The aim of the trip was to meet people who had to flee from their homes and to draw public attention to a region that often receives too little consideration in the Global North. The delegation also included Dr Marko Kuhn, head of the KAAD's Africa department. In the run-up to the trip, KAAD brought its contacts with local dioceses and local experts into the preparations. The day after the DBK delegation arrived, the Kenyan branch of the KAAD Network KASEA (KAAD Association of Scholars from East Africa) held a symposium on political and faith-based perspectives on refugees and displaced persons in Kenya. The leaders of KASEA Kenya had prepared the symposium and the facilitator was KAAD alumna and peace researcher Dr Constansia Mumma Martinon. Constansia Mumma-Martinon is a member and deputy chair of the KAAD Partner Committee in Nairobi and received the 2021 KAAD Foundation Peter Hünermann Award for her outstanding achievements in the educational, political and ecclesiastical environment of her home country – especially with regard to ethnic conflicts and reconciliation work.
First, KAAD alumna Caroline Muthoni Njuki, one of the country's leading experts on refugee issues, spoke about "Refugees, displacement and asylum in Kenya with particular reference to the situation in Somalia and climate-related migration". She focused on the state's approaches to refugee policies, as well as the attitudes of the host communities in Kenya. Caroline Njuki did a Master's program in Intercultural Conflict Management at the Alice Salomon University in Berlin with a KAAD scholarship. During this course, she volunteered in refugee and migration work by supporting African migrants seeking asylum in Germany. Between 2008 and 2011, she worked for the International Organization for Migration in Somalia in the field of migration and migration management. She then worked in Djibouti, where she headed the regional secretariat of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) on the topic of forced displacement and mixed migration. Having worked for the IOM (UN Organisation for Migration) in Somalia for many years, she was able to pay particular attention to this difficult environment. In her talk, she also emphasized the fact that more and more people in the region are having to leave their homes due to droughts and floods.
A second presentation on "Gender-based violence against refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya" was held by Dr Catheline Bosibori Nyabwengi, who recently completed her doctorate with a KAAD scholarship at the University of Bayreuth. Her academic focus is on the issues of violence in politics, religion and terrorist activities; she has experience as a research assistant at the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations and is a lecturer at the Kiriri Women's University of Science and Technology in Nairobi. In her lecture, she showed how vulnerable people are to sexual violence in situations of displacement and seeking refuge from war or persecution. She explained that domestic and sexual violence against minorities also occurs more frequently in this situation and showed which measures are necessary to protect refugees and asylum seekers from attacks. This includes, for example, better training of security personnel and the police, as people seeking help and survivors of gender-based violence are often not taken seriously by authorities. The methods also include systematic listening and observing, as so far only very few such cases have been identified and reported, as well as the consistent prosecution of the perpetrators.
Presentation of Dr Catheline Bosibori Nyabwengi
After the symposium, Archbishop Heße celebrated a Holy Mass in St. Paul's University Chapel. He was accompanied by the two spiritual advisors from KASEA Kenya, Fr. Peter Kaigua (Catholic Chaplain of the University of Nairobi) and Dr Bernard Opiyo, as well as by KAAD alumnus Dominic Mutua, who is a member of the Society of Jesus and served as a deacon. Afterwards, Archbishop Heße and the delegation were able to exchange ideas with the KASEA members before the performance troupe Hope Theater Nairobi presented dances on the topics of child protection and refugees. Hope Theater Nairobi is a socio-political theater and dance performance group from Nairobi that was founded in 2009 by the German-Austrian director Stephan Bruckmeier with young adults from the city's slums. In Germany, the group worked with the KAAD and its scholarship holders at various events such as the “Katholikentag”.
During meetings with the Archbishop of Nairobi, Archbishop Philip Subira Anyolo, the Kenyan migration bishop, Bishop Henry Juma Odonya, and Caritas employees, Archbishop Heße gained an insight into the work of the local church: "The Catholic Church in Kenya plays an important role in the reception and integration of refugees. Together with international partners, it is committed to ensuring that the needs of refugees are recognized and that they can live in dignity. In the economically disadvantaged district of Githurai, both refugees and locals told me that church support is essential for their survival. I was told similar things in the Kangemi slum. I am grateful for the life stories that people have shared with me and for the many church aid initiatives."
A visit to Turkana County in northwestern Kenya then took Archbishop Heße to the Kakuma refugee camp, where around 300,000 people seeking protection currently live. There, the delegation was able to learn about various projects run by the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Jesuit Refugee Service and hold discussions with KAAD alumnus Joseph Elim Epuu and KAAD scholar Mathew Etabo Edung. Both gave impressive reports on the important work they do locally to promote education and development in the region:
Joseph Epuu, who was born with a visual impairment, comes from the Turkana community; his home parish, the Good Shepherd Parish Kakuma, is next to the refugee camp. Already during his bachelor's degree at Kenyatta University (KU) in Nairobi, he was committed to helping disabled students. He worked as a psychosocial counselor and conflict resolution commissioner in the refugee camp in Kakuma and worked as deputy coordinator for justice and peace for the Catholic diocese of Lodwar. With a KAAD-InCountry-scholarship, he completed a master's degree in political studies in Nairobi and has since worked in close cooperation with the Catholic Church to ensure that young people in his home region find alternatives to the traditionally violent "cattle rustling", the theft of cattle from neighbouring communities, to which many people fall victim every year. In the area, which is characterized by conflicts between the respective nomadic communities, the situation is made even more difficult by the fact that climate change is leading to increasingly extreme droughts on the one hand and floods on the other. Since it is the border area between Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia, interstate disagreements and border conflicts are also part of the problem. Joseph Epuu is currently completing his doctorate in political science and public administration at Moi University in Eldoret and is the head of youth and gender issues in Turkana district.
Mathew Etabo Edung also comes from the Turkana ethnic group, who are traditionally nomadic or semi-nomadic. After a bachelor's degree in agriculture and human ecology at Egerton University in Njoro near Nakuru, he obtained a master's degree in agronomy at KU. He worked for the international NGO Solidarites International (agricultural sector) and in the agriculture department of the local administration (Turkana district). In 2019 he became a lecturer at Turkana University College, the first state university in the region. Since 2021, he has been pursuing his doctorate in agricultural sciences as a KAAD scholarship holder at the Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science at the University of Kiel. He has now founded his own NGO that focuses on humanitarian aid for refugees, internally displaced persons and the development of local host communities in Kenya. The goals of this NGO include initiating cross-border peace campaigns for the neighbouring communities and developing methods of cohesion through the integration of refugees in the camps. In this peace-building initiative between the Turkana and Nyangatom on the so-called "Kibish Corridor", he is working with KAAD alumni Charles Peyo Arupur, who is an Ethiopian citizen but belongs to an ethnic group in the "Kibish Corridor". Last year, Charles Arupur received the Commitment Award from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy for his project to care for and reintegrate children from families who have been victims of cattle theft in Ethiopia. He is the founder of the NGO "Initiative for Pastoralist Communication", which strives to promote communication between the Nyangatom and the Turkana, whose relationship is strained. Unfortunately, he had to cancel his participation in this meeting at short notice because a trip to Lodwar was not possible due to flooding caused by the extreme rainfall of the past few weeks.
More information about Joseph Epuu, Mathew Edung and Charles Arupur
Archbishop Heße was impressed by the commitment of KAAD scholars and alumni: "I was impressed by the diverse commitment of the KAAD scholars in Kenya. Motivated by their faith, they use academic knowledge and practical expertise to work for social improvements. They really are salt of the earth.
