Kenyan Changemaker and Dancer Moesha Kibibi

When Moesha Kibibi was a young teen growing up in the slums in Kenya, she was kicked out of her Muslim household because her family frowned upon her passion for dance. At first, she lived on the streets and sold groundnuts to support herself. Over time, Kibibi was able to rent a small, 10-by-10 room where she took in and provided shelter to other young girls living on the street.

Life in the Kenyan Majengo slums was anything but easy for the young women sharing Kibibi’s tiny room. They had to overcome the challenges of poverty, sexual violence, and, in some cases, single parenthood as teens. But Kibibi continued to dance, and it was dance that eventually provided an avenue for a better life.

As she won dance competitions and rose to fame as a member of one of Kenya’s most popular dance troupes, FBI, she continued to mentor and help other young girls. “I bought them food, clothes, and sanitary towels and even tried contributing to their rent with the little money I had,” said Kibibi. Eventually, she formalized her efforts by forming the Divas Power Initiative. “The word Diva means to be a beautiful, strong, ambitious woman,” said Kibibi in an email interview during her recent visit to San Francisco. “I wanted to be an example and show these girls that they can make it no matter what.” Currently, the Divas Power Initiative is supporting around 3,000 girls across Kenya.

As part of her mentoring, Kibibi has been able to help many young girls start and graduate from school. Some of the girls Moesha has supported through the initiative have even been able to travel to the United States to pursue higher degrees of education. Kibibi has also been able to help the young mothers she mentors to open up small businesses using the money she has made from dance. When asked what her 15-year-old-self would think of the work she is doing today, Moesha Kibibi thinks her younger version would be “super proud” and “amazed” of everything she has been able to accomplish and of all the young girls she has been able to help. “The hardships and situations I went through at a young age made me who I am today,” says Kibibi. “And that’s how I realized that because of my experiences and my perseverance, I can be the reason of change.”

Thank you, Moesha!

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