By Claudia Mende 

WHEN Dekha Ibrahim Abdi enters the gym of Salvator Girls' School in Munich, silence falls. The 16-year-old girls in the audience are immediately hushed by her presence. A green headscarf frames her face, with a matching dress down to her feet. Her dark brown eyes radiate calm and decisiveness.

She has come to Munich to talk about her work as a peacemaker on the invitation of the Nord Süd Forum. Her message is simple: people can solve conflicts, even if they sometimes appear hopeless.

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi steps up to the microphone and talks in a clear voice, explaining how she uses simple methods to mediate between people who might otherwise take up arms in their anger and desperation.

Abdi knows all too well what violence is. She was born in the Wajir District in northeast Kenya, on the border with Somalia, and is an ethnic Somali. Women traditionally have a strong position in Somalia's nomadic society. "In this inhospitable area, women have always helped support their families", Abdi explains.

Wajir District is not a peaceful area. It was in a state of emergency until 1990 while Somali rebels fought to make the province part of Somalia. The Kenyan government forced the population into guarded villages and there were a number of armed conflicts between rival clans. Even today, the bitterly poor area is rife with conflicts over watering places, cattle theft and family feuds.

Abdi became a teacher at a girls' school and discovered that children were sometimes even killed on their way to school. When her first daughter was born in 1991, she decided to do something to stop the violence. "I will never forget what my mother said to me then", she says, "When you were born I had to protect you, and now you have to fear for your own daughter too. Will it never end?"

Along with three local women, Abdi began discussing the problems in the district. Arguments at the market, problems at the school, fights between families – no conflict was too small. The women brought rival parties together, they argued, fought, shouted, talked for hours on end – and managed to reduce many of the problems to a humane level. "People have to be able to vent their rage and anger before they can reach an agreement", says Abdi. That was the beginning of her career as a mediator and peacemaker.

The women negotiate with clan elders, authorities, influential business people and politicians.

"It is relatively easy to gain recognition from religious leaders and clan elders", she smiles, adding: "I accept their rules. Then they forget I'm a woman and see me purely in my function."

It is more difficult with business people and politicians, she says. "They are not interested in the common good. If you interfere with their interests they can get in your way." Her work calls for limitless patience and great inner strength. "You must never judge people. Otherwise you can't do the job."

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi now lives in the port town of Mombasa with her husband and their four children. She works as an advisor to aid organisations, but her mission is still solving conflicts. Her work is acknowledged by the Kenyan government when in 2006 she was asked to mediate in the Rift Valley province, for which she was awarded the alternative Nobel Prize in 2007.

Her model is also used to deal with conflicts outside of Kenya, in Somalia and Ethiopia. A former fellow student of hers, Mohammed Suleman, is working with her concept of dialogue forums in the Afghan Kunduz region.

In January 2008, riots broke out after the Kenyan presidential election.

The incumbent president Mwai Kibaki had declared himself the victor on the polling evening, raising public suspicion. The challenger, Raile Odinga, also claimed to have won and conflict erupted along ethnic lines.

This was the first time Abdi had been called for on the national level.

She spent four months setting up dialogue forums in three districts of Nairobi, where people came together to discuss urgent problems: burnt-out houses, looting, empty shops. The rioting in Kenya cost 1300 lives, making 350,000 people refugees.

The opposition leader Odinga was given a share of power on 28 February, calming the situation.

Abdi, her husband and her brother went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in September. "After all that hard work, I was exhausted and urgently needed to recharge my batteries", she says. She relies on prayer for strength in her everyday life as well. "You can only make peace if you are at peace with yourself", she stresses. And when Abdi is tired out by her tough job, she goes swimming in the Indian Ocean. "I give up all my stress to the sea. Then I can get back to work."

• Claudia Mende is a regular contributor to the online German publication Qantara.de. This article, translated from German, is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).