Interview with Professor Esther Mombo

The start and planning of the SERENE project has been greatly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have had to postpone the first project workshop, that was supposed to take place in May 2020, and we don’t know when we will be able to reschedule it. An important part of the first workshop was for project partners to meet, get to know each other, and learn about each other’s work. As an alternative way to address that aim, we have planned a series of short interviews. This is the eighth interview, with Professor Esther Mombo from St Paul's University in Limuru, Kenya.

Could you please briefly introduce yourself and your work?

I am an Associate Professor at St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya, in the Faculty of Theology. I spent most of my earlier years in the administration of the university moving it from a theological college to a fully-fledged private ecumenical university.  First I served as the Academic Dean and then as Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic.

My teaching and research interests span the fields of church history, with a focus on mission history, interfaith relations,  African women’s theologies, gender, sexuality and  HIV and AIDS. I obtained my PhD from Edinburgh University in Church History and my study was on Quaker women in Western Kenya. The historical study was also interrogating patriarchy in a movement that claimed to have given space for both men and women to experience God directly without priests.  The study concluded that while the Quaker movement may have had a radical spirituality in the beginning, when it became established in western Kenya it was along the lines of American patriarchy, African patriarchy and colonial patriarchy. The women in the movement like women in other mission organisations were relegated to the private sphere with serving roles.  This study provided me with the space to question patriarchy in religious organisations and to approach both my administration and teaching roles from the perspectives of those groups that are in the margins of church and society.

While connected to the universities of St. Paul’s, Dublin and Edinburgh, I have has directed and examined postgraduate students in research, most of whom are serving the church and academia. I have been engaged in mentoring students in theological education and church ministry. I have specifically focused on mentoring female students, because they are the most marginalised in theological education and in church leadership.

I have specifically focused on mentoring female students, because they are the most marginalised in theological education and in church leadership.

In 2007 I was given a honorary doctorate by Virginia theological seminary in recognition of my work in bringing to the fore issues of gender disparities and gender justice in church and society. My publications include the edited book, “If you have no voice just sing: Narratives of women in search of accessing Education and service in church and society”.  I have served  in several ecumenical committees including the Commission of Education and Ecumenical formation of the World Council of Churches, and as adviser of Education for the All Africa Conference of Churches.

St. Paul’s university has been a wonderful space for me to work with and for those in the margins of society. As an old institution founded in the context of the abolition of slavery, it was a vocational centre to help those whom slavery had destroyed to gain their life back. Through training of different skills and theological education the first students of St. Paul’s became the first church leaders in the region. In 2003 the institution celebrated 100 years of existence and was on the road to diversifying its courses to become a university.  Among the milestones of the institution at the millennium was to introduce courses that were uncommon at the time for theological institutions, such as "Islam and Christian Muslim relations", and "A Christian response to HIV and AIDS".

How do your work and interests relate do the focus of SERENE on engaging religious leaders on issues of LGBTI inclusion in East Africa?

The issues of LGBTI have been part of my work as long as I have been a faculty member at St Paul's. My engagement with religious leaders is at several levels but these two are worth mentioning. First at training levels my faculty is a training ground for those who go into religious work and become senior religious leaders. As well as training, I am a Christian myself - I attend church and work with and for the church. I run workshops on different topics and research and share my findings. The LGBTI issues are part of the research and teaching that I do and have done for a long time. The HIV pandemic brought with it challenges of theological curricular and as early as 2000, I began teaching courses on gender, sexuality and HIV. Out of these courses LGBTI questions arose and I had to begin dealing with the issues as they came. This was through creating safe spaces for sharing information and for responding to questions that arose. The questions varied from all areas including culture, scripture. The work of SERENE comes at a time when the situation is open for discussions here in Kenya, and it will add to the ongoing work.

The HIV pandemic brought with it challenges of theological curricular and as early as 2000, I began teaching courses on gender, sexuality and HIV. Out of these courses LGBTI questions arose.

Personally I have been engaged with several groups and people on the LGBTI issues at the level of training. Work with PEMA Kenya has been ongoing at training and research levels. The project to mention is the review of the Facing Our Fears curriculum.  Facing Our Fears is a manualised, four-day training aimed at promoting understanding and tolerance for sexual and gender minorities among Kenyan religious leaders. The manual for the training was initially developed in 2011 through a consultative process, involving twelve religious leaders. Since its inception, trainings have been conducted by academics and trained religious leaders via the staff of PEMA Kenya.

In the last year I led a team of researchers to evaluate the programme and to see how effective the trainings have been. This research sought to assess the impact of “Facing Our Fears curriculum for religious leader on gender and sexual minorities” in promoting understanding and tolerance for sexual and gender minorities among Kenyan religious leaders. The research was based at St. Paul’s and the religious leaders were drawn from different religious groups in Kenya.

The other project that has been hosted by my institution was on identifying religion’s impact on HIV service provision with stigmatised groups. This research sought to assess the influence of religion on HIV prevention, treatment, and support program for four distinct groups: men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and mature minors. These four groups have been identified as “key populations” in the global efforts to treat people living with HIV and reduce HIV incidence and prevalence because these groups have high prevalence rates and because social, religious, legal, and political forces in many parts of the globe contribute to barriers to HIV prevention and treatment for these groups. To understand the influence of religion on these key populations, we will conduct research using qualitative methods including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with members of these key populations and faith-based organisations.

How have you and your university been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and how do you try to continue your work?

The institution has been a ghost town for the last seven weeks. We have been working from home and holding meetings via Zoom. The university has embarked on training us staff to teach virtually as we plan to open for the third term in May. All our daily prayers are done virtually especially for staff. Personally I have felt like a prisoner in my own home. Some online learning for children and the university ones had to take exams virtually. Each day I have had to listen to the updates on the virus and had to reflect on what the numbers meant. I recently wrote down my reflections for an article published on the COVID-19 website of the Interfaith Health Program. As a university we have to learn through the pandemic and hope that it will be contained and we adjust to the new normal.

What do you hope to get out of the SERENE project, once this pandemic is over?

That SERENE will create a space for learning, creating knowledge. Space for mentorship. a space to encourage lobbying, advocacy for the sexual and gender minorities; a space of growth for all; a space for networking across disciplines in academia and in life in general; a space to generate ideas for growth across class, religious, economic and social spheres. a model space for learning. I hope that the SERENE project will be a catalyst to create synergies and to provide more support for research and sharing of information which can be used for further training and lobbying and advocacy.