Hazel Ong'ayo Ayanga is a Kenyan theologian whose work focuses on the care and empowerment of orphans,vulnerable children and women affected by HIV/AIDS. She is an associate professor of Religious Studies at Moi University,Kenya and also researches spirituality in clinical settings,religion and change in Africa and the centrality of ritual in human life. She has published over twenty peer-reviewed articles and coauthored several book chapters and edited volumes.
Hazel Ayanga was born on 10 January 1952 to John Ayanga and the late Rita Ayanga,at the village of Luanda,in Vihiga County,Kenya. [1] She is a member of the Anglican Church of Kenya. [2]
Ayanga earned Bachelor's and Master's of Arts degrees from the University of Nairobi,Kenya and attained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Religious Studies at Moi University. Her post-doctoral studies were at Yale University. [3] Her areas of research are on the care and empowerment of orphans,vulnerable children and women affected by HIV and AIDS,spirituality in clinical settings,religion and change in Africa and the centrality of ritual in human life. [4]
Ayanga started her career as a senior librarian at Kenya National Library Services in Nairobi from 1975 to 1983 and later joined Kenyatta University as an assistant librarian in 1987. She was employed by Moi University in 1989 as a tutorial fellow in the department of philosophy,religion and theology and rose through the ranks to become an associate professor of religious studies in the same department and has taught many courses at the university such as:Religion and Society,Phenomenology of Religion and History of Christian Doctrine,among others. [5] She was the head of the department of Philosophy,Religion and Theology,Moi University between 2003 and 2005 and the East African regional representative for the African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR). [6] She has also been an external examiner at several universities among them;the University of Nairobi (2004 to 2005),Kenyatta University (2010 to 2013) and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology,Kenya (2020 to date). She served as the coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (the Circle),East African Region from 2007 to 2019. [5]
Ayanga was awarded a Research Fellowship (African Christianity project) by the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World (currently The Centre for the Study of World Christianity),School of Divinity,University of Edinburgh in 1996. She won a Course Competition Award from the Centre for Theology and Natural Sciences (CTNS) in Berkeley,California in 2003 and the Indiana University Health and Values grant in 2019. [3]
Ayanga's research and writing span religion,culture and social change emphasizing social issues like gender,poverty,HIV/AIDS,marginalization and empowerment of the vulnerable women and children. For instance,in her article titled "Voice of the voiceless:The legacy of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians," she considers the legacy of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians as being the voice of the voiceless women in Africa. [7] In this article,she argues that the Circle voices (figuratively and literally) women's issues through research and publications and by providing safe spaces for women to be themselves and to share their stories thus creating reconstructive and transformative theologies. Telling stories gives voice to women's lived experiences and makes women,their lives and experiences audible and visible. [7] She shows how the Circle,through research and publications,created awareness of the woman's face of HIV/AIDS in Africa where women are victims of negative cultural and religious beliefs and remain vulnerable and susceptible to HIV infections. [7]
She also wrote on "AIDS,Science and Religion in Africa" where she views HIV/AIDS as not just a medical problem in Africa,but also a socio-economic,psychological,cultural and spiritual problem since the menace is associated with intersectional factors such as gender disparity,poverty,attitudes towards those infected and affected,beliefs and cultural practices which influence the management of the disease in the continent. [8] AIDS in Africa must therefore be understood within the context of African cultural beliefs which are often understood and transmitted through religious teachings and ritual practices of the community with women and children being the most vulnerable to HIV infections. She called for a holistic approach in the management of AIDS where religion and science work together. [8] Together with other African women theologians like Teresia Mbari Hinga,Philomena Njeri Mwaura and Anne Kubai,among others,Ayanga implored on religious communities to address stigmatization of women infected and affected by AIDS and encouraged these institutions to empower women and girls. [9]
Ayanga further advocated for the role of women in church and society and the need for contextual approach to the concerns of African women in the church. In her article titled,"Contextual Challenges to African Women in Mission," she emphasizes the pivotal role of women in the propagation of the gospel and calls for the recognition of women in mission and missiology. [10] Whereas she problematizes the poor contextualization of the missiological context and environment by the early missionaries to Africa,she acknowledges that these early missionaries and others from different parts of the globe,"recognized that reaching women and improving their status would lead to the transformation of whole communities. This is the basis of all Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians Activities:the recognition of the centrality of women in church and society." [10] She encourages women to be at the forefront in finding and formulating appropriate theological responses to the contextual challenges they encounter and advocates for the training of women in theology and other academic disciplines in Africa. [10]
Moi University is a public university located in Kesses,Eldoret town,Uasin Gishu county,in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It was established in 1984 by the Moi University Act of the Parliament of Kenya,after recommendations from the McKay Commission.
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Jesse Ndwiga Kanyua Mugambi, is a professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of Nairobi with professional training in education and philosophy of religion.
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The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is a pan-African ecumenical organization that supports scholarly research of African women theologians. The Circle mentors the next generation of African women theologians throughout their academic careers in order to counter the dearth of academic theological literature by African women. The Circle has chapters in more than a dozen countries across the African continent,as well as diaspora chapters in Europe and North America.
Esther Moraa Mombo is a Kenyan Anglican female theologian and a full professor of theology in the school of theology at St. Paul's University,Limuru. She researches church history with a focus on mission history,interfaith relations and theology,and gender studies with a focus on African women's theologies,sexuality,and HIV/AIDS. She is the founder of the Tamar campaign in Kenya which acknowledges gender-based violence in society and empowers churches to address it. She is the founder member of Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians St. Paul’s chapter in Kenya.
Nyambura J. Njoroge is a Kenyan feminist Theologian and ecumenical leader. She was the first Kenyan woman ordained in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in 1982. She was the first African to work in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches from 1992 to 1998 when she joined the World Council of Churches. She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians and a member of the Kenyan chapter. She is a member of ANERELA+ . She co-edited Talitha Cum! Theologies of African Women,with Musa Dube. In 1992,she became the first African woman to earn a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. She was the first African woman to study a Bachelors Degree in Divinity at St.Pauls University,Limuru,Kenya.
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Philomena Njeri Mwaura is a Kenyan theologian and an Associate Professor Religious Studies at Kenyatta University,Kenya. She has published widely in the areas of African Christianity- History and Theology and New Religious Movements.
Sarojini Nadar is a South African theologian and biblical scholar who is the Desmond Tutu Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape.
Teresia Mbari Hinga was a Kenyan Christian feminist theologian and a professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University in California. She was a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
Fulata Lusungu Mbano Moyo is a Malawian systematic and feminist theologian who is an advocate for gender justice. Moyo has written over twenty-eight journal articles.
Mary Getui is a Kenyan theologian and professor of religious studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. In 2009,Getui was named a Moran of the Burning Spear. She was appointed as chair of the National Aids Control Council of Kenya that same year.
Hannah Wangeci Kinoti was a Kenyan African Feminist theologian and a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Kinoti was an African Ethicist and Religious Studies Scholar with over fifty publications. She was a founding member of Wajibu Journal,created in 1985,focusing on religion,African values,morality,politics and culture. Kinoti was the first female chairperson in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Nairobi.
Damaris Seleina Parsitau is a scholar of religion,a gender equality advocate,and feminist. She has published extensively on issues of religion,gender and society with a focus on Pentecostal Christianity. She is the first African Woman President of the African Association for the Study of Religion and its Diaspora (AASR) and the first African Woman Director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin University,in Grand Rapids,Michigan. She is also part of the community of social justice scholars and practitioners at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice.
Eunice Wanjiku Karanja Kamaara is a professor of religion at Moi University,Eldoret,Kenya. Her area of specialization is African Christian Ethics. She is an International Affiliate of Indiana University Purdue University,Indianapolis,Indiana,US. Wanjiku has authored over 100 publications. She is the founder and Director of African Character Initiation Program (ACIP),a program that facilitates adolescents to embrace their identities and African character values through information,life skills,and values training including on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Wanjiku is a Top 30 World Health Organization (WHO) Africa health innovator recognized for her work with young people in the African Character Initiation Program (ACIP). Her research and publications focus on holistic development and practice from socio-anthropological,ethical,gender,and social health perspectives.
Anne Nkirote Kubai is an associate professor of World Christianity and interreligious studies. She is a researcher at the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies,Södertörn University,Sweden. She researches on conflict and peace building,religion,genocide,transitional justice,sexual and gender-based violence and psychosocial studies. She is a professor extraordinarius at the Institute of Gender Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA).