BOLD WOMAN: Changing lives through online journalism

Winnie Kabintie during an exhibition at the Junction Mall. PHOTO| MARION MAINA

What you need to know:

  • I hate being helpless, that state of not being able  to do anything after someone violates you either because you are weak or you simply have no idea where to turn to for help.
  • This is what led me to the path I am on now, I wanted to be that helping hand for the helpless.

Winnie Kabintie did not set out to be a social activist. The opportunity just opened up in the course of her work as an online journalist. 

“I kept coming across these touching stories that depicted the social injustices being faced by everyday Kenyans and I just couldn’t stop at writing the stories.

I decided to go beyond duty and follow up especially on victims of gender-based violence.

Where I could, I used my connections to get the victims the assistance they needed be it medical treatment, counselling or just a listening ear,” she narrates.

In July 2018, a story broke the internet about girls in Majengo slum who were forced to trade their bodies in order to get money to purchase sanitary towels.

When Winnie caught wind of the story, it broke her heart as she wondered how many more young girls were suffering similar ordeals silently.

OPENED HER EYES

The story opened her eyes to extremes of poverty and how most of its victims have platform to express themselves.

This inspired her to create a YouTube channel called “ #VoiceIt with Winnie Kabintie” whose core agenda is to empower  people, particularly the youth, to voice the issues they are facing and become active citizens. 

“I hate being helpless, that state of not being able  to do anything after someone violates you either because you are weak or you simply have no idea where to turn to for help.  This is what led me to the path I am on now, I wanted to be that helping hand for the helpless.”

In addition to her online platform, Winnie has also come up with an immediate intervention for girls and young women in underprivileged communities where she provides them with free sanitary towels under her campaign dubbed “Just a pad.” 

Through this initiative, Winnie has had an opportunity to partner with well-wishers and even policy makers to not only donate pads to the girls but also offer hope and mentorship.

“I am grateful for the people who have come on board every once in a while to help me with community donations. Others have gone an extra mile such as the Deliverance Church in Eastleigh that is rehabilitating the girls just to reassure them that despite what they have gone through, they still have a future and the potential to be great. “

Winnie says that she hopes to have more partners in the days to come because she has her work cut out, there are so many communities that need to be empowered. Meanwhile, she is soldering on, fuelled by sheer passion and the dream of seeing   empowered citizens and a better country.