Widows in Kakamega joined the rest of the world in marking International Widows day as they celebrate support they receive from a Non-Governmental Organization, Kakamega County Widows Empowerment Project (KC-WEP).
KC-WEP has enabled the majority of widows in the county to cope up with life through various interventions as it also empowers them to be champions against Gender Based Violence (GBV).
During the celebrations, 60 widows were given certificates after undergoing training to be GBV Champions across Shinyalu Constituency.
Part of their task will be to expose any form of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and engage community members through civic education.
The 60 were selected from 60 groups formed by widows, women and people with disabilities with support from KC-WEP.
KC-WEP also distributed 30 Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders to some of the widows in their ongoing programme to support them with a clean source of fuel with an effort to conserve the environment and control cutting of trees from Kakamega Forest.
To date the organization has distributed over 300 gas cylinders to widows across the county with more set to benefit.
The Project Coordinator for GBV at KC-WEP Violet Sakwa said the organization has partnered with proto energy to supply cooking gas to widows free of charge but they will have to refill for themselves.
“We are providing them with free cooking gas as we understand the challenges they face while looking for firewood,” she noted.
She added that KC-WEP has organized widows in groups where they engage in table banking and further trained them on better agro-ecological practices in addition to establishment of kitchen gardens in their homes.
The County Coordinator of Reproductive Health Imelda Barasa asked the widows to resist any form of sexual harassment and report to relevant authorities.
At the same time, a youth and gender advocate Victoria Zila Ong’ai urged women to go for cervical cancer screening where her organization, Youth Leaders Stakeholders, will support them to access medication.
One of the widows, Alice Muyanje said being in groups has enabled them to address everyday challenges they encounter in the society.
