Time and again, many readers have continued asking me why I am so fond of using the words empowerment and dis-empowerment. The truth is that I find it befitting using the two words to constantly describe the situation in our country. Why so and what do they mean?
The first time I ever heard of the name empowerment is in 1985. There was a women congress in Nairobi which was attended by 5,000 women, who had come from different parts of the world. This is where women empowerment was emphasized.
Previously, it had been felt that the power of women was in the hands of men. All that was needed this time was seemingly for women to snatch that power from men. It was like a physical might that was to be relieved from men and taken over by women. But, was that really the case?
Upon publication of “Living Beyond Survival: No More Tiptoeing in Life in 2018,” an advancement of the KICD approved “Career Dynamics in the 21st Century,” it became necessary to officially launch the book. For that to happen, it was first necessary to seek an authoritive guest speaker. Luckily, securing one was not that difficult. Why so?
Have you ever witnessed a teacher reciprocating knowledge with his or her student? The Professor who taught me Total Quality Management at the turn of the Century, had by June 2013 had been attracted by my writings in the media. As such, he invited me to talk to his soon to graduate 4th year class, who were pursuing the same course.
The Professor needed his students to know how knowledge in Total Quality Management applies in real life. That led to the presentation titled “Quality Begins with You.” The same was eventually turned into chapter 6 of Career Dynamics in the 21st Century, right from the first publication of 2015.
This back ground easily influenced the Professor towards becoming the Chief Guest during the Launch of Living Beyond Survival: No more Tiptoeing in Life. Upon enquiry on any preferred issue of discussion, the Professor was quite agreeable to discussing about “Sustainable Empowerment in the 21st Century,” (check presentation @ https://youtu.be/PqQBpH1Q-54)
The Professor brought out the chronology of women conferences right from the first one that took place in Mexico in 1975. This was followed by that of Nairobi in 1985 and another one in Bejing in 1995.
So much has happened to women the impact of the conferences continued being felt. By 1975 for example, Kenyan Women were not allowed to have identy cards. Single women were using the ID cards of their fathers, especially when acquiring property. The married ones were using those of their husbands. Imagine, the same identity cards were used when opening bank accounts.
Leadership positions for women were quite scarce. In fact, the first woman to be elected into Parliament in Kenya, was Grace Onyango, Kisumu Town, in 1969. Today, women seem to have substantially dethroned men from the lead in many spheres of life in Kenya. Nevertheless, Sustainable Empowerment in the 21st Century, has a totally different perspective, when compared with that one associated with women.
As the Professor indicated during the book launch, empowerment is the capacity to be endowed with authority of independently and responsibly making decisions on solutions regarding organizational or personal problems. As such, it is about mental power. What then drives that mental power?
In this 21st Century, empowerment is no longer about acquiring knowledge and Certificates at whatever level of education, as was the case previously – sadly, our school system has not changed as yet. Application of that knowledge is critical, since, it is only then that it’s value can be proven. Most importantly, how does that knowledge apply in real life situations? More still, how does it contribute towards the improvement of the welfare of humanity?
That leaves us with two glaring questions. To what extent does the knowledge acquired in the 8-4-4 system contribute towards the empowerment stardards expected in the 21st Century? Could the associated empowerment challenges be contributing towards the continued deterelation of the situation of the boychild?
Perhaps, the society now needs to focus more towards empowerment of the boy child. This time, it should never be a situation of physically wrestling the power acquired by women. Instead, the empowerment of the boychild (and girlchild too) should be about aligning the knowledge acquired by each one of them with the paradigms of the 21st Century.
Notably, the Competency Based Curriculum – CBC is meant to achieve this if appropriately implemented. The remnants of the 8-4-4 education are not exempted from this focus. Actually, their education should not anyore focus on just pumping them with knowledge, without guiding them on how it should be aligned with the paradigms of the 21st Century.
Kudos to all those institutional managers who continue embracing our research based empowerment seminars for their students (and teachers too). It doesn’t matter whether institutions produce A or D students. The most important achievement is for the participants to acquire the right focus or strategic direction, while in school and beyond. Naturally, all other desired achievements easily fall in place, isn’t it?
Rgds
Mwangi Wanjumbi (MKIM)
Personal Empowerment Coach,
Speaker/Trainer on Strategy, Performance, Change Management and Leadership.
Seasoned Trainer of Trainers,
Competency Based Curriculum-CBC Architect,
Author of 1. KICD approved Career Dynamics in the 21st Century, 2. Living Beyond Survival:No More Tiptoeing in Life
- The 21st Century Student:Are You Creating The Future Today? Also, Retired 5 Year Monthly Strategy Columnist (2013 – 2018) for The SME Today Magazine Phone 254722516210
Welcome to our YouTube Channel under Mwangi Wanjumbi – Empowerment Forum
Latest You Tube Upload
https://youtu.be/OYnFLZoE-hA
Recent Comments