Peacebuilders
Voluntary Youth Philanthropists and the Peace Caravan
16 February 2010
Voluntary Youth Philanthropists (VYP) is a Kenyan not-for-profit organisation founded by peacebuilder Rachel Wambui Kung’u, who is from Mukurwe-ini in Kenya’s Central Province. VYP aim to promote peace in their communities by mobilising and empowering young people to take action on issues affecting them.
When Rachel attended RTC’s annual Working With Conflict (WWC) course in 2004 she had the idea of organising a “Peace Caravan”, which could travel across Kenya and reach out to young people throughout the country.
The Peace Caravan began as a group walk that showed a shared identity between those who took part. During her time with RTC Rachel developed the idea further so that she could more effectively build a positive picture of Kenya’s rich and diverse ethnic background and help to promote peace and community development.
The Caravan initially brought together forty young people representing the ethnic diversity of Kenya. During their time travelling together they have visited many different locations around the country, taking part in a range of activities at each stop, including performances, sports tournaments and art.
At each location they engage in dialogue with local partners to identify and build support for existing peace initiatives and create links with traditional structures such as the District Peace Committees. They also raise awareness of Kenya’s most marginalised communities, collecting people’s opinions and other information so they can influence national policy processes.
The Peace Caravan was put through some of its most challenging work following Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008, where they – among many other organisations – responded to the crisis. Peace Caravan helped by providing events and accurate information that broke through the rumours, hoping to quell violent outbreaks.
The travels of the Peace Caravan are currently ongoing, intended to be an annual project that will continue to visit new locations and revisit olds ones, in order to continue spreading their messages and educating the youth of Kenya to take action towards peace and prosperity. VYP are currently preparing for their September 2010 Peace Caravan, which among other things will include training geared towards early warning systems, a programme that they have already launched locally.
Rachel says, “One of the key things I learnt from RTC was to start small, then build on that work and expand my circle of influence to create networks within which my work can grow.” Since Rachel left RTC the Peace Caravan has greatly expanded VYP’s own networks, and they expect that soon they will have visited the majority of towns and districts in Kenya.
Through its travels VYP has established a vast network of organisations, co-ordinators, and individual volunteers. VYP now wishes to find ways to support and sustain these networks so that they can continue to be voices for peace in their communities.
For more information about VYP and the Peace Caravan, visit their website here: http://www.peace-caravan.org/