Abstract
In “Special Issue: Overcoming Violence against Women and Children” in the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa (No. 114, Nov. 2002), the guest editors Tinyiko Sam Maluleke and Sarojini Nadar wrote:
Given the great cloud and intricate network of witnesses and conspirators who subscribe to the covenant of death, standing up against this covenant of death and violence is costly. It often results in the isolation and rejection of those who dare to speak. Therefore, the voices of those who dare to stand up against the covenant are often like voices in the wilderness (7).
In this essay, I will focus on the lessons I learned from a few strategies and tactics to covenant with dignity and life to uphold Ubuntu. I will draw inspiration from my mothers in faith who one hundred years ago in Kenya shielded the dignity of Gĩkũyũ girls and women against female genital mutilation and other dignity and life-denying cultural practices and beliefs, which are contrary to Ubuntu and the sustaining of life. I will conclude with a summary of collective actions I have taken with the women and men who have been my professional companions in my work as an ordained minister of word and sacrament with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.
Recommended Citation
Njoroge, Nyambura J.
(2023)
"Dignity, Life-Affirming Advocacy and Compassionate Solidarity,"
Journal of International Women's Studies: Vol. 25:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol25/iss1/5