“Beyond lamentation”...those were the first words as title to Betty Murungi’s presentation  in the context of healing, peace building and unity on the first day of the Gender Festival, the first ever for Kenya. Those words stayed with me as I recalled some of the discussions around the gender festival planning back in early 2008 when the idea of the gender festival was presented as borrowing a leaf from our Tanzania sisters.

Day two of the gender festival was very exciting. The theme of the day was movement building in a diverse society. There were various break-away sessions after plenary, all of which captured the spirit of movement building based on teh work that the various groups do.

Today marks the first day of the first ever gender festival in Kenya. The festival will be held at the Railways Club grounds in Nairobi from 3rd-5th June 2009. This festival has been organised and coordinated by several individuals and organisations all working towards gender equality in Kenya. The gender festival has been organised as an inspiration from other gender festivals that have happened in the region, notably the 8th Gender Festival in Tanzania. Our sisters from next door Tanzania will be participating.