Carolyn Olang, SheGenerators Perma Hub
Bringing Permaculture to the Feminine Masses in Kenya
Meet Carolyn Akinyi Olang-Onyango. Carolyn is a 55-year old community mobilizer, trainer, change agent, human rights activist and permaculture trainer living in Rongo, Kenya in Southwestern Kenya.
Since April 2022, Carolyn’s primary project has been the “SheGenerators Perma Hub” which she founded to empower women to grow kitchen gardens and food forests. The purpose of the Hub is to help women solve the problem of food insecurity and to aid in climate change adaptation. The Hub is currently an informal network of 130 women in Kendubay and Rongo who want to better their lives. Of these, she has trained 70 in permaculture and conducted 15 Train the Trainer (ToT) courses.
To date she has established two demo plots in different climatic zones in southern Nyanza (Nyanza is the name of the Southwestern region encompassing six counties). One is in Kendubay owned by her family and the other in Rongo that she owns independently.
Her vision is to set up a permaculture homestead and demonstration farm on the quarter acre site in Rongo. The demo site will also have a training hall with sleeping quarters and serve as a safe space for abused women to rest as they figure out their next move in life.
Genesis of the SheGenerators Movement
According to an article penned by Carolyn, edited by Jessica Perini and published on the Permaculture for Refugees website, Carolyn organized the SheGenerative movement in Kenya after noticing that very few women were attending Permaculture Design Certificate courses (PDCs). She felt that "this gospel of permaculture needs to be preached to every woman". SheGenerators is so named based on the positive connotation with the concept of generators.
The article goes on to say, in Carolyn's words, "It is the answer to the most basic human challenge which is food and nutrition security. There was a Damascus moment then and l decided l want to do a PDC with females only."
Carolyn got together with Wegesa Fraser and Alice Mwangi "who are gurus in their own right where matters of regeneration are concerned" and other incredible women soon joined the fold.
The PDC took place in Kendu Bay a semi-arid part of Nyanza in April 2022. Mamas converged at the venue some with children and a demo farm was born out of this initiative. Three weeks later a family that was spending $US3 almost daily was able to take care of their vegetable needs without buying food, and now they have so much excess, they share with their community.
Carolyn’s Origin Story
Carolyn has a human rights and economic empowerment background having worked with disadvantaged and vulnerable people in all the old slums of Nairobi. “This kind of made me a human rights crusader,” she says. “I worked for an organization called Jamii Bora Trust and we gave unsecured loans to street women. We used the Grameen Village Banking System founded by Mohammad Yunis. Believe you me it worked and former street women owned homes from our support.”
She was born and raised in Nairobi. But, later as regional manager for Jamii Bora Trust, she moved from Nairobi to Nyanza, Southwestern Kenya region. After the Trust was reorganized, she lost her job and found herself without an income. She went into interior decorating to earn a living without any training, putting her innate creativity to use.
Through encouragement from a new friend on Facebook – Australian Helen Stokes – Carolyn attended a Permaculture Design Course at Odienya Permaculture Institute. There were less than five women attending as new students and she was the only one who attended fully. “I was amazed that we were talking of this revolutionary approach to food production and women who are the star players in matters related to food” were underrepresented. “This is where l got the idea that women need to get this information and l embarked on my Permaculture training journey. l am still undergoing training as l also train others in addition to my other duties as a single mother.”
Women & Permaculture - Barriers & Opportunities
I asked Carolyn why there were so few women in the permaculture field in Kenya specifically. She answered there are three primary reasons: 1) lack of funding, 2) other life responsibilities and 3) barriers to land ownership.
Carolyn addresses the first barrier in her trainings: “I always offer fully paid up training for the women and they are encouraged to attend with their children if lack of childcare would keep them from attending.” Carolyn also explains that while women are farmers they don’t own land in Kenya so most times they can't make decisions concerning land use.
As a result, women are often only able to farm using using container gardening and small kitchen gardens. Carolyn’s mentor Alice Mwangi has another explanation for the prevalence of kitchen gardens amongst women and that is “they are close to the woman's heart and home because it serves as the engine that runs the kitchen and the kitchen runs the home.”
Carolyn is taking this engine and running with it herself, looking to launch a Hub that is both a learning and demonstration site as well as a safe space and shelter for women leaving abusive relationships.
Carolyn’s Vision for the SheGenerators Perma Hub
The Hub according to Carolyn is meant to be a focal point for the women permaculture trainers once they are fully trained. It will also serve as a physical community center to host gatherings and trainings for women, youth and children.
The Hub, she explains, is also all about proper land use. On the quarter acre in Rongo, she intends to put those values into practice. “We manage tiny spaces to cater for humans and not encroach on animals which is a big issue in Africa, specifically Kenya, and also to leave larger areas forested while managing our human activities within limited spaces… regeneratively.”
In this way, the Hub will be multi-purposed. Together with her “SheGenerator” colleagues, she plans to offer a range of activities like sewing, knitting, weaving, gardening, indoor games for youth like chess, Scrabble and also some outdoor games. There will also be a library to encourage a culture of reading amongst youth.
“For the children we are facing a lot of challenges from pre-teens and teen pregnancy and drug abuse,” she says. “Our aim (at the SheGenerators PermaHub) is to socialize the youth differently so they can learn to relate with the opposite genders positively. We also would like to have talented youth helped to realise their talents in music and art. This for them could also be a gateway out of poverty. As for the women, we would like to encourage them to engage in small cottage industries emanating from the Hub.”
The Hub is not yet built but plans are underway and Carolyn is seeking partners to help her transform her dream into reality.
In the meantime, she continues to make do with what she has, training women in permaculture and other skills “Right now we have a weaving class. l buy the raw materials and every person takes away the papyrus and weaves it in their own time at home. Then, we meet once a week to join the baskets.” The weaving class is not just about skill building and income generation, Carolyn explains. It’s also to discourage the use of single use plastic in local communities.
Carolyn also plans for the Hub to have a shelter as well with sleeping quarters for women who are escaping abusive situations to stay for at least two months and receive counseling. She says this dream for others comes from her own personal experience and therefore a deep empathy for other women going through the same situation. “I have suffered emotional abuse from a partner and a lot of women suffer this but are unable to do anything about it because they are solely reliant on the man for everything and the shame of being a divorcee.”
Combining sustainable agriculture, income generating activities, skill building, offering socializing opportunities, the Hub will be a nexus of nurture and growth for sure.
“We will grow our own food… at least most of it,” she says. “And gardening is good therapy. We will raise our funds from other well monied women who may at times need a get away with their children and are willing to come to us and pay for this.”
When She Is Not SheGenerating, She is Reading, Traveling, & Cooking
With these cameos I’m trying to make it more of a point to ask about hobbies and other interests outside of being a ChangeMaker. Carolyn indulged me with my question. Her hobbies are traveling, dancing, reading, and cooking.
Specifically, her favorite places to travel are Sweden and Botswana. “I loved that they are not overpopulated and the crime rate is low. The two cities - Stockholm and Gaberone - spoke to my heart. As did the Rwandese country side, the land of a thousand hills.”
Carolyn expounded on her love for reading, which we share! Without the luxury to purchase books, Carolyn reads what she can get her hands on, literally. “I read any thing I can lay my hands on. When I’m bored, I can even read ‘once-upon-a-time’ books.”
About the dancing, she enjoys Rhumba and can do a mean reggae, although she adds the rejoinder “during my time.” She still listens to and enjoys reggae music.
Cooking is also a passion. I asked her to share a traditional food. Sardines, omena (small freshwater fish from Lake Victoria) and apoth (or jute), oh my!
Omena Recipe
Take sun-dried omena, select and remove stones, shells, etc. Then put them on a slow cooking fire for four hours. When the soup is whitish, cut onions, grate tomatoes, and add salt to taste. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes, add milk, and simmer for another 20 minutes. “Finger licking delicious” she says, “just like Grandma made!”
Jute Recipe
Apoth (or jute) can be made with wandering jew plant, oxalis, pumpkin leaves, and cowpea leaves. Wash and cut the vegetables, bring water to a boil, add the vegetables, add previously soaked bala water (lime water) from Lake Simbi (wait Carolyn, how am I going to do that?!), stir occasionally, add salt, onions, tomatoes and let simmer for 30 minutes. Another cooking recipe from the ancients, she says. “No cooking oil but fingerlicking delicious!”
Who Inspires Carolyn?
Carolyne named Alice Wangui Mwangi as her inspiration and personal ChangeMaker. “She is my mentor and my teacher,” says Carolyn.
Where in the World is Carolyn?
Rongo is in the southwestern part of Kenya, near Homa Bay which we have featured before, and not far from Lake Victoria.
I have a lot of respect for Carolyn and the work she does, and envisage we will work together in the not-too-distant future
Great work done by Carolyn in her community! 👏🏾