Woman of Courage Award 2010 - Sr. Therese Stritch, Kenya

The following is the text of the appreciation for Sr. Therese Stritch given at the UNANIMA International Awards ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya in May. Ironically, Therese could not attend the ceremony in person and Sr. Theresa Burke collected the award for her. 

“Today UNANIMA International is extremely pleased to present its third annual award to a woman of courage -one who embodies those qualities which we believe essential for the advancement of women everywhere - solidarity, a passion for human rights, commitment, and courage in the face of power which threatens life.

UNANIMA International is a nongovernmental organization working for systemic change at the international level at the United Nations. It is made up of 16 congregations of women religious with more than seventeen thousand members working in 70 countries. UNANIMA International has three priorities: women and children living in conditions of poverty, immigrants and refugees and the welfare of the planet. 

                                             Sr. Therese Stritch

In one of our international campaigns we focus on the buying and selling of persons, especially women and children for sexual exploitation, as today's most common form of slavery. We believe this practice is driven by the buyers of sex and that it is fuelled by pornography and profit. We believe that the sexual exploitation of prostitution and sex tourism using women and children are rooted in poverty and in the structural inequalities between women and men. We believe they are nothing less than violations of the human rights and are inherently violent and demeaning. They are also one of the causes of the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa. 

In the second, we acknowledge that there is a growing inability of the ecosystems to generate life-giving water. Hence UNANIMA International is compelled to promote a water ethic which fosters an awareness of the grave necessity to restore the natural filtering system of the ecosystems and declare that access to life-giving water is an essential right for all life forms. 

As an organization with these two commitments, we believe that we have made an excellent choice for our third awardee of the UNANIMA International Woman of Courage award - Sr. Therese Stritch. 

Therese is a woman who in the face of violence and difficulties has demonstrated her commitment to women and to the people of Kenya. Born in Ireland, Therese arrived in Kenya in 1973 and since 1980 she has largely remained in Kenya. She is deeply committed to working with women. Learning the Kikuyu language, she worked with the local women - many with little formal schooling, to help them become self-supporting. 

Later Therese joined the Express Community to work with the women of Mukuru slums in Nairobi's Industrial Area. She trekked down to Kayaaba slum each day on foot to meet the women. She started a Skills Training Centre for young girls in a temporary classroom. Later, British Airways staff, especially the air hostesses, gave funding for a permanent skills training centre at Bakhita Primary School where the centre still is. Here girls from Mukuru and other nearby slums are taught knitting, dressmaking, craft work, hairdressing and more recently, computer applications. Now she lives in Lokori, in the heart of South Turkana desert with sand and more sand and continues her work with women and girls along with literacy classes for the shepherd boys in the evenings and separate classes for the local shamba girls. 

On several occasions she has faced violence or imprisonment. She was in Ngarariga at the time of several break-ins and, along with her companions was tied up and thrown into a small store while the intruders ransacked the house and took whatever they could get. She was also a victim of carjacking by men who bodily lifted her out of the car and left her by the roadside as they drove off with her car with sewing and knitting machines and materials. More recently, as the Chairperson of the Archdiocese of Nairobi AOSK Peace & Justice Group she was imprisoned. She and about one hundred representatives from different organizations were peacefully demonstrating to ask for the cancellation of World Bank debt. They had just handed in a letter at the World Bank Offices, when they were surrounded by riot police. Therese and sixty two others were then bundled into a riot police lorry and taken to the cell at Central Police Station, Nairobi. At the police station Therese was in a crowded police cell with the other arrested marchers. At one stage the religious were told they could leave but they would not go without the others, so they all remained in the same cell. Finally, in the morning they were transported to the district court and again imprisoned in a crowded basement cell to await being called. They were all charged with holding an illegal demonstration even though they had notified the police in advance. 

We believe, also, that it is fitting to present this third UNANIMA International Woman of Courage award during this conference on human trafficking in Nairobi, Kenya. This is a conference which calls all of us to be courageous in the face of violations of human rights. It calls us to be courageous to facilitate transformation of those structures that bring about poverty and oppression, especially for women.
The UNANIMA International Woman of Courage award is symbolized by this flame, which captures the passion, energy and daring that Therese demonstrates in advancing and protecting the rights of vulnerable and oppressed women and children. The flame is mounted on a piece of oak from the mighty oak tree known for its strength and endurance. The oak tree is one that is deeply anchored and steadfast amidst buffeting by winds and storms. It also symbolizes a perennial birthing of new life and hope. The copper plate on which her name is engraved is also a symbol of the deeply spiritual values which underlie the passion she has for creatively transforming the daily injustices experienced by women and children into sources of their empowerment. 

Therese Stritch embodies these values and generates life and hope. It is with immense pleasure that we award the third annual UNANIMA International Woman of Courage to Sr. Therese Stritch.”