Beyond Limits

I sat on my bed—it was day three, and I hadn’t slept at all. The exhaustion was overwhelming, but my mind refused to rest. Desperate, I confided in my pastor’s wife about my sleepless nights. Concerned, she took me to find some sleeping medication.   Despite all I had accomplished, I was battling intense panic attacks. I had completed a three-month African Leadership Training in South Africa, received an opportunity to attend a Coaching Bootcamp in London, and had just been accepted into the Women in Leadership Program at St. Xavier University COADY Institute in Canada. Though COVID-19 shifted it to online learning, it was still a significant milestone.   Yet, in the midst of these achievements, I was unraveling. The anxiety, the panic, the sleepless nights—I didn’t understand what was happening to me. Only later did I realise that I was dealing with PTSD, a silent weight carried by many who have experienced imprisonment.  The Hidden Impact of Imprisonment. The effects of...

I remember vividly that Friday morning in May 2015. My aunt and cousin came to pick me up from Kiambu Law Courts—I had just been released. The moment was surreal. The weight of  the last six months behind bars and about two years navigating the court system lifted as I stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air. It felt like the world had shifted, and I whispered to my cousin, " This is like a dream ." She turned to me and said, " It’s not a dream, it’s real. You are free."   I went home, and the rest, as they say, is history. But what no one tells you is that freedom is not just about walking out of those prison gates—it’s about what happens next. Reintegration is one of the hardest things anyone can face after imprisonment. The world moves on, people change, and if you don’t have the right support, it’s easy to feel lost. But reintegration is possible. It’s a journey, not a destination, and with the right steps, you can rebuild your life.   Here are six  things ...

Before colonial rule, African societies had well-established and effective systems for addressing social issues, including crime and mental health challenges. These systems were deeply rooted in principles of restorative justice, emphasizing reconciliation, restitution, and the reintegration of offenders into the community, rather than punitive measures that alienated individuals. In Kenya, different ethnic communities had sophisticated mechanisms for resolving disputes and maintaining social harmony. Among the Agikuyu, disputes were handled by a council of elders known as the Kiama. In cases of serious offenses, such as murder, the offender’s family was required to pay restitution (murume) to the victim’s family, often in livestock or other valuables. This ensured justice while preserving relationships. Cleansing rituals were also performed to restore peace and reintegrate the offender into the community. The Luo community employed a similar system, where elders mediated conflicts, ...