THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS-DIANAH KAMANDE WANJIKU

Dianah Kamande Wanjiku, Founder Come Together Widows and Orphans Organization (CTWOO). She is a widow, a widow leader and a mother of two girls. Dianah got widowed on 19/04/2013. The husband came home and found her asleep and started butchering her using a sword telling her she want's to kill the whole family. She was rescued together with her daughters and taken to Guru Nanak Hospital. The next day she learnt from her friends that her husband has killed himself. According to Dianah it is God who helped her in her loss and grieving process together with her girls. Dianah was accused to have killed her husband. She was looked upon with hatred and the fact that she had intermarried from central Kenya to Western Kenya Dianah was disowned and one of the elders from her husband's side told her that for the ten years they had been married, they were living like boyfriend and girlfriend. Dianah was hospitalised and taken for surgery which took the Neurosurgeons six and a half 61/2 hours in thearter. During the surgery a metal plates was fixed in one of her brocken bone on the left hand and her fore head to support a bone brocken by the sword. The ordeal she went through motivated her to initiate Widows and Orphans program that could champion for the rights of both the widows and orphans.

In 2013 Dianah Kamande formed a Community Based Organization which later blossomed into a National NGO. She now leads CTWOO which focuses on  widows, orphans and survivors of Gender Based Violence. The organization supports and champions for the advancement of their rights, social and economic empowerment in recognition that widows rights are human rights. Her passion is to ensure that the society treats widows, orphans and other vulnerable groups with dignity.

She believes in the words of the Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon “No woman should lose her status, livelihood or property when her husband dies, yet million of widows in our world face persistence abuse, discrimination, disinheritance and destitution. Many widows are subjected to harmful practices such as Widow burning and “widow cleansing” – an abhorrent  ritual which often amounts to rape, increases the widows risk of HIV infection. The impacts are also felt by widows children and their dependents”

She is a trainer on Women in Leadership and Governance in Africa and a celebrated widow, Gender Violence and Orphans rights champion. She has mentored many widow leaders and her work has been replicated in all the 47 counties of Kenya, among other African countries. She is also the founder of Association of Survivors of Gender Based Violence.

She holds a Diploma in Women in Leadership and Governance in Africa from Nairobi University, and Barchelors degree in Governance, Peace and Conflict Studies from African Nazarene University. An award winner of Above and Beyond Awards in Boston, USA. Awarded for her Exemplary leadership and Advocacy on widows matters by the Global Fund for Widows in New York, USA