CYPRINE OMOLLO

Cyprine is a Program Manager at Clean Start Kenya, an organization that helps women and girls transition back into society after being in prison or juvenile detention. Since being released from prison in 2015, Cyprine has received training at the African Leadership Institute for Community Transformation (ALICT) Stellenbosch, South Africa; Resurgo Trust London in Coaching for Leadership; and was selected for the Global Change Leaders Program at St. Xavier University in Canada 2020.

“Anytime I get a no when I knock on one door, it just means that I need to look for another door.”

Q: Tell us a few things about your country, and also your life's story!

I live in Kenya, a country with about 60 Million people. I work with women who are impacted by the criminal justice system, helping them with successful reintegration into society. After being imprisoned in 2015 for a debt that I was not able to pay back, I saw the plight of the many women who were in prison. It was my desire that I make a change. So, after leaving prison, I sought out ways to support those who have left prison and re-entering society.

Q: What was your experience of the global pandemic crisis? Did it change your life and/or your views about the world? If so, how?

The global pandemic has really affected us. We started working from home and it became very difficult to support the women in our ecosystem. At the same time, we were not able to go to train the women who were behind bars because of the restrictions that were put in place to combat the pandemic. Funding for our programs was also a big problem for us, it is vital for us to be able to continue with our programs.

Q: What are some of the key challenges in your society currently?

One of the biggest challenges exits for the formerly imprisoned women who are casual labourers. They lost their source of income during the pandemic and business was slow. Most of our women are not tech savvy - we lack computers and the necessary equipment needed to run programs online. Most of the women also do not have smart phones, so it becomes very difficult for them to do any business online.

Q: Can you share with us some of the hurdles that you have had to overcome in your life so far? How did you handle them? 

One of my greatest hurdles was that we did not have a program for our women in prison at the end of 2020. I managed to develop a self-awareness and self-discovery program that has been launched this May and is being run virtually in prisons through the support of partners who have allowed us to use their equipment.

Q: If you were to ask one thing from our current leaders, what would it be?

One thing I would ask, considering my own experience, is to ensure that we use alternative means of justice as opposed to making women serve time for committing petty offences. Use other options like non-custodial sentencing, alternative dispute resolution. When women are put in prison, the whole family is affected. In Kenya, 90% of women in prison are single mothers, sole bread winners with children under the age of 10.

Q: Why is the role of a mentor important for you?

The role of a mentor is very important for me so that I can improve as a person and learn from others on how to properly network, raise funds for our activities and how I too can support the women I serve.

Q: Do you have a lesson that life has taught you and you would like to share? 

The only way I can be better is if I continually learn to support others. Therefore, my focus has been on the women and girls I serve, so that we can have a better society. We need to empower others even with the little resources we have.

Q: Name a project, a foundation or a person in your country that you think is doing great work in helping improve other people's lives!

Apart from Teresa Njoroge, who is my CEO and Founder of Clean Start Kenya, I also love an organization called SHOFCO (Shining Hope for Communities) for work he is doing in the Kenyan Slums to empower those communities.

Q: What are some of the challenges that women in your country face and what efforts are being made towards gender equality?

Some of the challenges are a lack of equal opportunities for women. In some Kenyan communities, women are still looked at as "their place is in the kitchen and therefore they cannot give any opinion.” The latest example was the nomination of the Chief Justice Martha Koome and the Deputy Chief Justice, Madam Philemona Mwilu. When the Chief Justice was nominated, men took to Twitter to troll them saying there is no way we can have two women leading the judiciary.

Q: Share with us a phrase, a poem or a story that you love or you find interesting!

There is a song written by Kenyan band called Adwanage SAFARI. This song keeps me going because transition and rebuilding is a journey, and no matter what challenges I face or have faced in the past, they are just hurdles. It does not mean the journey has stopped, it’s just a minor setback and we move on. Anytime I get a no when I knock on one door it just means that I need to look for another door.

Q: Can you share with us a project that you would like to make happen for your country or a cause that you are passionate about? 

A project I am really passionate about would be for Clean Start to have a centre where women can be housed after imprisonment. We have zero structures for reintegration, therefore when women leave prison and are not able to rebuild their lives, they go back to what they know best and end up right back in prison. The centre would be a good place that would help us break the cycle of imprisonment and create some sort of stability for the women as they transition back into society.