A visit to Kabuouch Kachieng village in Ndhiwa subcounty reveals a disturbing situation of pain and endurance teens go through due to pregnancy and HIV infections.
Faces of young innocent girls, some breastfeeding firstborns with others pregnant and in school uniform, paints a scenario of desperation and hope in this dull village 20km from Homa Bay town.
The village in the middle of sugarcane plantations is the home of approximately 50 young girls whose teenagehood was disrupted by early pregnancy. Anyango (not her real name) is a 13-year-old mother of one. She was lured to conceive her first baby by her peers to gauge her fertility.
The ‘fertility test’ is used to measure young girls’ ability to bear children. Determined to complete her education, she went back to school and just sat her KCPE exam. Juggling between school and motherhood is a daunting task.
Asked how she copes, a silent moment ensued. It is this point of reflection that breaks her down. “Maisha ni ngumu sikujua [Life is hard. I didn’t know]" she says as she weeps.
This is the disturbing situation facing many young girls and women not just in Ndhiwa but the whole country. Sadly a number of them are living with HIV-Aids, complicating the situation even further.
Homa Bay is one of the counties heavily burdened by HIV-Aids. With a 26.6% prevalence rate, the county has one of the highest prevalence in the country.
UNAIDS estimates that in sub-Saharan Africa, 4,500 adolescent girls and young women acquire HIV every week. The global agency also warns of a possible spike in new infections among this cohort due to the Covid -19 pandemic that continues to disrupt access to services and programme implementation.
In Kenya, according to the Kenya HIV Estimates report of 2020, about 2 in every 5 adult’s new HIV infections occurred among 15-24 years. The report also shows that adolescents aged 15-19 accounted for 16% of the country’s 34,000 new infections recorded in 2020. Poverty, social economic inequities and ignorance are among factors fuelling new HIV infections and teen pregnancies in Kenya.
The teen pregnancy menace is a clear indicator of unprotected sexual activities acting as a proxy for new HIV infections among this cohort. A teacher in a local school in Ndhiwa subcounty attested to the fact that poverty and social norms were behind cases of new HIV infections and teen pregnancy.
According to the teacher, young girls are lured into sexual activities for lack of money and poverty. Girls from poor backgrounds cannot afford sanitary pads and other basic needs. They are forced into early sexual relationships with the so-called ‘sponsors’ to meet these needs. In the long run it has led to the current sad situation.
The High-Level Meeting on Aids in New York adopted a set of bold and ambitious targets for 2025, including addressing socioeconomic inequalities among adolescents and young girls in sub-Saharan Africa—a region that bears the biggest Aids burden globally. Stakeholders agreed that there’s is need to step up efforts to stop new infections among young girls to stay the course of ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030.
Locally we know what works. Drawing lessons from Kenya’s 40 year response against Aids reveals interesting insights that can change the tide and end the sad situation not only in Kabuoch Kachieng but countrywide.
Community driven advocacy and social mobilisation can be a game changer. Education and health have proudly done their bit by providing safe spaces for young girls and boys to thrive while providing quality stigma-free HIV services.
However it is society that is failing this generation. We have enough policies and strategies that have not been implemented. Let us implement them by putting the community at the centre.
Communication officer, National Aids Control Council
