Kibabii University’s Center for Creative, Performing Arts and Sports (CECPAS) is currently implementing the 2025 Martial Arts Open School Kenya Project. The martial arts training is geared towards empowering girls and women through martial arts for safety and gender-based violence prevention. The participants of this training are 200 pupils from St. Mary’s Kibabii Girls Primary school. The Project which officially kicked off on 4th June 2025 is funded by the International Center of Martial Arts for Youth Development (ICM) under the auspices of UNESCO will run for a period of 3 months with the training taking place at the Kibabii University Sports Gymnasium.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Director (CECPAS) Dr. Edwin Masibo who is also the project head together with Dr. Patrick Owoche thanked the Korean government through International Center of Martial Arts (ICM- UNESCO), Kibabii University Management and St. Mary’s Kibabii Girls Primary School administration for supporting this initiative. Available data in Kenya has shown that cases of gender-based violence have been on the increase. This initiative is meant to train young girls on among other things, discipline, ways of avoiding situations that would expose them to conflicts, how to address instances of bullying in schools and at home, how to de-escalate tensed environments that would fuel bullying and gender-based violence, how to handle victims of gender-based violence, how to protect themselves from conflicts and how to defend themselves if and when the need arises.
The 200 pupils as per the project requirements will be taken through martial arts training in Taekwondo, Karate, and Boxing and also through global citizenship learning. The coaches for this project will be Coach Tom Amwanzo, a Physical Education trainer and a martial arts coach with a bias in Boxing, Olympian Faith Ogallo who has a Taekwondo Degree Black Belt, Coach Samuel Simiyu who has a Sandan in Karate, Ms. Rose Wakasa Mayeku, Bungoma County Chief Community Social Development/ Partners liaison Gender, Culture, Youth and sports and Mr. Erick Ochieng, Bungoma County programs officer, Basic Needs Rights Kenya.
