Part 3: Initial Messaging Feedback

 

Throughout the election week, SNA-K collected both solicited feedback (via our large network of partner organizations, outreach workers, and their observations as well as feedback they received from the community) and unsolicited feedback through our office line and SMS platform.

All feedback (quotes from the general public, observable impact, and feedback from partners) is tracked in relation to specific messages and actions taken. SNA-K keeps this information in a database, which will be fully analyzed in the months after the election process is completed.

In this report, we have included a snapshot of the types of solicited and unsolicited feedback SNA-K received from partners and subscribers during the March 4^th elections week.

 

Dandora

During and following the elections, SNA-K sent messages and helped flag security concerns in Dandora to the NSC. Dandora was one of the areas that experienced the most tensions and incidents in the days leading up to and following the elections. On election day, youths supporting a particular political party overwhelmed police in Phase 4 to prevent voting. This was brought under control by backup security, and SNA-K sent a message.

Feedback from residents included comments that, the message “helped to calm down the situation” and “was sent at the right time,” because, according to partners “they think the whole world was watching Dandora. Everyone knew what was happening.”

 

Following a second message, our Dandora co-ordinator summarized feedback from eight outreach workers in the area. They said: “the message helped to maintain calm, reminds us of our community, makes us be united, shows someone thinks about Dandora, reminds us to be peaceful all the times, and thanks for reacting and responding to our concerns.”

 

Burnt Forest & Kariobangi North

Our area Co-ordinator for both Burnt Forest and Kariobangi North reported similar feedback from both places.

In one case, a community partner said: “The message had a real impact. People stopped and were looking at their phones. They were gathered in groups and talking about politics.”

He noted that the community was congratulating SNA-K members on their work and that the messages had a particularly big impact in Kariobangi North where they helped to break up negative groupings.

He noted that based on the feedback he received, people were saying that, “the IEBC has their own ways of doing this – and they may not trust them but getting a peace message from us will give them a reaffirmation of the situation.”

Many community members requested additional messages.

 

Korogocho

The highlights of the messaging feedback from Korogocho are as follows:

– “The messages make people think otherwise if they wanted to do something wrong.” – “Updated people with the information which made people to be calm.” – “The messages helped keep people calm.”

 

Eldoret

On March 11^th, Eldoret partners wrote to SNA-K, saying:

“We are grateful for the good messages we have been receiving from SNA-K. Continue with the good job,” and “Viva SNAK for coming up with such a unique way of preaching peace through mobile technology. Keep up!”

SNA-K also received quotes from community members:

“We are grateful cos the messages are totally free of charge, not as we thought when being subscribed to the system.”

This quote shows the importance of building trust and credibility when it comes to SMS and technology-based services. Another person noted:

“I went to the interior and Kapsoya, and they are complaining not to be receiving messages. Kindly do some outreach there.”

This shows that a demand was created for SNA-K messaging in additional areas.

On March 6^th, an SNA-K subscriber called the SNA-K office line, saying:

“Rumours circulated in the morning almost brought commotion, that the election kit had been spoilt, and people would vote the second time. People were worried. Rumours spread so fast, but when asked how they got info those spreading rumours disappeared and calm returned. We are getting messages from SNA-K and forwarding to all in our phonebooks. I am proud of what Sisi ni Amani is doing. We need to celebrate you after elections. There is a big effect, and the stickers are all over so we are asking people to not bring propaganda here because this is amani zone.”

This message shows the importance of messaging that is directed towards the spread of rumours and how people interact with information that they receive during emotionally tense periods.

 

Narok County

Narok County was a main focal point for SNA-K, with the area experiencing tensions throughout the voting process. In particular, reports from Ololulunga of high tension came in from polling day, and through the tallying process. In response to the pre-election messages sent with voter education information, the SNA-K office line received calls from Ololulunga subscribers, saying:

“We are generally peaceful and hope to vote peacefully tomorrow. Continue sending these messages. Ni poa sana.”

On March 5^th, after chaos at a polling station over tallying, an SNA-K subscriber called Samuel, called and said:

“There has been calm in Ololulunga and I would like to thank you for informing the police who came to the area so quickly and for the message you sent that helped to maintain calm. I can now go home happy after my tallying center has finished its job peacefully Thank you Sisi Ni Amani.”

SNA-K’s Coordinator for Mulot, Sogoo, and Sagamian, Pastor Wilson Mosonik, received phone calls and thank you messages from the areas he was co-ordinating.

On March 5th, a man named Joel from Rongena, called Mosonik to thank him for the messages saying that the area has historically always had problems during elections, and that this time, the messages brought peace and have been a topic of discussion. Further, during the tallying where tensions were rising, he would show people the message about maintaining calm and he said it really helped. He wanted to say thank you.

This feedback shows the potential for messages on peoples’ phones to become a tool that they can use in their own peace efforts.

Community members from Sogoo and Sagamian told Mosonik that the messages were helpful and that they recognized that SNA-K has really worked hard and that they appreciated the messages. They said that the messages helped bring peace in the areas and that if anyone was about to bring up a dispute they would be shown the messages from SNA-K.

.Again this shows the need to further understand how messages can become a tool for the people who receive them to talk more openly and with more credibility about peace.

In Transmara, also in Narok County, a subscriber called the office line on March 9^th to say:

“Thanks so much for your wonderful messages. At least you gave us something to look up to and helped us maintain peace…Kudos.” Further, we received a call on March 10th letting us know that the messages were very helpful and that the messages were being discussed during a morning mass at church that morning.

 

Sotik/Sotik-Borabu Border

SNA-K received a lot of feedback is Sotik, specifically around the Sotik/Borabu border.

On March 5th, a subscriber called Barimen living on the Sotik Borabu border told Pastor Mosonik, the area coordinator, that he was happy that the SMS came in right before and during the elections and “helped maintain calm even when the electronic registers were not working.” He thanked SNA-K for bringing peace to the border.

This and other feedback show that SMS, if used well, can be a tool to encourage patience in particular and help people wait out scenarios that could otherwise lead to rumors and tensions. On March 6^th, a subscriber called Langat wrote to the office line to say:

“Its been a long stretch towards the finishing line of 2013 elections, On behalf of Sotik district I wish to thank SNA-K for tireless work of reminding the residents importance of maintaining peace.”

 

General

Finally, as a nice piece of general feedback, SNA-K also received a message to the SMS number 22762 which, translated to English, read:

“Thank you SNA-K educating me through your messages and for helping me maintain peace. Mine is to say that God bless you because your organization is like a church.”

 

Lessons Learned

Throughout the course of our elections-based messaging, several key takeaways, lessons learned, and questions for the future became clear. These included:

1. As the days went on, it became clear that there are certain situations in which messages cannot or should not be used. While this issue has arisen previously and we have set guidelines to deal with this, new situations came to light during the week and deepened our understandings of these situations. These highlighted the importance of establishing clear guidelines based on our prior research and our new election-time experience going forward. These guidelines should outline instances and occasions when a message is not or might not be appropriate, and how to go about making that judgment call. Below are some examples of situations where messaging could in fact contribute to insecurity, rather than alleviate it.
   1. High-Risk Message: This is the first and most important situation where messages should not be sent, as it deals with the danger for a message to cause alarm or worsen situations on the ground. These are messages that would be sent to an entire area, even if the issue is localized, and could cause alarm. This category also includes messages that would be sent out after a certain time at night, which again risks causing alarm. SNA-K was careful to avoid sending messages that had the potential to worsen or aggravate a situation. In cases where the concerns were geographically very isolated; or, where uncertainty was caused by thieves/common criminals taking advantage of the situation; or, finally, when an incident occurred late in the evening, SNA-K alerted security and continued to monitor the situation instead of sending a message. We noted that where people saw that we would report incidents and/or the potential for violence to security agencies, it also increased the reputation of SNA-K and the SMS. This represents an important factor for future exploration through research.
   2. Annoyance Factor: In order to create maximum impact from the messages, it is important that they are not sent so frequently as to become an annoyance. This includes reading the general mood. Tallying went on for days, and people became exhausted from hearing about the election. SNA-K was vigilant about not sending too many messages asking people to be patient, and instead, at one point sent all subscribers a message commending them and letting them know they were appreciated. We suspected that any more messages asking people to continue to stay patient was likely to backfire, and prompt people to unsubscribe or to disregard our messages.
   3. Organizational/Perceptions Risk: As situations evolve, it is important to be very, very, careful about being perceived to be partisan. In the coming days/weeks as the court cases are decided, this becomes even more important. One example is that after the results were announced, it was necessary to send a 160-character message to urge people to celebrate or react responsibly, without seeming to favor either side. As communities become more and more polarized in the coming days ahead of the court judgment, being sensitive about this type of dual targeting for multiple groups at the same time will become even more critical.
2. Some amount of silence is crucial. In order for the messages to have an impact, they need to arrive at the right time, when people are most likely to pay attention to them. In extreme cases, messages need to be able to interrupt disruptive activity, including spreading of rumors. This involves understanding and calculating the limited social capital and airtime that SNA-K has as an organization to get people to pay attention to us. Messages cannot be sent out every time there is tension; instead, they should be used strategically so as to have maximum impact.
3. Targeting is Key. People responded very well to messages that included the name of the place they were located. This personalised the messages and added to the sense that they were not alone, and their areas were being watched. In the future, as platforms become more sophisticated, it might make sense to have functionality whereby there is a “fill-in-the-blank field” for location, for example, “let us keep peace [location]” and the field would automatically be filled in from the database. This would hasten the process of message sending.
4. Messages in combination with on-the-ground work and effective collaboration with relevant institutions is key. Our work throughout the election process showed the importance of combining messaging with on the ground work. This was demonstrated by the situations in which messages were not appropriate, but which SNA-K was able to report to relevant institutions such as the NSC for rapid response. This helped both to mitigate conflict and to increase SNA-K’s reputation in the target communities. One medium or approach is never going to be effective for every possible situation – it is important to have an awareness of appropriate responses to specific situations, and to work closely with partners and relevant institutions to help ensure that there is a relevant response to each issue that arises.

We hope that this blog post can serve as a starting point for conversations around the nuances of messaging about peace and using text messages as a medium. Our next blog in this three-part series will share some of the raw feedback we received with regards to our messaging around the March 4^th elections.

Election Week: March 3 – 9

Sisi ni Amani sent out a total of 524,514 messages to its 65,000-strong subscriber pool during the week of the Kenyan general elections. Messages were sent out as and when the situation demanded. They were crafted to respond to a range of scenarios, from civic education needs and rioting at polling stations, to encouraging patience and calm where lines were long, or when there was a delay in announcing results.

In the first of a three-part blog series, we will provide a brief update of how events unfolded. The second part will examine the lessons learned from the week, and present some points for discussion and research for the future. The third part will pull out feedback from partners, subscribers, and members of the Kenya-wide Sisi ni Amani community, and reflect upon the impact of the messages sent.

It took a full six days from voting day, on March 4, for the IEBC to announce the results of the elections. The team followed the elections through a number of mediums, including monitoring the situation on the ground through our area co-ordinators and parters, and media – both traditional and social. We are currently continuing to watch and track the political situation, as there are two major legal challenges to the outcome pending in the Supreme Court – one by Raila Odinga, Prime Minister, and leader of the CORD coalition, and the second by numerous civil society organizations under the umbrella of KPTJ (Kenyans for Peace Truth and Justice) and AfriCog. Mr Odinga is calling for an entirely new election – citing inconsistencies and failures that marred this exercise.

As the Supreme Court prepares to hand down its verdict, we are preparing for one of a number of scenarios, including the possibility of a runoff, a re-count, an entirely new election to be called (a re-run), or for the election results to be declared valid. We are closely watching as events unfold, as each scenario carries the risk of volatility, that could impact the communities in which we work.

As SNA-K collected information, verified situational updates, sent messages, and responded to the process of releasing the results and announcing a final outcome, the team was shadowed by a filmmaker. To see more on his work, you can check out this link to the Peace in Our Pockets (a documentary about the work of Sisi ni Amani and some of its partners) blog. For an insight into the messages we sent, and the situations that called for them, please see this article in Quartz, written by SNA-K’s Program Manager Neelam Verjee.

Leading up to and throughout the election cycle, SNA-K’s work was also featured in Businessweek, The Economist, CNN, again in Quartz, and in Foreign Policy.

A zeal for peace

Ever thought that you would meet a person who has a passion, zeal and a warm personality, then look no further, her name is Cate Broussard all the way from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. When Cate was back in the US she thought of doing her internship program in Kenya. Through her friend  Johannes, who previously volunteered with us, she was able to connect to SNA-K. It seemed luck was on her side since Sisi Ni Amani was looking for a specialist with her kind of monitoring and evaluation skills. Talk of being born with a silver spoon. She emailed Rachel Brown (Sisi ni Amani CEO) and within two hours the deal was sealed and she had plans to report in Nairobi, Kenya.

Cate has many interests, but has a passion for peace building, which out does all the other interests she has. She has a record of working and interacting with people of different nations. Having been to more than ten countries at a tender age, it’s just amazing what she does and how she does it. Having interacted with different nationalities, Cate found out the main or the core in our lives is to live in a peaceful environment and this cannot be achieved by people fighting and killing each other. It can only be achieved by preaching and spreading peace. Cate talked of how she is proud of the SNA-K SMS platform which is one of the major assets or resource for bridging peace in Kenya and all over the world. Cate, with her vast experience, gave thumbs up to Sisi ni Amani for having the best resources on board, for example she praised the SNA-K staff. She was just amazed by how these people are committed to what they do; she had no option but look forward to each day with a smile on her face.

Cate noted that in order to understand whether SNA-K’s programs are having their intended impact, there is the need to set up structures for documentation and analysis. There will be a lot of documentation that needs to be done and also a lot of training in the two chapters (Nairobi and Narok), to give them the skills for documentation and analysis.  She emphasizes that there is a lot of potential in SNA-K, and especially in the two chapters.

Cate happiest moment is when she shared her vast knowledge with Caleb Njoroge. She couldn’t stop smiling and being happy, she has been amazed how Caleb grasped  each concept  and he expounded on it. She mentioned that Caleb is one of SNA’s numerous talents and a major asset for the future.

Cate has been into many countries but she told me Kenya is special and she is positive she is coming back. In the meantime she goes back to the U.S. to finish her Masters in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University. She will be continuing her work with Sisi ni Amani from there as she will continue to develop tools that will be used in SNA in the near future.

Her parting shot was very simple and straight to the point:

“The hard work is just beginning”

SNA-K is Featured on the iHub’s blog!

This weekend, SNA-K was featured on the iHub’s blog as an innovative use of technology for promoting peace! We are including the text of the article below, and you can read the original article, Harnessing Technology for Peace, here.

Ability to create positive impact is one of the qualities that gives technology power.  Harnessing this power can lead to great impact within a society.  Find out how one young woman set out to do exactly this. Below, Rachel shares her story: 

Armed with a research idea and a passion for community, Rachel Brown saw an opportunity to use technology in supporting peace building in grass root communities in Kenya. Sisi ni Amani Kenya (SNA-K) was founded to address the conflicts over land that were occurring in communities. 

When I was asked to write about Sisi ni Amani Kenya (SNA-K) , I was excited to get the opportunity to share my story and the story of our many members with the iHub community.

SNA-K is a Kenyan NGO that is dedicated to supporting grassroots peace leaders to use mobile technology to expand their reach and efficiency. In our target communities members can subscribe to our SMS platform to receive free messages from SNA-K.

I moved to Kenya in July 2010, with the idea to do a small research about different grassroots peace initiatives that existed in Kenyan communities. We got started in Baba Dogo, which is located up Thika Road. Together with a team of members from different peace intiaitives and youth groups, we launched the project. We set up FrontlineSMS and had a big community event where we asked people to text in information about peace initiatives in the area. While people were excited about the project, we saw very few results. I started talking to the groups we had worked with, trying to find out what excited them so much.

I found two key things. One is that many of these groups were very excited because of the use of mobile technology. Leading up to and during the 2007-8 post-election violence, they saw mobile phones used in their communities to spread rumors, fear, and hate speech and to organize attacks and weapons distributions. The idea of using mobile phones for peace resonated with them.

Secondly, I became even more convinced that original reason to come to Kenya – to support grassroots peace and civic engagement leaders who have taken courageous steps to promote peace and reconciliation in their communities – was important and relevant. These local groups understood with incredible detail the dynamics of conflict and peace in their communities, and had many ideas for how to work together to prevent future violence.

I worked with a small group of dedicated individuals from Baba Dogo and Korogocho to design SNA-K’s current approach – an SMS platform with community-based subscription, where local chapters design programs and create SMS content. We were then invited by a local peace leader, Freddy Kamakei, in Narok to meet with him. After the initial meting, Kamakei was so excited about the idea that he founded our Narok Chapter. Since then, Eastlands in Nairobi and the Narok area have become our two main chapters, each piloting activities and uses of the SMS system that are specific to the conflict dynamics in their area.

Our teams’ hard work is finally paying off: since February of this year, we have received support for three exciting programs in Nairobi and Narok, and increased our subscriber base to more than 30,000 subscribers:

Nairobi: Sauti Yetu Political Debates: In partnership with Inuka Kenya Trust, SNA-K is carrying out a series of political debates in Nairobi. As one of our Chapter Leaders said, “people fight about politics because they are never united about politics.” The goal of the project is to introduce a non-partisan platform where community members can discuss policy issues and find areas of unity and commonality in political contestation, which is generally divisive. The program includes elements of civic education and dialogue through the SMS platform, which enables the community to engage at a broader level.

Narok: Land & Rumors Education & Dialogue: In Narok, land issues are complex and contentious. Often, land disputes, even between one or two people, cause conflict between entire communities. This is because of a lack of education about how land procedures work, and because rumors often exaggerate and amplify existing tensions. SNA-K has a program of grassroots open air forums on land issues and to discuss rumors, how they are spread, and how they contribute to conflict with the communities. These forums create trust and relationships in the community, and can enable our SMS to be trusted and credible within the community. They also give us insight into local issues and tensions.

PeaceTXT: Methodology for SMS & Peace Promotion: PeaceTXT is an initiative that was convened by Pop!Tech with partners including CeaseFire, Ushahidi, and Medic Mobile to look at how mobile technology could be used to compliment CeaseFire’s approach to solving conflict. SNA-K was brought on board as a partner in this effort to create a replicable methodology for using mobile technology for conflict prevention. PopTech has supported SNA-K to expand its outreach to identify best practices, upgrade technology through a new open source software platform designed by Praekelt Foundation, and to create a methodology for messaging in response to conflict.

SNA-K has already been using SMS to respond to tensions and conflict at the local level, through its local chapters creating and vetting messages. We have several positive stories of conflict in Narok that seems to have been mitigated by the sending of a message.

In one case, two groups were armed with bows and arrows and ready to fight on a contentious boundary in Mulot. SNA-K’s Chapter Member in that area, Pastor Wilson Mosonik, attempted to mediate and then called us to send a message. The message was vetted, and when it was sent, these groups left the boundary went to Pastor Mosonik’s office for mediation. After SNA-K sent messages promoting peace during contentious boundary issues, Pastor Mosonik, who is from the Kalenjin community, was donated 3 acres of land from a group of Maasai elders in the area in appreciation of the continued peace in Mulot. PeaceTXT is an especially exciting initiative, because it enables us to transition into a methodology that will enable faster response times and additional planning for potential events.

These past two years have seen incredible growth for Sisi ni Amani Kenya. I personally feel lucky to work with a team of incredibly innovative and dedicated people, and to be able to work with them to make their ideas become a reality.

Still Growing

We are currently upgrading this technology, so that individuals will be able to subscribe by entering their information into a USSD menu, and will send and receive messages to a short code. SNA-K is able to use this information to send targeted messages . For example, we can send a message to young unemployed men in a specific village within a slum or to all women working in a certain sector in a part of Narok.

Our local chapters – comprised of vetted groups of peace leaders – design our programming and decide how to use this system based on local conflict analyses that they conduct. Our teams have focused on civic education, civic engagement, and creating messages in response to rumors, tensions, or potential conflict in their communities.

Since I came to Nairobi, the iHub has given me not only a space to work in, but the ability to interact with a wide range of individuals who have expertise in different areas and are passionate about their work. By providing this space – physical and for thought and conversation – the iHub has helped SNA-K grow from an idea into an organization with a wide range of programs and the potential for scale.

Read more from Sisi ni Amani Kenya  on their blog. Follow them on Twitter. 

New Program in Narok! Research & Grassroots Forums

After SNA-K’s Narok Chapter successfully implemented an educational forum to address land issues in Narok at a key hot spot for conflict, Kibilat, we received positive feedback and requests for replication from individuals all over Narok. People felt that the forum helped them to understand key information about land issues. Specifically, the forum helped participants understand double leasing, a phenomenon in which two individuals are sold the same plot of land. Often, individuals believe others are grabbing their land when there is really double leasing (individuals have been sold the same plot of land, and often both have been tricked by a third party). This causes a great deal of conflict in the area, especially when rumors spread about specific instances of double leasing but exaggerate conflict between individuals into conflict between ethnic communities.

After the positive response from the initial forum, SNA-K sought support to replicate this forum in other parts of Narok, and to implement similar forums to address the relationship between the spread of rumors and conflict. In mid-February, SNA-K officially received support from USAID-OTI to implement this project, complete with new elements of extensive research on land issues throughout Narok, focus groups with key community leaders to create conflict-monitoring mechanisms using SMS, and a radio programs element.

Pastor Wilson Mosonik interviews community members during land research

The project has begun with three weeks of research conducted by ten local researchers in Narok North, Narok South, and Transmara. The researchers have interviewed stakeholders ranging from government land administration institutions, to individuals using these institutions, to local conflict resolution mechanisms and community elders.

This research will inform a series of grassroots forums focused on double leasing and rumors. The format of open-air forums provide a space for community members to come together in a safe space across ethnic lines to discuss the issues that affect them in a moderated format and in the presence of experts on the subjects that they discuss. By combining local perspectives and airing of issues with legal and educational information, SNA-K takes dialogue a step further by enabling community members to take next steps in addressing their issues.

A total of twelve forums will be held, six each on double leasing and rumor monitoring. Forums on double leasing will be held in Mulot, Ololulunga, Nkareta, Noroosura, Transmara, and Mau- Tipis. Forums on rumors will be held in London (Narok Town), Majengo (Narok Town), Ololulunga Town, Mulot Center, Olmekeinyu (Mau Forest Area), and Sogoo. Rumor forums will be planned to coincide with market days and to happen near to market places to have the largest audiences possible.

After these forums, SNA-K will hold focus groups with key community stakeholders to design a conflict monitoring mechanisms based on information gathered about land conflict and rumors. SNA-K will also work with community radio stations to have two shows discussing the most important issues that came up in forums, and will invite guest speakers to discuss how good leadership and policies can help address these issues.

Read the 3-page concept note on this program here!

Reflection on the Kenyan Context

Happy 2012 from Sisi ni Amani – Kenya! We have some exciting updates on our programming this year, so please stay tuned for a blog post on our plans for the year.

One of the most exciting components of the new year is our collaboration with PeaceTxt.  As SNA-K launches this international collaboration, we wanted to take the time to reflect on the importance of this initiative in the Kenyan context.

In 2007, Kenya held a disputed presidential election, which resulted in widespread protests followed by violence throughout the country. The violence pitted ethnic communities against one another, and led to over 1,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout the country.  While Kenyan elections have historically been marred by violence, the 2002 elections (which brought democracy after many years of dictatorship) were peaceful, and the 2007 elections led to months of violence and displacement at a larger scale than ever before. The damage and distrust created by the 2007-2008 post election violence has yet to be healed in many Kenyan communities. 

Within the next year and a half, Kenya will hold its next general election, the biggest election ever to be held in sub-Saharan Africa (the election date is yet to be definitively confirmed). The election is the first to take place under the country’s new Constitution, which was ratified by a peaceful referendum in August, 2010. While the Constitution and the approaching elections hold promise for increased checks and balances and opportunities for civic engagement, the election carries with it a risk of future violence.

The Constitution changes the structure of the country’s government and internal boundaries, creating a system of counties and changing the borders of constituencies. This has caused some tension over how boundaries will be divided. The Constitution also changes electoral positions, and many individuals at the grassroots do not understand how the new structure of government will work, or even which positions they will be voting for.

Additional factors add to the potential for tensions and violence. Six alleged suspects of the post-election violence, two of whom are expected to run for the presidency in the next Presidential Election and are the main political leaders representing two major ethnic communities in Kenya, have been indicted by the International Criminal Court, and had initial hearings to judge if their cases will proceed to trial. The response of Kenyan politicians and the suspects themselves has created tensions between political parties.

The country still has high numbers of internally displaced persons who have yet to be resettled after the 2007-2008 post-election violence. The resettlement of IDPs is a contentious issue, as many continue to suffer in camps and resettlement plans threaten to inflame existing land conflicts between ethnic communities.

Despite resistance to ICC trials, the Kenyan justice system has been criticized for a lack of will and ability to try local cases of violence adequately. International leaders recently warned that the next elections will be “make or break” for Kenya at a conference in Nairobi.

Finally, it is important to note that tensions continued after the 2007-2008 violence stopped. In late 2009, BBC reported on an “ethnic arms race” in which communities were re-arming in preparation for the 2012 elections in the volatile Rift Valley. This means that many communities within the Rift Valley rearmed and still possess the weapons that they armed with.

SNA-K was founded in response to the events of 2007-2008, and the potential for future violence and the use of mobile technology to create a foundation for, plan, and help spread the post-election violence. During the 2007-2008 violence, mobile phones – specifically SMS – were used to spread rumors and fear and to organize weapons distribution and attacks. Violent actors were extremely effective at using these widely proliferated technologies, while peace actors were neither well prepared nor able to leverage these technologies to the same effect.

Since July 2010, SNA-K has worked to understand and implement programming that utilizes mobile phones, and specifically SMS, to help build peace, collaboration, and conflict resilience in Kenyan communities. We have built a subscriber base of over 10,000 individuals in our target communities, and implemented civic education, civic engagement, and peace promotion programming.

As we move towards Kenya’s next election, we can’t think of a more exciting partnership than the one we have just launched with PeaceTXT – a unique collaborative project of PopTech, CeaseFire, Medic Mobile, Ushahidi, and the Praekelt Foundation. The partnership supports our work here in Kenya to reach more people and more communities, while CeaseFire’s proven approach and successful methodology will add a new level of training and expertise for our local teams.

Most of all, we are excited to help create best practices on the implementation of SMS-based programming for peace promotion and violence prevention, and to incorporate these lessons into PeaceTXT International’s model, enabling the work we are doing here in Kenya to inform efforts on a larger scale.

Evaluation: Forum on Double Leasing

SNA-K’s Narok team recently held an evaluation meeting to discuss successes and challenges of the Kibilat forum on double leasing.

All members agreed that the meeting went very well, with high attendance of over 90 individuals despite heavy rains and difficulty in travel. The participants were very active, making the forum extremely interactive.

The team concluded that SMS, posters, and radio were highly effective in advertising for the forum, but suggested that outreach on SNA-K in new areas would be crucial, as many individuals in attendance at the forum requested that SNA-K conduct outreach in their areas.

The chapter members pointed out that one of the most important parts of the forum was that both sides of the conflict were represented, and specific people and groups who have fought one another over land in the recent past were in attendance. Initially, these individuals asked pointed questions, attempting to prove one another to be in the wrong, but the team and the lawyer handled these questions by pointing to the procedures and lack of knowledge as the root cause of the issue.

By the end of the forum, participants stood up to testify to their realizations that, in the words of a chapter leader, “everyone was in the wrong because no one was following proper procedures.” These testimonies mainly spoke to the lack of benefit from violence, and the need for everyone to follow the correct procedures.  Many participants asked SNA-K to repeat the forum, stating that the forum and the information it presents are very important for the maintenance of peace. Individuals also said they realized that they only lose by fighting, and one participant went so far as to explain that people do not invest properly because there is no real peace, thus everyone loses economically.

Government officials understood the importance of the forum, and one reported that someone asked him in the morning why there was a peace meeting if there was no conflict. He responded that (paraphrasing): “once there is fighting, we can’t have a meeting – we have to prepare now so we don’t get to that point.”

At the end of the meeting, many individuals in attendance, including local government officials, requested that SNA-K hold similar forums in their areas to address the lack of knowledge on how to acquire land. Many told chapter leadership that they realized they were fighting for nothing and that their communities needed to be educated on the same.

The team will now work to conduct outreach in new areas to which they have been invited, and to replicate this forum in other areas.

Reflections & Feedback on Phase 1 of Koch FM Partnership

Friday, November 11^th, was the finale of the first phase of Sisi ni Amani Kenya’s successful series of morning shows on Koch FM. George and Sammy joined Doreen to recap the previous week’s discussions. The Kasarani team members—Sammy, George, Dennis, Mary and Rama— and Koch FM were acknowledged for their great work raising awareness on security, education, health, good governance and environmental issues in Baba Dogo and Korogocho. Listeners were given the opportunity to offer any final thoughts on the top issues facing their community as well as give feedback on the show.

The show this week asked subscribers what their top priority was out of the series’ five topics. The most popular response pointed to security as the most pressing issue. Nothing constructive can happen in the community if security isn’t improved, as many of the responses indicated.

Throughout the show calls flowed in to thank SNA-K for its effort promoting peace, for facilitating forums, and creating the Community Manifesto. Many even celebrated the fact that security in Baba and Koch had improved since they’d begun discussing it so openly thanks to SNA-K and Koch FM. One woman from Korogocho attested to a safer neighborhood recently and hoped the show wouldn’t go off the air for long. She wasn’t alone as other listeners also lamented the end of the program. They don’t want to lose this invaluable opportunity to have their voices heard. Luckily, SNA-K will be continuing its partnership with Koch FM over the next several months.

SNA-K and Koch FM will continue partnering to promote peace and civic education through ongoing inspirational peace quotes, sent by SMS and also aired on Koch FM, and through a Holidays Civic Education Challenge, through which listeners will be quizzed on the new Constitution and will have the opportunity to win small prizes if they answer correctly. The hiatus will be used for the Kasarani chapter to identify leaders in each of the prioritized fields. These leaders will be invited onto the radio show to address the issues Baba and Koch residents face when the program returns in January.

 

 

 

 

SNA-K Kasarani Tackles Issues of Good Governance with Koch FM (by Aly)

Accountability, democracy, and equality—these are just some of the desires residents of the Kasarani communities of Baba Dogo and Korogocho expressed this week. They were responding to Sisi ni Amani’s question about the priority of good governance in their communities. This Thursday, morning listeners from across the Kasarani communities tuned in to hear their answers explored on Koch FM.

Sammy & Dennis, Kasarani Chapter Leaders, Discuss Governance on Koch FM

Chapter leaders Sammy and Dennis, with Koch FM host Doreen, explored the issue of good governance andways to guarantee it’s carried out. Community members responded with their frustrations, claiming corrupt leaders prevent basic services from reaching their neighborhoods. “If we do away with corrupt leaders then development will come…” claims one resident. Another even calls selfish leaders and nepotism “a cancer for any development.” Most responses pointed to good governance as a way to improve the quality of life in Kasarani. Yet, other community members were adamant that the improvements must start on a personal level.

Sammy and Dennis took an approach that combined both these perspectives. The government needs to be responsible and the way to make that happen starts on an individual citizen level. The two encouraged citizens to know their rights and demand efficiency from their leaders. Accountability in government starts with civic responsibility.

Listen next Thursday at 9 AM as we move forward to address questions about environment!