A Tide of Change: How Education Is Empowering Kilifi’s Women.
- Hariet Mwangi
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
On a bright October morning in Kilifi, the hall at Tewa Training Centre was alive . Drums thumped, laughter rang out, and the air shimmered with the colours of hope. One hundred and fifty-eight women, dressed in red saches and glowing smiles, had gathered for a moment many never imagined would come,their graduation day.
They came from the villages of Shariani, Mtepeni, and Msumarini ,communities rich in resilience and heart, yet often limited by scarce opportunities. But that morning, something changed. They walked into Tewa’s hall as graduates,businesswomen, cooks, dreamers, and leaders ready to shape their future.
Kilifi County is a place of stunning beauty ! The whisper of the ocean, the rhythm of palm trees, the red earth glowing under the sun. Yet beneath that beauty,the reality is harsh. Nearly half of Kilifi’s residents live below the poverty line. Many homes struggle to put food on the table, and education, especially for girls, often ends too soon.
In Kilifi, 1 in 5 women between 15 and 49 years old has never been to school.CALP Network & World Food Programme (2018). Kilifi County Multi-Sector Assessment Report.
The weight of that statistic is heavy . It means thousands of women growing up without the tools to read a medicine label,calculate a price, or write their own name. It means dreams cut short before they even begin.
So when Fanikisha , a Kianda Foundation program opened its doors in Kilifi for the first time,it wasn’t just another training. It was a lifeline.
For six months, these women met every week,balancing chores,families, and children , to learn skills in business and cookery. They learned how to manage money, market products, keep records, and cook nutritious meals that could turn into livelihoods.
But what they discovered went beyond recipes and business plans.
They learned confidence ,they learned self-worth,they learned that they were not alone.
This graduation marks the beginning of something bigger. A quiet revolution led by women who refuse to be left behind.
They are returning to their villages with more than skills. They carry hope.Hope that their daughters will stay in school longer,hope that their businesses will grow,hope that they can change the story of their communities.
The Fanikisha program has proven one truth again and again ,when women are given education and opportunity, they don’t just transform their own lives, they transform generations.
As one trainer said that day, watching the graduates dance across the hall, “This is only the beginning. The fire we’ve lit here will spread across Kilifi.”
And indeed it will. Empowering them will bring change.
To the 158 graduates ,may your hands create, your voices inspire, and your lives shine light into every corner of Kilifi. To those who supported this journey ,thank you for believing.
Because of you,dreams that once seemed impossible now walk boldly in the daylight.
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