About S.A.F.E Kenya

Our vision

The three marginalised communities S.A.F.E.’s work will have the tools to create and impliment solutions to their most pressing problems.

Our mission

To create and distribute powerful stories about complex, taboo and sensitive issues to allow for health, gender and environmental justice to take hold.

Our story

S.A.F.E. started working in Mombasa in 2002, using high quality theatre to provide education about HIV by breaking down the myths, stigmas and misinformation stopping prevention, treatment and care from taking hold. The performance’s success in generating dialogue around this difficult subject led to the creation of the NGO, and from there S.A.F.E.’s expansion into new regions and new subject matters. We have since worked in informal settlements in Nairobi, remote communities in Narok County, with a focus on the Loita Hills, and the Westgate Conservancy, Samburu. Our project areas have included Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), environmental resilience, the abandonment of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) and the promotion of peace and Kenyan identities together with the challenging of extremist narratives. 

Vulnerability to climate change affected each programme area in all of these very different communities. People’s lives and livelihoods were increasingly at risk due to extended periods of drought, lacking access to basic resources such as good and drinking water. Trying to engage people in discussions around the elimination of gender based violence and alternative conflict resolution strategies became impossible when the communities were at an acute risk of starvation and displacement from their ancestral lands. 

Gender inequality and the discrimination of specific groups (such as people living with HIV, people living with disabilities, youths) hinders community unity, and a collective, coordinated response, towards common challenges. Women’s limited access to education, sexual health services, safety from GBV as well as exclusion from decision making processes enhances their vulnerability. 

Witnessing this on the ground and from community feedback, we have re-defined our programmatic activities to focus on climate change adaptation, breaking down health taboo’s, and women’s empowerment. 

The use of participatory theatre generating community led solutions and partnerships with local CBOs and health centres, ensuring linkages and long-term support, are key to this work.

Our Approach

1. Democratization of Knowledge: At the core of each project is a high-quality performance, either in the form of a film or theatre production. This is created by script writers and actors from the community, based on the lived experiences of the target population. These stories, infused with education and conveyed through humour and world-class performance, inspire communities to find solutions to their challenges. All follow-up project activities (workshops, trainings and dialogue forums) are then based on these “crowd-sourced” solutions.

2. Two-Way Storytelling: Marginalized communities, particularly indigenous groups, often lack access to access to decision making spaces. S.A.F.E.’s stories from the grassroots reach those in power, ensuring representation and meaningful inclusion.

3. Intersectionality: A foundational principle of S.A.F.E.’s work is the recognition that health challenges are shaped by multiple, interconnected factors. Our storytelling weaves together social, cultural, economic, and climate-related drivers of women’s health issues. We also collaborate with a diverse range of partners—including health organizations, policymakers, and government agencies—to create intersectional, cross-sectoral responses that address these challenges comprehensively.