- More than 60,000 women have been trained on contraceptive methods of their choice, with 40,000 of them opting for three to five years planning methods.
- Lucy Musyoka, from Kitui county, says religion is a major setback to family planning but it's a war they are determined to win.
Image: KNA
A CBO has come up with an innovative way of reaching pastoralists in remote areas of Northern Kenya to preach on family planning—using camels.
Communities Health Africa Trust uses camels to access impassable roads in the northern parts of Kenya to train women about family planning methods and economic sustainability.
Their aim is to reduce teenage pregnancy and poverty.
They also use boats in far-flung areas of Nyanza
More than 60,000 women have been trained on contraceptive methods of their choice, with 40,000 of them opting for three to five years planning methods.
However, the journey hasn’t been a walk in the park since some pastoralist communities are opposed to modern family planning methods, says Madina Dima from Isiolo county.
“As a Muslim community, we are not familiar with family planning. Men are the ones who decide how many kids to have, and due to that, some children die because of hunger since they are many,” she says.
Dima says that for the longest time, men have been the key decisionmakers in the family, leaving women with no say in the use of family planning methods.
This led to an increase in poverty, teenage pregnancy and early marriage, she says.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics 2022 Demographic and Health Survey, Marsabit, Tana River, West Pokot, Samburu, Siaya and Isiolo have the highest unmet family planning need.
In Nyanza, says Emily Aoko, women and young girls trade sex for fish along Lake Victoria, which contributes to an increase in sexual transmitted diseases.
CHAT say they have been able to tame the menace by sensitising residents on the need to use contraceptives and seek alternative sources of livelihood to kick out poverty.
Aoko, who is now a community health volunteer in Homa Bay county, Nyanza, says in the early days, ignorance was rife and she could not speak about family planning methods publicly.
“I thank God people are now embracing the changes. They even prefer long-term methods of family planning,” she says.
Lucy Musyoka, from Kitui county, says religion is a major setback to family planning but it's a war they are determined to win.
Musyoka, a community health volunteer in Mwingi North, urges people to shun traditional family planning methods for prosperity.
She trains people on SGBV advocacy and links women with the nearest health facilities to access family planning services.
She appeals for adequate supply of contraceptives from the government.
CHAT programme manager Rose Kimanzi says they use camel, boat and backpack mobile clinics to visit families in need of family planning services.
She spoke in Nanyuki, Laikipia county, during a sensitisation forum that brought together women from 29 counties in Western, Central, Northern and Eastern.
Laikipia East assistant county commissioner Kimberley Champagne says the government is committed to working with key stakeholders on ending early teenage pregnancies.
“We have been able to equip them with policy skills about SGBV, risk factors and have community leaders who can play a role in making sure that SGBV cases don’t go unreported,” she says.
She urges SGBV victims not to shy away from reporting assault, saying the government would take stern action against the culprits.
Champagne further urges Laikipia residents to take advantage of Policare, a one-stop shop for SGBV survivors, saying the facility has doctors, therapists and judiciary officers to support the victims.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya