March 28th

FF-WPR spoke with Flora Egoki Terah. She is a mother, activist, and author of “They Never Killed My Spirit, Although They Murdered My Only Child.” Flora is a survivor of gender-based electorial violence while attempting to run for Parliament in the contentious 2007 Kenyan elections. A few months later, following her gruesome attack from which she sustained major injuries, Flora was yet again devastated as her 19 year old son,- a promising athlete, was beaten and then murdered by thugs as retaliation against her. Flora, in one of the most moving interviews we have done on our show, talked about her struggle to get women involved in government, her community development work and her efforts to prevent the spread of the AIDS epidemic. She chronicles her work and her personal struggles in her book, which she hopes to re-write with greater detail. In Kenya, Flora noted women are supposed to be seen not heard and are under the sway of patriarchal traditions embedded in the constitution and as such are grossly under-represented in governing bodies. Flora is now residing in Toronto and works with the Committee for Multi-Party Democracy. She is founder of Terah Against Terror; a group that works to empower women survivors of violence and create income generating opportunities for them. Additionally, the organization works with youth and encourages peaceful solutions and constructive community development initiatives. Flora pointed out that much of the post-election violence in Kenya was instigated by greedy politicians who were successful in pitting youth against youth. Flora is available to speak and share her story and experiences. She sells copies of her book for a donation of $10 which goes to Terah Against Terror. She recently returned to Kenya to participate in the constitutional reform process, but was forced to return to Canada due to great risk to her life. Flora has a Facebook group: Join Terah Fight Terror. and Visit, xterror.org. for more information including links to other media appearances and speaking engagements.

We also talked about the trial of Angela Davis. We will continue this conversation on our next show.