GSNAfrica

Colorful illustration of a Kenyan celebration. A performer in a black hat with microphone stands near large speakers while a crowd waves Kenyan flags. Text reads "Celebrate! One year later: From collective struggle to joyful celebration.

This Madaraka Day, 🇰🇪 we honor our collective journey. Music and unity became our ray of hope a year ago in the midst of great pain, allowing a nation to find its voice again.

#MadarakaDay #UnityInDiversity #KenyanPride #ReclaimingJoy #WeThePeople #GenZProtests2024

Futures Without Violence (@withoutviolence.bsky.social) For more than 30 years, we’ve developed innovative ways to end violence against women, children, and families at home and around the world.

So excited to be listening to Juan Carlos from @withoutviolence.bsky.social today at Florida State University’s Florida Institute for Child Welfare conference talk about breaking cycles of violence. He has been instrumental in the development of our work at @gsnafrica.bsky.social 💚💚💚

In our hyper-consumerist society, we vastly underestimate the allure of "freeze" as a survival response.

Thought for the day

💚

Do you know other people / groups we can add to this?

Can we add you?

jacob sansbury @jsnnsa having kids in the next 5 years might be a tragic mistake every smart bio founder/scientist i’ve talked to seems to think embryo editing for things like short sleeper, reduced cancer risk, etc is possible on a near term horizon imagine having two kids a couple years apart, one is a super human and the other isn’t “sorry jim, little timmy won’t get cancer, only needs 4 hours of sleep and you’re normal you were just born in the wrong order 🤷🏻 “

Tech bros know what every parent wants: children who sleep less

Girl, 11, rescued in Med after three days clinging to tyre tubes The girl from Sierra Leone said all the 44 migrants on board had died in the storms and high waves.

Sierra Leonean girl, 11, rescued in the Mediterranean after three days clinging to tyre tubes. She said all the other 44 migrants on board had died in the storms and high waves

“Empire of Normality: neurodiversity and capitalism” a review: The Empire Has No Clothes - Mad in the UK A review of “Empire of Normality: neurodiversity and capitalism” by Robert Chapman, Pluto Press 2023

This forensic review of R. Chapman's new book, exposes Chapman's multiple hostile misrepresentations of critical psychiatry, and how Chapman's obsession with mis-labelling all critics as 'Szaszians' has blinded them to the reality of the modern movement.
www.madintheuk.com/2024/04/empi...

Struggles over memory? - Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung In this contribution, I introduce decolonial memory activism as struggle over meaning (Deutungskampf). Decolonial memory activism is understood as a specific form of memory activism that calls for the...

📣 New publication: Christina Pauls on "Struggles over memory?" | The first paper of our forthcoming ZeFKo-Forum "Contested transitions and perspectives on peace – Deutungskämpfe im Übergang"

*Expanded addiction support

Don't wait until it's your child's savings disappearing in a single night.

#ProtectOurYouth #GamblingHarm #AddictionCrisisKenya

Our kids are not safe. The house always wins. And the house is coming for our children's future, with their M-PESA as the gateway.

We need urgent action:

*Separate gambling from everyday banking apps
*Mandatory waiting periods for deposits
*Real age verification
*Ban on youth-targeted marketing

*The barrier between banking and betting has vanished

What's happening in #Kenya is a tragic warning: When you merge frictionless mobile banking with predatory gambling, you create an addiction accelerant. Betting companies deliberately exploit these payment systems to maximize losses.

As a #Kenyan this isn't something to celebrate - it's a predatory crisis targeting our youth. The combination of M-PESA & betting apps has created a perfect storm:

*Instant deposits mean instant losses
*No cooling-off period between urge and action
*Family savings accounts drained with a few taps

Great starter pack for organizations working on global health issues!

One of the most challenging projects I've worked on since joining Reuters. Despite warnings from the world’s hunger watchdog of an impending catastrophe in Sudan, famine struck anyway. www.reuters.com/graphics/FAM...

Be YOU.

Culture is fundamental to mental health. While there are universal human experiences, how they manifest varies greatly across cultural contexts. This is why at @gsnafrica.bsky.social we prioritize cultural adaptation in our curriculum adaptation.

he image shows a quote in a minimalist design, presented within a circular border with two dots as decorative elements. The quote, attributed to Arthur Chan, reads: "Having privileges doesn't make you a bad person or morally corrupt. But how you act upon this awareness reflects who you are and what you care about." This is a thoughtful statement about privilege and personal responsibility. It makes the important distinction that having advantages in life isn't inherently wrong, but rather emphasizes that our moral character is revealed through how we acknowledge and respond to those privileges. The quote suggests that self-awareness and subsequent action are what truly matter in defining someone's character. The design's circular format and clean typography give the quote a sense of completeness and clarity, helping to emphasize its contemplative message.

A group of people sitting in a circle on grass under a large tree, with stone walls in the background. The participants, mostly wearing white clothing, have their arms raised in what appears to be a group exercise or activity. One person wearing red stands out in the center of the circle, leading the group activity. The setting appears to be a peaceful outdoor gathering space conducive to community engagement.

🧵 7/7 Yes, this work challenges us.

But watching people discover their power to heal themselves & others? Pure inspiration. Because real healing creates a future where everyone thrives. 🌟

#PeaceBuilding #CommunityHealing #SocialTransformation #EastAfrica

A diverse group of happy people sitting and posing together outside a building, including several African individuals and one person in a yellow shirt and grey jacket. They appear to be a team or group of colleagues sharing a joyful moment together, all smiling and making playful gestures at the camera.

🧵 6/7 We're an eclectic team - peacebuilders, artists, psychologists & community organizers united by one belief: healing isn't optional, it's ESSENTIAL for peace.

Every day brings new lessons from the circles. 💫

A watercolor illustration showing a group of women in yellow shirts sitting around a wooden table in an outdoor setting with palm trees and buildings in the background. The women appear to be engaged in a meeting or discussion, with papers or documents on the table. The scene suggests a community gathering or women's group meeting in a rural or coastal African setting.

🧵 5/7 Key lesson: You can't rush healing. Just last week, our newest Circle Keepers requested that we add paintings. They said, "We want to show hop we thrive in our context even if the world may not understand it. This is our story of healing." They're owning their journey, and we're here for it! 🎨

A watercolor illustration depicting a group of people sitting around a wooden table in a room with blue walls. They appear to be engaged in a meeting or discussion, with some participants wearing blue uniforms. The group is diverse, including both men and women, and papers or documents are spread on the table, suggesting a collaborative working session or planning meeting.

🧵 4/7 Think former adversaries becoming allies: Young people & police officers who once feared each other now sharing stories of pain & hope.

These transformations aren't just heartwarming - healing makes peace possible. ✨

A watercolor illustration showing a group of young people sitting in a circle at what appears to be a trauma rehab center. The illustration depicts four young people engaged in conversation, with diverse hairstyles and clothing. There's a decorative plant in the background and a sign indicating it's a rehab center. The setting appears to be informal and supportive, suggesting a group therapy or peer support session.

🧵 3/7 Our secret sauce? Community-led healing. No outside experts swooping in with solutions. Instead, we're a network OF the community, blending healing for our modern afflictions (loneliness, addictions, injustice) with traditional African wisdom.

That's where the real work happens! 🤝

A watercolor illustration showing a person lying in bed having a nightmare, depicted by a dark blue background and a thought bubble above their head. In the thought bubble, there are images of people lying on the ground with traditional African huts in the background and what appears to be an explosion or fire. A small skull symbol appears near the sleeping person, suggesting dark or troubling thoughts.

🧵 2/7 When we started 16 years ago, we saw clearly: trauma & unhealed wounds were fueling cycles of violence. Yet traditional peacebuilding kept missing these deeper scars.

We knew we had to dig deeper to create lasting change. 🌱

A bird's eye view photograph showing multiple hands of different skin tones arranged in a circle. The hands are interconnected by green yarn or string woven between them, creating a web-like pattern that connects all the hands together. The image symbolizes unity, connection, and collaboration across diversity.

🧵 1/7 Get to know @gsnafrica.bsky.social!

We're transforming #peacebuilding in Kenya 🇰🇪, Somalia 🇸🇴, South Sudan 🇸🇸, and Ethiopia 🇪🇹 through healing-centered approaches that go beyond traditional peacebuilding approaches.

Here's our story... 🌍

This image shows a collection of colorful sticky notes on what appears to be a wall or board, with a bold text overlay that reads "When you commit to co-design It NEVER stops". The sticky notes are in various colors including orange, blue, and green. One visible note reads "I am from Majango". In the top corner, there appears to be text that looks like "D-24". The image seems to be from a co-design workshop or collaborative session, emphasizing the continuous nature of the co-design process through both the sticky notes (which suggest active participation and iteration) and the overlaid message.

Young people at our Circle Keeper training last week: "We need new paintings that show us thriving in our informal settlement - we want to see ourselves in our environment!" 🎨

Reminder: True co-design is an ongoing journey, not a destination. It never really ends - and that's the beauty of it. 🌱

We must lead the world or be damned To get us from the back of the global bus to its steering wheel, pan-Africanism needs to be internationalist too.

It’s easy to be sceptical of pan-Africanism. The notion that Africa isn’t just a geographical space but a metaphysical entity whose population, though genetically the most diverse on earth, shares culture, heritage and a common fate, can seem dubious. But, the idea is bred of necessity not genetics.