Ahead of the 2013 Kenyan elections, Shalom’s peace experts visited Elgeyo County, a high altitude area known as the home of international long distance running champions. The physical beauty of this county disguises years of violence that often increases during an election year. In the last general election, Elgeyo experienced post-election violence that ended up in maiming, displacement and killings.
One Shalom workshop on “Prevention of Election Violence” took two days, drawing 70 people from Iten and 44 from Tembelio. Other workshops were held in the villages of Kapsowar, Kapsabeth, Eldoret Town, Nandi Hills, Chesongoch,and Kabechei. All told, more than 300 people too part in the workshops in Elgeyo. The participants came from all walks of life – professionals, teachers, catechists, youth leaders, women leaders, college students, and elders from the communities.
The workshop recorded a high attendance as the community felt the need to equip themselves with technical skills on how to avoid a repeat of the past election violence. Shalom covered various topics ranging from conflict paradigms, conflict transformation to reconciliation. Its work helped to create a much calmer, far less violent election in Elgeyo County – where the work of reconciliation continues.
