They might have failed to enrol for secondary education, but these girls' dreams were not shattered.
In fact, they are now "better off than they would have been if they had joined".
All thanks to Mombasa-based Wakesho Community Based Organisation, who impacted life skills knowledge on them.
The centre has received immense support from partners including the Kenya Coast Development Programme.
KCDP is hosted by the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute with the objective of promoting environmentally sustainable management of Kenya’s coastal and marine resources.
Wakesho was implemented under Livelihood Component, a subsector of KCDP headed by Dr Melckedeck Osore.
HOW IT WORKS
The CBO takes in needy girls whose parents cannot afford school fees but have done their KCPE, posting less "exemplary" results.
They focus on the vulnerable and those prone to abuse by either their immediate family members or third parties.
Minors already married off have been rescued and taken to the centre for training.
The CBO houses only 100 students per academic calendar due to limited facilities and space.
Wakesho rescinded their engagement with street children because they were "unmanageable".
Success stories of its graduands are encouraging and motivating.
On Saturday, the institution held its second graduation since its inception in 2005.
Fifty girls were honoured with Technical Certificate Grade 3 from the National Industrial Training Authority, which conducted the exams.
Courses ranged from, cake baking, tailoring, embroidering and bar soap making.
The CBO's director and founder is Jane Mbinga. She said orphans have been the biggest beneficiaries.
During the graduation, graduands narrated their sad pasts that pushed them to Wakesho.
They had a collective sigh of relief, as their enrolment meant they won't be married off by their desperate and naive parents or guardians.
Their registration was also crucial as it contained teen pregnancies, a phenomenon sweeping through Mombasa and turning under-age girls to mothers without the
means to
survive.
These students said their former primary school mates who performed "dismally" are either pregnant or were forcefully given off to men in the guise of marriage.
CASE STUDIES
Margaret Wanyika,19, scored 285 marks in 2014 KCPE examination and graduated from Wakesho in 2015.
"My parents had no money to further my secondary education, and the final primary test was like the end of my studies," she said.
It was then that she got wind of the CBO and applied.
"I was taken in and paid nothing," she said.
The trained tailor said the CBO gave Grace Kamada and Agness Zano and her a sewing machine to start with.
"With one machine, we were able to purchase three more after setting up a business in Kongowea," said the girl who said "30" of her friends and agemates are now married with kids.
Scholar Vali, 19, who studied fashion and design, is also self-employed.
Catherine Mwaka's skills acquired from the centre made her land employment at Majengo EPZ as a tailor.
KCDP project manager Jacqueline Uku said they have granted the CBO Sh1.6 million.
"The aim of the grant is to uplift the lives of vulnerable girls through these trainings," she said.
The marine scientist said through monitoring and evaluation, they have measured the impact of their partnership with the CBO to be "greatly beneficial".
"From the stories we have heard today, the girls are succeeding. I do believe every child that has been here will have an impact wherever they will go," she said.
KCDP project with Wakesho closed last June after two years of partnership.
"What we are doing now is just following up and celebrating the impact of facilitation we gave," the senior research scientist at Kemfri said.
She said focus has shifted on how to sustain such projects in future.
POOREST IN KENYA
The Coast region has been ranked as the most hit by poverty and income inequality in the country, and KCDP aims to eradicate this.
Lamu, Tana River, Kwale and Kilifi counties lead in the poverty index, with the residents experiencing problems of low income, expenditure and immense inequality.
The survey was carried out by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in conjunction with the Society for International Development.
It shows that the counties are the poorest in terms of general poverty, income disparity, access to education, sanitation, water, lighting and housing.
SID programme manager Mary Muyonga said the national average in terms of the ratio of the wealthiest to the poorest per county is 9 to 1.
The worrying trend has informed moves by institutions like Kemfri, which supports KCDP.
"Our role was to facilitate the CBO. We have life skills embedded in the programme that have helped a lot of girls," Uku said.
Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2014) showed prevalence of early childbearing is highest in counties within Nyanza region at 22.2 per cent followed by Rift Valley (21.2 per cent) and Coast (21 per cent). Kilifi led in teen pregnancies.
Uku said KCDP is satisfied with how Wakesho has prospered.
"The CBO has been aggressive in looking for other donors, and we can begin to see new ideas being financed by different people. We are trusting they will be able to generate enough to sustain themselves," she said, adding that KCDP's goal is to give them a take-off.
Uku said technical skills can still be used to advance secondary education for those who missed.
"The opportunity in Kenya is immense because the education system is becoming flexible. Children like these can actually go back to school and be accepted," she said.