Women Activists

"I realized that my community didn’t have a school that grooms children with Christian values which will enable them to become God-fearing and upright citizens, thus the decision to make it part of the education at my school,"

"“If I had not joined the women chamber, I wouldn’t have gotten such eye-opening skills and business opportunities offered to members,”"

"I realized that the community didn’t have a school that grooms children with Christian values which will enable to become God-fearing and upright citizens, thus the decision to invest in this kind of education,"

"The training is given under the “Promoting Gender Accountability in the Private sector in Rwanda” project. The latter is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by PSF and Gender Monitoring Office to improve gender-responsive governance and entrepreneurship. "This training was like a master key which opened my mind to realize that I can still do business using virtual technology-Webex, which didn’t require a physical classroom but determination to use it as a bridge between teachers, students, and parents,"

"I won't back down. I am a politician you can count on."

"I did not spend a night away from home until Kaya was five years old, not because she asked, but because I just could not bring myself to it, I suppose. I am much better about it now but I do not necessarily think about maintaining a balance as such. I ensure that when I am home with her, I am not only physically but also mentally present with her so that we can engage from that base. Besides, I generally work from home so that helps a lot"

"My job is to just bring sanity to the protection of our natural heritage."

"My purpose is not just to be a scientist, my purpose is really to do conservation through education, through innovation, through storytelling. As a conservation scientist, you’re only producing scientific articles that are only read by other scientists. But when you are on National Geographic or Disney, that inspires people and educates them to care about nature."

"I am pretty hands on when it comes to parenting. The sense of responsibility and deep love it awakens and gives me is not something that can be compared to any other relationship"

"Everyone will not be a freedom fighter or a world leader like Madiba; everyone will not be a bestselling author like Chinua Achebe; you may not even found a faith-based Media Company like Paul Crouch or be a terrific actor like America’s Paul Walker, and you should not try to be anybody else or fit into shoes that were not built for you to wear."

"When you are the ‘middle-child’ you are in the shadow of the older siblings and yet you cannot be molly-coddled either. You can ‘disappear’, when the older ones are in trouble for some misdemeanour. If you are smart, you learn from that, which I did. Another benefit is being able to quietly carve your own path, explore your own likes and dislikes out of the glare of others"

"What we know about elephants today is incredible,They are like people."

"My daughter Kaya, is an Aries who puts a fire up my Capricorn earth sign. She gets me cracking and keeps me on my toes. She is expressive in a way that I have had to learn over time. She is girly, again in a way that I never was. I used to equate girly with being prissy but that has changed somewhat given the circumstances"

"We kind of expect that from America and we accept it from America."

"But it's not necessarily the way we live our lives. For me it'd be very much, go out there, do it, look at this story, it's very inspirational, there's something to be learnt, if you want to help, yes you can, but it's about to that level. We haven't got to a place of being comfortable in that zone after twenty-five years, no."

"If we’re going to do conservation in Africa, we have to be audacious. We’ve got to be courageous, and we’ve got to think big."

"Just be the best you that you can be, and like Mandela, leave a legacy that posterity will be proud to associate with."

"We are losing our national heritage not to poverty, but to ignorance and greed. Our elephants, our rhinos, they don't belong to the government or to NGOs—they belong to the people of Kenya. We must become their guardians."

"For too long, conservation has been seen as a mzungu (white person's) thing. It's not. This is our land, our wildlife, and our story to tell. We must be at the forefront of protecting it."

"We are in a crisis. We are losing species not in the future, but right now. We are the last generation that can save these animals. There is no plan B because there is no planet B."

"We have to tell stories that make people fall in love with wildlife. You don't protect what you don't love, and you can't love what you don't know. That's why we make 'Wildlife Warriors'—to show the beauty and the drama of our natural world."

"If David Attenborough is the global voice of wildlife, then Paula Kahumbu is his fiercely passionate, Kenyan counterpart—a force of nature who has dedicated her life to saving her country's iconic animals."

"Paula has achieved something many thought impossible: she has made conservation a mainstream, national conversation in Kenya. She has given it a Kenyan face and a Kenyan voice, inspiring a whole new generation."

"Kahumbu does not suffer fools gladly. She is a formidable and fearless advocate, known for speaking truth to power, whether confronting poaching syndicates or challenging government policies that fail wildlife."

"I had had a 10- year relationship with Thomas Joseph Mboya, popularly known as Tom Mboya or simply ‘TJ’. This was in the 1950s, before the flamboyant politician became Economic Planning and Development Minister in President Jomo Kenyatta’s administration after Kenya attained independence. I blamed the break-up of my relationship with TJ on his cheating on me with a white woman while I was under an 18-month colonial restriction order."

"There is discrimination in Kenya, contrary to the United Nations convention for the elimination of discrimination against women, which Kenya ratified in 1984."

"Girls had a very difficult life, especially those who chose to go to school. I recall some of her schoolmates dropping out just because the boys ordered them to do so. In my twilight years, I expressed disappointment that female liberation veterans were never accorded the same recognition as their male counterparts."

"I accused historians of blacking out the fact that women were arrested alongside the famous Kapenguria Six – Jomo Kenyatta, Achieng’ Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai, Kung’u Karumba and Paul Ngei. I said there were two women besides the six men, that is, Mama Nyoroka and Sarah Sarai, yet no one knows if such people ever existed. Women were not passive observers in the freedom movement, but played an active role alongside the men."

"I selected the date of 17 August because it was the anniversary of her great-grandfather's detention."

"The African girl child needs empowerment through education, protection from vulnerabilities before she turns 18 (even beyond) and needs to be allowed to participate in society freely and equitably. I am proud that Rwanda has made considerable efforts in allowing girls to study, gain access to socio-economic opportunities as well as be protected by the State from external harm."

"I am inspired a lot by Biblical verses. The most memorable one for me, which I apply in my everyday life, is that "fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" from Isaiah 41:10."

"I am passionate about God, business and knowledge. God because I cannot do without Him, business because I wish to create jobs and knowledge because it's the power that allows you to choose wisely."

"There are perhaps more than three people that have impacted my life. However, my mother and father have played a huge role in making me who I am today. They have always been there for me. As I grew up, they constantly reminded me that I am capable of doing whatever I put my mind to."

"The Afri8)can girl child needs more deliberate empowerment from those that surround her. Even though my own country of Rwanda has made considerable strides in empowering the Rwandan girl, a lot is still missing in many countries in Africa."

"As Miss Rwanda 2015, I somehow carry the entire nation with me. I represent Rwanda and Rwandans. This is something I do not take lightly."

"I am presently exploring a few business opportunities that can connect Rwanda and Canada meaningfully."

"Rwanda is a very beautiful country. The reference to Rwanda as a remarkable country of a "thousand hills and a million smiles" is true to the letter"

"I miss my friends and family back home. I dearly miss the mere fact of being home, around Rwandans and everyone speaking Kinyarwanda. Sometimes I do forget and speak or respond to people here in Kinyarwanda. It's hilarious."

"It was discovered that gaps still exist in efforts towards reducing gender inequalities."

"I give girls who are prone to violence a voice.”"

"they have opportunities to exchange ideas and approaches to peacemaking and justice, which helps increase their capacity to participate in conflict resolution and peace building efforts.”"

"The women and girls are very interested because these initiatives are locally owned. This means that they involve the grassroot women and are undertaken by the community’s women and girls and not from an external source. These women and girls who were formerly marginalised are now actively engaged in processes and discourses that impact their lives."

"“We are tired. We want peace. We are starving. We are being killed. We are appealing to Mama Lucy Kibaki and Mama Ida Odinga, the wives to the president and prime minister. Our children in the slums are just as precious to us as your children are to you. They need peace. They need to be safe. They need to eat. We lost a child yesterday and we are tired.”"

"I am deeply grateful, honoured and humbled to be one of ten phenomenon world leaders chosen to serve as GoalKeepers Advisory Board at Gates Foundation."

"Pan Africanism was essentially supposed to strengthen the bond among African people and create unity. However, how are people supposed to unite if women aren’t yet seen as fully people/humans? This means, even on a continental level, women are still very intentionally made vulnerable and heavily marginalized. Female politicians must come to the understanding that Pan Africanism cannot be fully achieved in dominant patriarchal spaces. Dismantling the patriarchy and its complex power matrix is something they should all be very keen on because its hindrances are too grave."

"My major backlash was the constant rejection because the world labelled me disruptive and at some point, in my life I felt so alone because of it. This is why it’s vital to have human anchors; it’s easy to sink and lose focus hence my commitment to anchor other women today fighting the fight. I’ve learnt to pick my fights and not everything is worth a response or a reaction."

"Feminism gave my work a lot of clarity, grounding and purpose. I knew I always wanted to be a voice for the many injustices around me that were happening without anyone saying much about it. So, I set out to say it and feminism made me realize I wasn’t insane for wanting to speak. It affirmed me. My work at Ukweli Party is centered on building a political institution that doesn’t downplay the role of women in politics, harnessing the scattered voices of women and becoming actual alternatives."

"We got the report from a child which was really sad — that there is no peace in their home. That is why to me this is very unique because mothers and fathers fight but, when it bothers the children, it’s more than what people should take. And then with the curfew, most conflicts are happening in the night or late in the evening so the kids cannot even run out."

"They walked so I could run, and I will run so that the next generation of Somalis can soar."

"Peace is Possible when women have a Power"