Nine teenage girls from Magarini school get pregnant

Nine teenage girls from Muyu Wa Kae Primary School in Magarini subcounty, Kilifi are pregnant.

The girls aged between 14 and 16 years were rescued by Women on The Move Against Gender-Based Violence. After counselling, they were taken back to school.

They were sensitised to prevent them from dropping out of school due to pregnancy.

WIMA has been sensitising the community to help reduce the cases and ensure no girl drops out of school due to pregnancy. 

Some of them due to the awareness are coping up well with their peers without any worry of being stigmatised.

The pregnancy cases come at a time when the teenage pregnancy rate in Kilifi has reportedly gone down.

Muyu Wa Kae C village elder Karisa Charo said GBV cases have become rampant.

“Last month we rescued nine pregnant girls. There are so many challenges in the community and we would like parents to be sensitised more,” he said.

Some of the girls he said were impregnated by fellow students while others were victimised by outsiders and the majority engaged in sex to get Sh50 to buy pads due to the high poverty levels at their homes.

Currently, he said they are still looking for the culprits and bring them to book while the girls are still in school.

Charo said parents are to blame for the pregnancies as the majority do not buy the basic items for the girls which makes it easy for them to be lured into sex.

Halima (not her real name) said she got into a relationship with her Form One boyfriend at Mrereni Secondary School and missed periods one month later.

Halima said her mother used to provide her with basics like pads and is a beneficiary of WIMA donations of sanitary towels, underwear, and soap but does not know why she engaged in sex. 

She is now in Std 8. 

The girl began clinic and is expected to deliver next year. 

Her parents insisted that she continues with her studies as the pregnancy should not prevent her from going to school.

She aspires to become a police officer in future.

Japhet (not her real name) aged 16 years from the same school in St 7 said poverty drove her into early sex.

When her father died, she was left with her mother to fend for them but it has been tough.

Japhet has already given birth.

To her, life was tough as her mother is poor and had to borrow pads from friends and at times use pieces of clothes during the menstruation period.

She is among the beneficiaries of the WIMA programme that supports teenage girls with sanitary towels, underpants, and soap which to her have been very helpful as the family could not afford it.

Japhet said the mother and her boyfriend have been very supportive during the pregnancy period and even after giving birth.

Women on the Move Against GBV Kilifi chairperson Helda Lameck said they have been rescuing girls and sensitising them due to the increase in cases of teenage pregnancy.

The majority of the girls she said were aged 14 years and above and are lured into sex for money and ended up getting pregnant.

“We rescued eight pregnant girls aged between 14 years and 16 years. This gave us morale to continue with sensitisation among the children and parents,” she said.

Their sensitisation she said is bearing fruits because girls now understand the importance of being safe.

Magarini assistant county commissioner Abigael Mulobi said teenage pregnancy has gone down since the interventions by WIMA through the support of the Centre for Education Awareness Kenya.

She said the numbers may seem to be on the rise in her area but since the WIMA programme was introduced, there has been a positive change in the areas reached as society now understood the importance of ensuring teenage girls are protected.

Mulobi said previously there were no organizations that were supporting them against the vice but since CREAW came the numbers have gone down.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris