Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

When many people think of activism, they think rallies and protests. But it is much more than that. It is nights of research on various issues, strategy meetings, communication to authorities and maybe rallies and protests as Wevyn Muganda, an activist, and a hobby cyclist reveals. 

Njeri Maina @njerimainar 

Wevyn Muganda is a 27-year-old who wants to change the world by addressing community problems one campaign at a time.

Her love for social work, she says, started whilst she was in Starehe Girls’ Centre, Kiambu, between 2007 and 2010, where the administration encouraged students to do charity work in and around the school.

She would join Kabarak University in 2012 and get a degree in actuarial science while doing community work with AIESEC, an international youth-run, non-governmental and not-for-profit organisation. 

After school, she got an internship with a local non-governmental organisation where she gave her all and as a result was picked for a permanent position.

Her journey as a professional policy influencer had started. “I do not shy away from hard work.

I have done numerous online courses on social sciences and policy. I have read extensively in order to grow my knowledge from mathematical based to a more social-based place.

I believe that one can never have enough knowledge. So, I am hoping to one day to get a scholarship to study for my Masters in Public Policy and International Relations.

This would put me well on my journey to being a global policy maker and effect change globally,” Wevyn enthuses.

She believes that policies made at the global level may not be effective or practical on a grassroots level, especially when the people at the grassroots are not involved in the process.

She hopes to get a place at the global table to help craft more practical and contextual policies that give allowances for the nuances and differences in experience among the global populace. 

She has spearheaded many charity projects. She and Suhayl Omar established Mutual Aid Kenya, a non-governmental organisation that crowdfunded more than Sh400,000 that went into providing families affected by Covid-19 with food donations.

She has held numerous barazas with Mombasa youths to discuss different issues from governance to social issues. 

Hurdles on the way

More recently, she did a cycling campaign with the aim of raising awareness and money to buy assistive devices for members of Amazing Group of Persons with Disabilities community-based organisation, Likoni.

She is also working towards providing political and civic education to Kenyans on the Building Bridges Initiative document through online platforms, community groups and discussion forums.

“People view activists as timewasters, forgetting that all the freedoms we enjoy today are as a result of their efforts.

I, however, do not view my job as activism. At least not professionally. Professionally, I am a policy influencer and hoping to be a policymaker one day. Activism for me is a way of life.

A necessity born of the need to expand people’s social consciousness and solve problems that exist in our communities,” she further explains.

While she genuinely derives pleasure from her work in and of itself, she has encountered her fair share of challenges.

“There is danger in fighting injustice with no financial muscle. This means that you are at risk whether online or in a physical protest as you have no way of ensuring your security.

Lack of social support is also a major hindrance to activism. It can be attributed in part to inadequate civic and political education leading to a reduced sense of agency among citizens.

This is the reason why you will call for a peaceful protest on an issue that affects so many yet no one will show up,” she explains.

Pushback from the state is another major challenge. The civic space is also shrinking as there are more and more actors in the activism space, some with vested interests.

A smaller civic space makes it harder to achieve one’s goals as an activist. Other activists might have directly opposing views, which will make the process of civic education and mobilisation of resources slower if not downright impossible.

But she keeps moving as no matter how costly change is, there has to be someone willing to pay it for the sake of the masses. She is happy to be that person. 

On how she separates herself from her work, Wevyn offers that she tries, but it is difficult. “I am my job.

I care about people. I get affected so much by other people’s problems, especially if I cannot fix them to the point that I get nauseated, get insomnia and at times even fall physically ill.

Then I take a social media break, cycle, go to the beach, come back and try to get another solution.

I also have a good support system who are there for me through it all. I don’t know where I would be without my friends and family,” Wevyn emotes. 

Social support

When the going gets tough, Wevyn heavily relies on her support system. She talks about how supportive her friends and family are, with her mum even showing up for some of her protests and community barazas to show solidarity. This keeps her grounded and motivated.

As to what keeps her going despite the hardships and challenges along the way, Wevyn answers unhesitatingly that it is the people.

Seeing the impact of her work firsthand is humbling and validating all at once. It shows that she is doing a worthwhile cause and inspires her to keep moving.

As long as there are problems in the world that need addressing, Wevyn will be a policy influencer.

And maybe someday, she will run for president and continue changing lives on a bigger scale.