Nurturing Leadership Skills of Young Girls with Disabilities:Focus on Learners in Tertiary Institutions

As part of our Ford Foundation funded grant on engaging young girls with disabilities (and boys) on their leadership trajectories and civic engagement, we had the honour to meet learners in tertiary institutions as part of our project participants.

The learners, young women with diverse disabilities, are pursuing different degree courses at both the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. We see their participation in the project as being really important as they join others from primary schools, as well as a High school. At Network level we are intentional about making these intergenerational connections among different age groups of women with disabilities, if only it can play a part in supporting more engagement by women with disabilities in leadership opportunities. We base all this in the context of underrepresentation of women with disabilities in governance and leadership.  

This meeting was especially inspirational as it vividly showed us the journeys that our participants had taken in their lives. Many common threads weaved through their stories. There is resilience, there is pain; there is joy, there is sadness; there is hope and there is desire for more. All our participants said that they considered themselves leaders. But this was not always the case. And for this, they said that they would want to ensure that other young girls with disabilities don’t have to pass through the stages they passed; when they felt as though they ‘were not enough’.

‘I should have started earlier’

Lily said, ‘I should have started earlier (to feel as a leader), but I did not have the self-confidence. I did not realise what I am capable of as a leader. To build esteem, confidence. Now, I can mentor others, my interest is women with disabilities in politics.’  Elizabeth Mang’eni, part of the leadership of the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities can attest to this. ‘Lily, like many young girls with a disability that we have engaged with, came across as shy and reserved. We have engaged her at Network level, and I see that Lily is growing in confidence, and this leaves me inspired,” said Elizabeth.

Lily has recently joined a Leadership Academy by an international organization working with young people with disabilities and at Network level we are excited that engaging her played a role in opening such a door for her.

‘University gave me confidence’

Our participants also attributed their growth in confidence and self-awareness to programs in university. Specifically at the University of Nairobi that has a Disability Liaison Office where Mildred Omino, a member of the Network, serves. The Disability Office at UON has supported the learners, exposing them to empowerment programs, offering them opportunities to mentor young disabled kids in schools and as our participants noted, these are the experiences they bring with them to the Network project. ‘I don’t want others to face the challenges that I faced,” said a participant. ‘I want to be able to share my journey, the before and after, and the possibilities there are for young girls with disabilities in leadership,” they said. 

‘In my community, as a girl with a disability, you have no role’

One of the participants from the Turkana community, shared her experiences growing up as a young girl with a disability in a community that is largely pastoralist. “I feel that my community relegates people with disabilities to low levels in terms of our belonging in our societies,” she said.  “It is like you totally have no role, you are invisible, like all you are expected to do is just...nothing.”  The participant shared about a difficulty childhood in primary school. She remembered how she used to be scared in school, children and older people made bad comments about her. “I felt like I wasn’t enough,” she recalled.  Having finished her studies at the University, she is keen to bring change to her community in as far as children with a disability are embraced in her community. She is aware that some parents are pushed to kill their children with a disability, and it makes her sad. She wants to bring change in her community.

‘Believe in yourself’

For us at Network level and since we began meeting our project participants, the words ‘believe in yourself,’ seem to especially have deep meanings for girls with disabilities. Understandably so, because as Mildred shares, there is a lot of trauma that comes with having a disability. ‘Many of us struggle to show up for ourselves as women with disabilities. We have struggled for many years. We must name this. If we cannot show up for ourselves, we won’t be able to show up for others.” Hence why we must believe in ourselves, all the time.

Which is a theme that we are keen to explore with all our project participants, how to address the traumas that we carry with us as women with disabilities. This is very critical in the journey of leadership. 

‘Look inside...then look outside’

For our young girls with disabilities, there is no correct time to begin their journeys in leadership. At Network level we continue to be inspired by their stories and are honored to be walking the journey with them. Indeed, as Mildred shares, it is by looking within that we find the inspiration to pursue our leadership journeys. Within this journey, we need to allow ourselves a healing process. We can use our experiences to transform things around us. And yes, every flower can blossom.