Leadership circles are widow- to - widow support groups offering safe spaces for widows to share their experiences and learn from each other. These circles are also the units of operation at Nyanam. Currently we serve 780 widows organized in 29 leadership circles where we provide them with capacity strengthening in health, livelihoods, justice, leadership and youth education 

Last year, we oriented 214 new widows from 9 groups who are now part of the family. This year, we received requests from 51 new leadership circles of 1108 widows who expressed interest to join Nyanam. In September 2023, Nyanam staff and 39 Nyanam widow mentors traversed Kisumu and Siaya counties orienting the new groups of widows using our internal curriculum (Leadership Circles Curriculum).  Our 39 widow mentors led the different training sessions with the new widows as they share their own experiences and impact since joining the organization.

During these sessions, we oriented 48 LCs of 1065 widows in Kisumu and Siaya counties. However, out of the 51 invited groups, 5 LCs missed showing up in the orientation. Out of the 48 oriented group, 46 were invited by Nyanam , 2 came after hearing about Nyanam’s visits. Further, we accessed the invited group per our orientation and foundation period guideline, only 34 groups or 735 widows are eligible to be inducted into the organization next year. 

Further, we shared with the new leadership circles about our vision, mission, values, strategy and programs.  We used our leadership circles curriculum to train the new widow groups about how Nyanam works and what kind of a group can join the big family. We covered five main topics which are: 

• Unity in leadership circles.  

• Purpose of leadership circles.  

• Design of leadership circles.  

• Activities and evaluation in leadership circles.  

• Values and expectations in leadership circles 

The one-week orientation activity provided us with great insights and a reminder of the impact we are having in the communities of widows we are serving. Further working closely with our widow mentors allowed us to strengthen the widow-Nyanam partnership and ensure we continue to build their capacity to lead the work. We met a great number of widows and next year 2024, we will be induct 34 groups of 735 widows who are eligible to join the family. Now, we are thinking and asking ourselves, how best can we support the new widows in 2024.

“We kept on hearing about Nyanam and wanted to know exactly who they were. After our sister shared about her experience during the burial of her sister Mary in Kisumu, we felt the need to know more about Nyanam. So, word went round about a housing launch, and we sent two of our members to the first housing launch in Kisumu west that took place at Mama Silbia’s home. We didn’t introduce ourselves and just stayed and observed. From what we saw, we were sure we wanted to be part of Nyanam. And from there, we were encouraged by the unity and love that we saw with Nyanam widows' display. So, we came back and shared our experience with the groups, they too were encouraged, and we decided it would be great to have Nyanam visit us. – Mond Ruoth Malele 

Written by : Evelyn Odhiambo, Youth and Communications Manager