Come Together Widows and Orphans Organization (CTWOO) is a non-profit making Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded by Dianah Kamande, a young widow and a survivor of Gender Based Violence whose experiences gave birth to the idea of creating an NGO The organization has been working officially with widows since 2013 in Kenya, Widows have been targets of Sexual gender based violence, harmful c
ultures and traditions, property loss and denial by in-laws, emotional and psychological torture, patriarchy ,discrimination, stigma and false accusations CTWOO was founded by Dianah Kamande, the idea to help widows came to her when she became a widow as a result of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. She found out that widows and SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE were the most outstanding marginalized group of women that needed all kind of support (social, emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual and financial)
She introduced a slogan “Widows Rights Are Also Human Rights”, She started championing for rights of widows and survivors of Gender Based Violence. She later on formed a widows’ COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION at first to address widows’ issues and later when the widows issues increased in the country she decided to register a Non-Governmental Organization, which included emotional and psychological support, financial support especially for the widows who were poor and couldn’t afford fees for their children. To help them also cater for their basic needs she fundraised to help them start greengroceries, tailoring and encouraged they join adult education. At this time she would support the widows by giving food donations and pay for some of their children’s school fees through raising her voice on their behalf on social media, print media, radio and Television. She would also empower them by giving them motivational talk to help them recollect themselves from loss of their spouses and move on with their widowhood life. Dianah continued being vocal and a lot of widows, survivors of domestic violence and orphans continued to reach her and she registered CTWOO as an International organization this was a good step as her desire to serve all Kenyan widows, survivors of violence and orphans at a National and International level. The founder then decided to have a team of like-minded individuals who would help in her mission of reaching out to widows. As COMETOGETHER WIDOWS AND ORPHANS ORGANIZATION, we have been able to work with widows not only empowering widows but also sourcing for people to train widows all over the country on group formations, its importance and table banking. The activities have been very successful helping many widows start Small Business Enterprises (SMEs) e.g. Groceries,Tailoring, Retail shops etc. which help them sustain their livelihoods and gives them a source of income to cater for their needs. Other projects include helping them start projects such as catering and event organization businesses, agricultural farming, poultry and dairy farming among others. Through 30% procurement (AGPO) widows are able to apply for available Government tenders and supply the needed items and make some profit. This has helped us reach more widows who have seen a change in their lives both socially and economically
Our greatest desire is to create a pillar of hope and empowerment for all the widows in Kenya and beyond but with a bigger focus on the poor and neglected widows. We want to help all widows live fulfilled lives by empowering them socially, economically, emotionally and spiritually, through establishment of productive networking structures.
