A section of students drawn from secondary schools in Nandi County have vowed to enhance peace along the borders, using ‘Amani Clubs,’ formed by Underit Youth Group (UYG), aimed at promoting unity among different communities.
Underit Youth Group, which is an implementing partner of USAID, Act! and Uraia Trust engaged peace club students and their patrons from seven schools in Nandi bordering Kisumu County that they had visited before, namely Mombwo girls, St. Peter’s Soba, St. Paul’s Chemalal, Chemase High School, Kapsiglilai girls, Kamuny secondary, and St. Mary’s Kipchemon.
Speaking during a symposium held at Kapsigilai Girls Secondary School, Underit Youth Group Coordinator Jacob Sanga noted that they formed Amani Clubs in secondary schools at the border with the aim of nurturing responsible youths who can be peace agents. Nandi County borders Kisumu and Vihiga counties.
Sanga added that with the Amani Clubs, they will be able to enlighten youths on peace, discourage tribalism and bad behaviour, and enable them to integrate with other Kenyans from different communities regardless of their cultures.
“The aim of the clubs is to nurture very responsible youths who can embrace peace in the future as they prepare to join the community after form four. We aim at enlightening the youth on peace, enabling them to integrate with people from different communities, as well as discourage tribalism,” explained Sanga.
He further applauded the students for the ideas they had and how they handled the symposium to demonstrate peace.
“We appreciate the uptake of the students on the aspect of peace. We are really grateful for the ideas they have presented through poems, songs, and plays. This is a very good gesture. If this continues, we will have very responsible youth in the future,” the coordinator added.
On his part, Fred Kidombo, a patron of Amani Club from one of the schools, promised to influence and change the attitudes of the communities at the border line through the clubs, noting that students are the best agents of peace in the community.
Kidombo applauded UYG for coming up with this initiative, saying that these clubs play a great role in transferring the knowledge they have gained on peace to the community, thus ensuring peaceful coexistence along the borders.
The patron challenged the students to embrace peace starting from their schools and then extending to the communities at the borders as well as the entire nation, adding that peace is key to development in any country.
” Once we learn to solve conflicts in our schools, then it’s easier to solve community conflicts. Let us embrace peace starting from our schools, then we extend to the communities at the border,” he said, noting that when peace begins with an individual, then it will be easier to extend it to the community, country, and even the world at large.
According to various presentations done by the Amani Clubs, some of the causes of conflicts among different communities include idleness, unequal distribution of resources, tribalism, poverty, unemployment, and cultural activities, among others.
They suggested that some of the ways of promoting peace include equal distribution of resources, avoiding idleness among the youths, engaging in sporting activities and other extracurricular activities, viewing others as fellow Kenyans regardless of tribe or the region they come from, and respecting other people’s cultures.
By Ruth Mainye
