Breaking barriers for Kilifi teen mums

In 2020, Kilifi county made headlines and shocked the nation after more than 17,000 teenage girls reportedly got pregnant at a tender age.

Many could be wondering where these teenage girls are and how they are progressing with life as teenage mothers in a society known to be having high poverty levels.

Traditionally, teenage girls who get pregnant drop out of school and end up getting married or are left with the burden of bringing up their children.

However, a project called ‘Education for life, leave no girl behind project’ is changing the narrative. It was initiated and implemented by Sauti ya Wanawake Pwani in partnership with Action Aid Kenya.

Most of the girls enrolled in the programme are now doing courses that are slowly transforming their lives and will soon be independent.

One of the beneficiaries, Dorah Karisa, got pregnant at a tender age. Her family disowned her, claiming she had become a burden.

She dropped out of school and ended up doing odd casual jobs to survive with her child in their rural home in Singwaya, Magarini subcounty.

“I dropped out of school because of challenges that could not be avoided, I got a child and was forced to remain at home,” she said.

SHOCKED THE NATION

Karisa was among the 17,000 teenage girls who made headlines in Kilifi county in 2020 after they reportedly got pregnant, which shocked the entire nation.

She is, however, among the lucky ones enrolled in the project, which is transforming not only her life but more than 1,300 others in Magarini.

The beneficiaries are soon going to be professionals in different sectors after undergoing life skills training and getting enrolled in youth polytechnics doing different courses.

We caught up with some of the girls at Mapimo polytechnic grounds during a mentorship programme organised by Sauti ya Wanawake Pwani.

They shared touching stories filled with hope as many could not believe their journey could make such a positive transformation after becoming teenage mothers.

During the mentorship day, Karisa, who is doing a fashion design course at Marafa polytechnic, said her life has changed ever since she enrolled in the project of 'leave no girl behind'.

In an interview, she said when pregnant, she thought her dreams of living a good life had hit a dead end.

However, today Karisa has a reason to smile as her dreams are slowly becoming a reality after the Action Aid-funded project came to her rescue.

“When I heard this organisation was recruiting teenage mothers to lift them up, I joined and CRB mentored me, and I was enrolled at Singwaya catch-up centre for nine months,” she said.

At the catch-up centre Karisa and other teenage mothers were mentored and trained on life skills for nine months.

She later enrolled at Marafa polytechnic doing fashion design and proudly declared that she personally made the skirt she was wearing.

After completing the course, she plans to open her own workshop to design clothes for people and that will help her be independent.

To her, the child who she never knew how her fate would be now is going to have a good life thanks to the project of leaving no girl behind.

“God bless this organisation for the initiative. We pray for them to continue supporting us to that we become respected people in the society not being looked down upon,” she said.

Karisa got pregnant while in Class 6 and the man dumped her, leaving her with the burden of bringing up the child because she was rough and not smart.

RESTORING HOPE

Christine Karisa on her part said her life took a twist after she was impregnated while in school and she lost hope of living a good life in the future.

Karisa also dropped out of school and got married at a tender age but the marriage did not last, forcing her to return home and begin selling firewood for survival.

She is also lucky to be among those beneficiaries of the project, where she is studying as a mechanic at Marafa Polytechnic.

She said her family had disowned her after getting pregnant as they found her a burden for being a teenage mother.

“Action Aid really supported me and now am currently supporting my father and the entire family,” she said.

To the shock of many, the teenage mother joined a mechanical course that is rarely pursued by women, and today she can repair vehicles, generators and motorcycles.

In July she will be through with her course, which lasted a year.

Asked why she chose the course dominated by men, Karisa said in their catch-up centre class, they were 70, and most took business courses, fashion and design, and hairdressing.

“I decided to be a mechanic. Though there were many challenges, they did not bring me down, and mentors really helped me,” she said.

One day, she helped a man whose vehicle had stuck due to brake failure and he was really surprised.

In her area, most people use boda boda and she always helps them whenever they have developed mechanical problems.

“My major challenge is lack of tools to do my work. I would urge Action Aid to support me so as to have my own equipment. Currently I rely on borrowing from fellow mechanics whenever there is a problem that needs to be solved,” she said.

Alice Mangi on her part is proud to call herself an engineer, having studied plumbing and pipe fitting at Marafa polytechnic.

Mangi from Baricho, who is also a teenage mother, chose to be a plumber and can now do any plumbing work, even though she is yet to complete her course.

“Right now I'm an expert. I'm the one who did plumbing works at the institution. Recently we were given a job to do water piping repairs at GIS. Now I have become an engineer,” she said.

Mangi said she dropped out of school while in Class 7 and used to fetch water, firewood for sale and other odd jobs until the Action Aid project came and she decided to do plumbing.

At the college, she said they are not paid for any work they do but whenever they get a job outside school, they are paid for it.

“Right now I have become an expert. The other day, I was given a task to repair showers and waste pipes at Marafa hospital, and the engineer from Nairobi promised to employ me and take me to Nairobi,” she said.

Mangi said since she joined the course, everyone at home and the society at large has noticed that she has changed for the better.

Previously she was rough, her hair was untidy but now she is always nice, with a neat hairstyle.

Many people think she joined a men's job but to her, a woman can do any kind of job just like the men.

ACCESS TO EDUCATION 

Lucky Mwaka from Sauti ya Wanawake, who is in charge of the project, said they target girls aged 14 and 19.

They equip them with skills of literacy and numerals, then help them choose pathways of where they are interested to pursue in life.

The aim of the project is to break the barriers that prevent girls from accessing education.

Currently, the education for life project has 1,241 girls in Kilifi county, and among them, some chose to go to polytechnics.

“Today we are doing mentorship for the girls to train them on life skills so that even at the vocational training, they know where their lives are heading to, know how to coexist with others, and have a vision in life,” she said.

Most of the girls lost hope but now, there are girls who are able to do tailoring. Some know how to repair vehicles, among other expertise.

As Sauti ya Wanawake in partnership with Action Aid Kenya, they are happy to have transformed the lives of the girls.

She said 393 girls have been financed to undergo training at the different vocational training centres in Malindi and Magarini.

In Magarini alone, she said they have 1,241 girls, some of whom opted to go back to formal schools after the mentorship programmes.

“As a mother, I feel good because we have come from far with these girls. Some could not read or write. Today, I can see some of them able to make their own clothes, repair vehicles or tractors. It makes me feel good,” she said.

Simon Wankuru, the Action Aid Kenya local rights programme coordinator, said the project is being implemented in five counties in the country.

He said in Kilifi, the girls went through training on life skills and literacy skills in the project, which reaches out to the most vulnerable girls.

The girls begin by going for life skills training in catchment centres for nine months, after which they go to either formal school, do business, join vocational training or artisan courses.

For those interested in business, they are given start-up kits to begin their trade so as to transform their lives.