UUnnddeerrssttaannddiinngg aanndd MMaannaaggiinngg FFeeaarr WWoorrkksshhoopp ‘How to understand, confront and handle fear in a constructive way.’ Nakuru, 18-19 May 2009 Federation of Women Groups Report written by Carmen Wamukoya and Esther Moraa, from the Federation of Women Groups. Edited by Janny Slagman, Feminenza Kenya Further edited by Monique Weber, Feminenza Kenya, 2016 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 4 Executive summary 5 Introduction 6 Aims of the Understanding and Managing Fear Workshop 7 The process of the workshop 7 Summary of the Understanding and Managing Fear Workshop 8 Evaluation Summary 10 Participant Comments 15 Conclusion 19 Appendix 1 – Workhop programme 20 Appendix 2 – List of Participants 21 Appendix 3 – Nakuru Peace Accord 22 Appendix 4 – Photos 25 About Federation of Women Groups 29 About Feminenza 31 3 Acknowledgments We wish to express our deepest appreciation to all the people without whom this Understanding and Managing Fear Workshop would not have been possible. Our special appreciation goes out to the Feminenza facilitators for their dedication and steadfastness and to the Federation of Women Groups for logistical support and commitment. We also thank the participants for their time, sincere contribution and valuable comments, which made the workshop a success. A full list of participants is given at the end of the document. 4 Executive Summary This report presents the thoughts, experiences and recommendations from participants that emanated from a May 2009 Feminenza workshop, entitled ‘How to understand, confront and handle fear in a constructive way’. The workshop served as an introduction to elements of module 1 of Feminenza’s training for Forgiveness and Reconciliation Counsellors, which has been created to train women in their own communities as Forgiveness and Reconciliation Counsellors so that they can effectively contribute to sustainable peace. Following the crisis that ensued in Kenya after the contested elections in December 2007, serious social, political, economic and emotional effects of the violence are still being felt. Eight months after signing the National peace accord, communities began withdrawing behind tribal boundaries again, fear and suspicion increased, communication was quickly breaking down and tension was mounting. The uncertain political situation raised concerns among women that an even greater wave of violence would erupt in a short while. Women in the most affected areas of the post election violence felt that counsellors needed to be empowered and trained at grassroots levels, so that they can help others in the Forgiveness and Reconciliation process. To support the women who signed the Nakuru Peace Accord, Feminenza collaborated with the Federation of Women Groups to provide an intensive 2- day workshop for a group of 26 women in Nakuru, as an introduction to the Forgiveness and Reconciliation Counsellor Training. The intention of this workshop was to enable women to understand the biology of fear, how it affects behaviour and encourages a cycle of violence and how to manage their own fears more effectively. Reflected in the report are the outcomes of the workshop and the reflections and recommendations made by participants. 5 Introduction Kenya erupted in violence immediately after the announcement of December 2007 general election results. The events leading up to the general elections were seen as largely peaceful. However the outcome of the presidential election was fiercely disputed. The violence that erupted saw over 1000 people lose their lives with hundreds of thousands of others being displaced. There was however a general feeling that the Presidential elections announcement simply ignited a situation that had been simmering for a long time. It became obvious that the elections were a trigger for violence that had roots in a longstanding feeling of marginalization and other perceived injustices. The events that followed have led to rising tensions and specific ethnic groups being targeted. The Kenyan women bear the greatest brunt of post-election violence. Serious social and emotional effects of the violence are still being felt. There is therefore a need to build dialogue among and across the country’s ethnic communities During this tumultuous period in Kenya, community representatives requested Feminenza to help by providing the skills and knowledge needed to establish a strong base of women as Counsellors in Forgiveness and Reconciliation. As a result of this request, Feminenza developed a curriculum for training and mentoring of Forgiveness and Reconciliation Counsellors in response to the challenges faced by women and NGOs in Kenya. The Forgiveness & Reconciliation training is designed to advance women’s human rights in that it will develop women counsellors at grassroots level by providing them with the experience and skills to guide the very necessary processes to enable thousands of women in the aftermath of post election violence to be able to move on and build the cross community bonds needed to build community cohesion and develop a culture of peace. The Understanding and Managing Fear workshop conducted in Nakuru was meant to support the women who had signed the Nakuru Peace Accord and was also an introduction to module 1 of the broader Forgiveness and Reconciliation Counsellor training programme. 6 Aims of the Understanding and Managing Fear Workshop To provide an experience to 26 women about Understanding and Managing Fear, which will enable them to understand: i) the biology of fear; ii) how it affects behaviour and encourages a cycle of violence; iii) how to manage their own fears more effectively. Further the workshop was meant to empower women peace builders in communities affected by ethnic violence by providing tools to strengthen inner resilience, confidence and self esteem. The process of the workshop The ‘Understanding and Managing Fear’, workshop enables participants to start to face their fears and learn how to better manage them. By starting to understand how to cope with fear, participants can begin the process of learning how to forgive. The workshop involves specific stages that allow participants to go through a step-by-step process of identifying one’s own individual fears, followed by identifying one’s strengths and qualities, and subsequently identifying which of one’s inner resources will assist in handling fear constructively. The final stage includes writing and sharing one’s resolve and plan of action about how to implement the new found understandings and skills into one’s life. The plan of action is a personal responsibility committed to for a period of 1 year. 7 Summary of the ‘Understanding and Managing Fear workshop’ BACKGROUND Twenty-six women leaders took part in the workshop, which was conducted by Feminenza. METHOD The Field of Fears Process Participants identify their fears. The Domain of Courage The building of a fortress of achievements, successes, skills and qualities. This is a confirmatory process about the skills and qualities that one has built in one’s life. Participants start to focus on successes in life, the achievements they are proud of and the qualities that allowed them to make those achievements. Purple Path Participants are engaged in a reflective process with specific technology that helps to become (more) conscious of how one’s strengths and qualities can assist in facing one’s fears. It also promotes awareness about the need to grow these strengths and qualities. The story we tell ourselves The last part of the workshop is for each participant to write down what they learned and/or gained from the process of the 2-day workshop, and also to write down one’s resolve and action plan for the next 12 months, and share (for those who wish) with other participants the new found understandings and resolutions. The 12 month action plan then becomes the participant’s personal responsibility in light of the direction they choose to take. The participants received a workbook to be able to document the fears identified, understandings and resolutions they came to. This tool was given to enable the women to return to the content of the workbook and their notes to actualise their 12 month action plan. 8 MEASURES Participants were each given a pre-workshop questionnaire to find out about the kind of challenges they face in the area of managing fear, what they expected from the workshop and what they hoped to gain from it. Evaluation forms were also provided at the end of the workshop to assess what the participants had learnt about fear, what skills they had gained, the level of understanding about the purpose of the workshop and its effectiveness. OUTCOMES OF THE WORKSHOP • Participants have an understanding about fear and its origin. • Participants equipped with effective coping mechanisms for dealing with fears. • Participants enabled to identify, examine and deal with their fears. The workshop adopted an interactive approach, using both presentations and practical exercises. The presentations sought to provide an introduction and overview to the activities. Thereafter participants engaged in self-exploratory and diagnostic exercises. The participants gave positive feedback regarding the usefulness and relevance of the presentations and exercises. A great deal of information was transferred, as well as practical skills in coping with fear. The participants were enthusiastic about the Coping with Fear methods they had learnt and planned to incorporate some of the activities in their daily lives upon their return home. 9 Evaluation Summary • 26 women participated in the workshop. • They represented the following locations/districts: o Kipkelion district o Nairobi o Borabu o Molo o Sotik o Kissi o Nyansongo o Nyamira o Gucha o Nakuru o Kericho o Mombasa o Buret District o Magenche-Gucha o Longisa/Bomet. • Most participants represented women’s groups and have leadership positions in their communities or are aspiring women leaders (those younger in age). Two attendants were a former MP. • 7 of the women who attended the workshop signed the Nakuru Peace Accord in 2008.