“Maybe because I am a writer of sorts I have often been asked to address EAWL branch meetings at the end of their deliberations. At first I wondered why I should be so invited, but soon enough I sensed that the atmosphere of the gathering was so imbued with objectiveness that after two or three hours a respite was essential. At that point I was called in from a verandah or garden to say my piece.
And so I was reminded of the East African Standard’s leading article of March 15, 1917 subsequent to the inauguration of the East Africa Women’s League. Inter alia the editorial read:
“…. we are convinced that the organised
intelligence of women will render valuable assistance
to the solution to some of our most urgent
problems.”
That spirit of dedication has persevered over the seven decades of the life of the League and as I have noticed in various branches throughout the country, the continued application of the creed of 1917: the aim of working for improvement of conditions of life for women and children of all races is till the mainspring of the League.
Although sympathy is manifest, one rarely reads the word “sympathy in the records of the EAWL for members have built their record on pragmatism. They have been devoted to building a better world for women and children and this they have done and are still doing, at the same time creating social consciousness for the good of the country at large.
It is not my intention to enumerate the benefits brought to East Africa’s social life by the League. So many publications have related the history, an incredible and continuing story of achievement, certainly one of the most successful perpetrations of a single idea, one that brought people together in Nairobi 70 years ago.
The corporate body of the organisation spread like a giant cobweb throughout Kenya. At the intersection and at the hem of the web branches have worked for their own districts and contributed ideas and skills to headquarters. The affiliation crossed oceans and now there is hardly an English-speaking nation in the world that does not have EAWL connections.
The East Africa Women’s League has given character to Kenya and bears its credentials of repute as proudly as any equivalent organisation in the world.
And so, as I made my spiel at branch meetings, I realised that members had a better story than mine. Theirs needed no imagery. This “Once Upon A Time” started in 1917 and has continued, chapter by chapter, without respite in the endeavour that the people, particularly women and children of the land, shall live as far as possible ‘happily ever after.’”
(Edward Rodwell, Forward of “East Africa Women’s League: Seventy Years” 1987)
