UNV Supports Students' Volunteer Training

UNV has teamed up with Uwezo Youth Trust to facilitate training of university students in volunteerism as part of the Kura Kwa Amani project.

The brainchild of Kenyatta University student Kevin Kimani, Kura Kwa Amani (Swahili for “A Peaceful Vote”) seeks to recruit hundreds of students from both public and private universities to serve as volunteer peace ambassadors in their universities and communities. Kevin points out that he was motivated by a desire to see students do something to prevent a return to the post-election violence witnessed in 2007/2008:

“At the end of the day, we as students are the ones who are used to perpetuate violence, and we are the ones who can make a change. This campaign and training is to help all of us appreciate how volunteering for peace can make a real difference this time round,” says Kevin, who is part of the management team at Uwezo Youth Trust.

To ensure that students got exposed to best practice, the Trust asked UNV to facilitate training in basic principles of volunteerism as well as discussions on volunteering for peace. The first training took place at Kenyatta University on September 14, facilitated by UNV’s George Oloo. As part of the discussions with the students, UNV Peace Monitor Jeremiah Mzee also got to share his experiences and the challenges faced in volunteering for peace. About 200 students from various universities in Nairobi attended, many of them citing a desire to make a meaningful volunteer contribution to peaceful elections.

The second leg of the training took place at Moi University in Eldoret, with about 100 students drawn from universities on the Western part of the country. The third and final training will take place in Mombasa at the end of September. George points out:

“These sessions with students are illustrating two very important points for me…one is that young people are passionate about not being bystanders anymore in meeting some of these societal challenges head-on, and two, youth volunteerism is a real means to seeing meaningful impact in communities on pretty much any issue, and particularly, peace and development.”

After the trainings, the students will organize activities and forums to help them share the message of peace with their fellow students at both university and national level. This kind of initiative could very well be the means to ensure community-wide participation in ensuring peaceful elections.