These young people are transforming their own lives and turning to help others in their community. In addition to HIV/AIDS awareness, educational drama, group discussions, exchange programs, micro loans and community service projects the youth are conducting counseling and conflict resolution workshops.
As role models, community leaders and initiators the Maji Mazuri youth have the capacity to reach out to the youth who were involved in the violence. Maji Mazuri facilitates these youth members with financial support, guidance and expertise.
The danger of violence is still present as the 2012 General Elections loom at the horizon. Maji Mazuri is currently stepping up its effort to support its youth members in organizing peace promotion activities by training the youth to be advocates of human rights and peace ambassadors. This is done through organizing human rights awareness campaigns, peace rallies, marches and walks, training on strategies to enlighten the community on subjects such as child abuse and neglect, gender violence and offering conflict resolution skills.
We are convinced that it is essential to base the design and the implementation of peace promotion projects on the ideas, strategies and vision of the youth themselves. In the end, this will create widespread ownership of the peace initiative among youth in the whole community.
A special initiative in this context is the Mabatini Peace Network, named after the part of Mathare Valley in which it operates. This unique organization links together some 12 youth groups with a combined membership of over 500 youth from all over Mathare Valley.
The network is responsible for the organisation of peace activities that bring together rival slum villages. This cooperation among the different slum communities makes it possible to get early warning of emerging tensions and respond quickly to eruptions of violence by communicating with each other and seeking resolution.
