When Everlyn Prech speaks about her work, her voice carries a mix of gentleness and resolve, the sound of someone who has seen pain up close but refuses to let it define her.
As the eldest of eight daughters in West Pokot, Everlyn grew up witnessing the harm caused by female genital mutilation and early marriage.
“I founded the Center for Indigenous Child Rights out of necessity,” she said. “I wanted to protect girls and women from cultural practices that robbed them of choice and dignity. I vowed to break the cycle.”
Her activism, however, has come at a price. “I’ve been called a troublemaker, an opposer of culture,” she told Defenders Coalition. “I’ve faced harassment, intimidation, and ridicule. Even my family asked me to stop. By 2016, I was tired. I almost gave up.”
That turning point came when she joined the Human Rights Defenders Academy. “The HRD Academy changed my experience for the better,” she said. “It wasn’t just training; it was healing.” Through lessons on digital and physical security, psychosocial support, and self-care, Everlyn found new strength.
“Listening to other defenders share their stories reminded me that my struggles were not mine alone,” she explained. “I left the academy re-energized and ready to continue.”
Today, Everlyn leads her work with renewed clarity. She is cautious about her safety, online, physically, and emotionally, but her focus has expanded beyond herself. “I now mentor upcoming HRDs in my community,” she said. “The knowledge I gained is not for me alone. It’s for everyone who dares to speak up.”
Everlyn believes the HRD Academy did more than equip her with tools; it restored her faith in the power of solidarity. “
Because of the academy,” she said, “I found the strength to keep defending human rights, even when it feels like the world is against me.”