seminary. As an example, Clair E. Good, a 2002 seminary graduate, and his wife Beth, a 2003 nursing grad, returned to Kenya during the January ’08 violence. In Clair’s capacity as Africa representative of Eastern Mennonite Missions, Clair worked with Beth to help distribute emergency EMM funds to associated churches. They witnessed Mennonite bishops and other church leaders “risk love” by reaching out to people perceived as “the other,” even inspiring church members to buy food and feed “the enemy.” In sharing food, both sides in the conflict were honoring each other – one in giving, the other in accepting the gift.
Ngoriakou Joseph Riwongole
Jebiwot Sumbeiywo
Tecla Wanjala
peacebuilder ■ 21 emu.edu/cjp