Peacebuilders
In honour of Dekha Ibrahim Abdi
15 July 2011
During Dekha's life and since her death much has been written about her, her work and her extraordinary skills and accomplishments. We would like to honour our journey...
Our journey with Dekha started in 1994 when she came on the twelve week Working with Conflict (WWC) course run by RTC in Birmingham. Following this she was invited to be an International Fellow at RTC and thereafter in 1999 took up the post of Learning and Training Coordinator, overseeing WWC and other RTC courses.
Dekha, with other women, started a peace initiative in Wajir. This was recorded in a video documentary, ‘The Wajir Story', which was the first in a series of video case studies produced by RTC in co-operation with the Coalition for Peace in Africa as part of the Linking Practice to Policy (LPP) programme. LPP was an innovative programme, designed to influence policy makers and practitioners by highlighting methods of conflict prevention and peacebuilding and demonstrating the importance for communication and linkages between actors at the grassroots and those in positions of influence.
When Dekha returned to Kenya in 2001, she co-ordinated the next phases of the LPP programme, in partnership with RTC and COPA. Learning and training workshops, in which people gained skills and developed their understanding of conflict and peacebuilding were an integral part of the programme. Story telling, role play and drama were used to reach out to communities. Many different groups engaged - traditional elders, police officers, the military, journalists, teachers and students, lawyers, local administrators, and national level government. During this period, Dekha also pioneered the production of a peace diary for use in schools.
Dekha's work went beyond Africa. Through the global network of ACTION for Conflict Transformation she became known to many peace activists around the world.
Dekha remained an Associate of RTC, a relationship which was mutually enriching, challenging and inspirational. In this capacity she returned to Birmingham when possible to form a key part of the tutor team on RTC's UK courses, where her wisdom and ability to engage with complexities was much valued; she tutored on the Applied Conflict Transformation masters programme; she participated in several field visits to Israel and Palestine as part of RTC's long term programme in the Middle East, and she continued to inspire us.
Her imagination, warmth, and openness combined with a keen intelligence and remarkable networking skills made a wide impact. The messages flooding in to us are a moving testimony. One such writer said:
"I was very privileged to participate in an RTC training in Birmingham in the late 1990s with one of my colleagues where Dekha was a lead facilitator. What a privilege to spend this time of reflection and learning with such a remarkable woman; it was a very important time for me which continues to shape my approach to many things."
Another...
"Dekha was my inspiration and will continue to be so. I will carry her everywhere always. She did not just make us better peace builders, she made us better people. She was funny, kind, passionate and spiritual which is a rare and special thing.
Her life is proof that one person can make an enormous difference.
Below are a number of articles which pay homage to Dekha's life, and a transcript of one of her inspiring speeches:
> A Word In Edgeways - Chris Lawson's newspaper column (December 2011)
> Feast with your enemies - Scilla Elworthy remembers Dekha (November 2011)
> Transforming our woundedness for peace - a speech by Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (November 2011)