The Mobilising Support training brought together 24 individuals from organizations across the coastal region with the hope that the training would positively influence the causes they fight for. The organizations that were represented work in various focus areas ranging from health, to orphaned and vulnerable children, education, land and environment among others.

Change the Game Academy in collaboration with the Kenya Community Development has so far trained over 80 organizations in Mobilising Support in four phases since 2015. The training in Kwale was a follow up session on the first training of the current phase whereby participants were assigned mentors at the tail-end of the session. “Having a mentor to guide you from the beginning has been very helpful in our Mobilising Support initiatives. His visits motivate us to do better and challenges us to do more,” said Bakari Chitsama from Mukembau CBO in Kwale County.

During the three-day training, the participants were taken through messaging, laws and legal standards in Mobilising Support and how to develop well-articulated messages. It was also an opportunity for them to increase understanding on key elements of running their Mobilising Support initiatives while improving on their action plans. It also served as a refresher and reminder to the organizations that lobbying and advocacy is not a one-off activity.

The training offered an opportunity for the participants to share their experiences and learn from one another and thus adding value to the work they do and the people they work for. “The exercises I have participated in during the training have given me the courage to speak in front of a group of people,” said Lucy Pambe from CHPF, Kilifi.

Many of them admitted that engaging stakeholders – something they perfected after the previous Mobilising Support courses – enables them deliver better results. Some were happy to report that after the previous training, they proceeded to practice stakeholder-mapping which in essence is the finding of like-minded partners to advance their work. “After the first training we went ahead to mobilise stakeholders who could support our agenda and presented our issue to them,” said Emmanuel Jilo from Meda, Kilifi.

The course has enabled many organisations in the country to acquire knowledge and skills in how to conduct lobbying and advocacy. “Solving issues by using the Mobilising Support approach means that our attitude to issues has tremendously improved. We are pushing policies in the county government but also ensuring that those presently available are implemented,” said Samuel Tsuma from Tenda Pamoja in Kwale county.