More than 1,000 teenage mothers who dropped out of school in Uasin Gishu will now have a second chance in life through the support of an NGO.
Nuru Foundation in partnership with well-wishers has supported most of the girls to resume education or get training on skills for self-employment.
Some of the girls got pregnant through rape or defilement, forcing them to terminate their education.
They now have fresh hope in life due to the rehabilitation programme being implemented by foundation.
Speaking in Eldoret after meeting the teenage mothers, Nuru Foundation CEO Hellen Jeptoo said the organisation is keen to transform the livelihoods of the young girls.
“The challenge is of teen pregnancies ... is a big issue in our society today and we saw it fit to help the affected girls resume normal lives with hope because many of them had given up,” Jeptoo said.
“This initiative for transformation of the teen mothers will cover the North Rift region. We are currently operating in Uasin Gishu county before extending to other counties. We came in after seeing young girls aged between 12 and 15 caring for babies yet they should be in school."
Jeptoo and motivational speaker Robert Burale were among speakers who addressed the teen mothers.
She said they were working with several support groups and law enforcement agencies in Eldoret and parents to ensure that the young mothers go back to school.
Nuru Foundation has already registered hundreds of the teen mothers, whom they take care of by providing food and household support.
“The number of teenage mothers in the country is worrying. We have girls aged about 10 years being mothers at such an early stage in life,” she said.
“That is why we are here as Nuru Foundation to give hope to the teen mothers and enable them have a second chance in life.”
The foundation also engages the teen mothers in tree planting to help the country meet its target of 15 billion trees by 2032.
Members of the foundation and the Kenya Airports Authority staff led by chairman Caleb Kositany planted trees at the Eldoret International Airport before the meeting with the teen mothers.
A 14-year-old mother, a beneficiary who dropped out of school last year, narrated how she was held hostage by a boda boda operator who defiled her.
“I had given up on my education and opted to be a mother but now, thanks to Nuru Foundation, I have fresh hope of going back to school,” she said.
Kositany called for action on men responsible for teen pregnancies, warning that the crisis of teen mothers was a ticking time bomb in the country.
