Comparing the learning experiences of Indigenous women in post-conflict periods: Umoja, Kenya and Chorrera, Colombia

Abstract

I conducted fieldwork in Umoja village, Samburu County, Kenya and Chorrera County, Colombia. These countries have a history of gender violence against Indigenous women and this violence often continues into contemporary times. Conversations about contemporary violence against Indigenous women in Chorrera’s educational spaces—high school or the workshops of the local Indigenous organization—during the post-conflict period are painful and uncomfortable for them. Thus, I introduced the experience of Umoja from Kenya as a memory device to analyze the violence against Indigenous women and their educational expectations in Chorrera. These dialogues prompted by Umoja’s analysis in Chorrera reveals the simultaneous opportunities of Indigenous women’s collective memory, resistance, and challenges to girls’ and women’s access to traditional and formal education.