BREAKING THE SILENCE ON TEEN PREGNANCIES.
Kaloleni constituency in Kilifi county is at the forefront addressing the often underlooked issue of why our girls become mothers at an age they ought to be in class. The numbers are rising countrywide. Statistics from Faith Action Network put childbearing in Kilifi at 25.7 percent of girls aged between 15-19. Luckily, there is an ongoing initiative that ensures the teen mothers obtain new skills and most importantly enroll back in school.
In Kenya, over 13,000 teenage girls drop out of school annually because of early pregnancy, that is according to data retrieved from the Kenya Data and Health Survey, 2014.
The past 26th November 2021 was a glorious occasion for teen mothers in Kaloleni constituency to receive motivation, mentorship, and much-required assistance as a beehive of activities took place at the NG-CDF office after NALSA(K) received sponsorship from ProudlyKenyan (an organization promoting its members through co-branding, savings, training, marketing, and organizing events and exhibitions.)
On-site Sanitary pads were issued, nutritional foodstuffs donated and skills imparted. The sanitary pads issuance was meant to help the girls offset costs as most of their resources obviously go towards fending for their newborn. We can all agree how nutritional health is important for both the mother and the child. Additionally, the teen mothers received training in soap making and baking skills as the skills will come in handy as an added source of income if at all they use the skills for income generation. This is a much-welcomed move as the costs of bringing up a child are high and worse for those mothers from low-income households. Collectively the mothers received a water tank was so they can set up a water selling business at the local market center.
Another problem of nationwide concern is that teen mothers fail to sit for their national final examinations and the trend goes on to affect the girl’s health, education, and opportunities in life. Recent media reports indicate that 449 girls fail to sit for their final examinations while others do so while in maternity wards. ‘’It is reported that the girls are mostly lured into relationships at a young age because of poverty.’ Said Prisca Munga in her speech. A lack of knowledge about sexual health and family planning overrides Kilifi county’s conservative culture. This has resulted in one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country at 22 percent, this is according to Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS,2014).
Just as the chair expressed in her speech read by the Kaloleni representative Thelma Katana, all this would not have been possible without the immense support received from our sponsor proudly Kenyan represented at the event by Tiffany Muema.
By Brian Anyanzwa.
Photographs by Julia Laval.