In the small village of Mubukuro in Tharaka Nithi County, change is brewing among the residents. A determination to change by girls affected by lack of access to SRHR. Information sharing and services is shaping the destiny of not just the affected girls but also the young and adolescents who are at risk of teenage pregnancies, child marriage and FGM. One such determination to change is manifested by Maureen. Maureen Mukami, a 19-year-old girl who, despite the odds, is determined to rewrite her story. Maureen is set to join Form One, a decision that marks a turning point in her life, a journey of second chances, determination, and hope for a brighter future. “I have wasted a lot of time, and my age mates are now in Form Four, while some are joining universities this year,” she says.
Maureen’s academic journey began in 2020 when she sat for her Primary School examinations. She was later admitted to Kibumbu secondary school in Tharaka Nithi County, where her future seemed promising. However, the COVID-19 pandemic soon brought everything to a halt, closing schools and throwing countless students into uncertainty. For Maureen, the closure of schools created unforeseen challenges, and her life would take a different turn.
During the lockdown, Maureen, still just a teenager, found herself involved in a relationship with a 24-year-old man. “I was driven by the curiosity and innocence that comes with teenage age to try something new and blinded by true feelings of falling in love for the first time,” she recalls, admitting she had no real understanding of the risks that came with being sexually active. At the time, contraception was a foreign concept to her, and the consequences were something she never saw coming.
In June 2021, Maureen became a mother at the age of 16. The father of her child disappeared, leaving her to raise their son alone. “It hasn’t been easy,” she admits, her voice tinged with the weight of the past three years. For the most part, her two sisters, who themselves are single mothers, have been her lifeline, providing for Maureen’s son by buying clothes, diapers and other essentials. But, like Maureen, they too are struggling, and the cycle of hardship continues.
Maureen’s story reflects a painful reality faced by many young girls. In Tharaka Nithi County and nationally. The KNBS report indicates that the number of adolescents aged 10-19 presenting with pregnancy at their first antenatal care visit was 253,314 in 2023. This raises a pressing question: if ignorance is the problem, what can we do to change this narrative?
Maureen’s life began to shift when she attended a dialogue session organized by Fit For Future CBO, partnering with Men End FGM Foundation. The session, which focused on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), led by a reproductive health nurse and covered essential topics such as contraception, abortion, cervical and breast cancer, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), served as a turning point in Maureen’s life. “It cleared up so many myths I had heard from my peers,” Maureen shares, reflecting on the empowering information she gained. The session opened her eyes to the dangers of unsafe sex and the importance of making informed choices. Maureen says that if she had access to this kind of information earlier, her life might have taken a different path.
Access to sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and services remain a major problem in Tharaka Nithi county. With high population of young men from Tharaka Technical Institute, Chuka Technical Institute and Chuka University, young girls from primary and secondary schools around these institutions of higher learning face the risk of teenage pregnancies, STIs and child marriage. The County Reproductive Health Nurse, Diana Gatwiri acknowledges that the county is grappling with providing essential SRHR services at their health facilities to young people due to lack of youth friendly service (YFS) centers as well as stock outs of commodities. “Family planning commodities like male condoms, injectables and implants face commodity stock-outs more often at our facilities. This is due to lack of budget and delayed supplies from our service providers. We appeal to partners to support the county with supply of SRHR commodities especially condoms to facilities around these institutions as well as within the institutions to reduce the cases of teenage pregnancies in this sub-county, “says Diana
The County Reproductive Health Nurse has also appealed for sustained engagement with the young and adolescent women, girls, boys and men in the sub-county with relevant information on SRHR as a way of enlightening them on the dangers that come with indulging in unsafe sexual practices also called on volunteer councilors to team up with Men End FGM Foundation to support young mothers affected by teenage pregnancies in the area by offering mental and psycho-social support.
Inspired by the session, Maureen took a brave step forward: she requested to become a youth champion, determined to educate her peers about the risks of unsafe sex. She has now taken the responsibility to share the knowledge she has gained from these sessions and help prevent other young girls from making the same mistakes she did.
Despite the setbacks, Maureen’s story took a positive turn when the school’s Board of Management Chairman, impressed by her past academic performance, offered her a second chance. He stepped in to sponsor her education, covering her school fees and giving her the opportunity to continue her secondary school journey. “I want to complete my education and become a doctor,” Maureen says with unwavering determination. Now serving as the secretary of her school’s journalism club, Maureen is not only rebuilding her education but also finding her voice as a leader and advocate for others.
Maureen’s journey is one of resilience. It speaks to the power of second chances, the importance of education, and the need for informed choices in safeguarding the future of young girls. Her story is a reminder that with the right support, young people can overcome their challenges and turn their lives around. Through her newfound role as a youth champion, Maureen is committed to helping others avoid the same pitfalls she faced. Her determination to become a doctor and provide a better future for her son shows the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to change lives.
As Maureen’s story unfolds, it gives hope, showing that no matter how difficult the road may seem, with the right support and the willingness to learn, it is never too late to make a change. Men End FGM Foundation is engaging adolescent and young people in Tharaka Nithi, Meru and Samburu on SRHR. The three counties have recorded high cases of teenage pregnancies, with Samburu and Meru leading on reported cases nationally. Under the project “Building a Movement of Men and Boys Actively Promoting Gender Equality”, the organization is targeting to offer SRHR information to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged population in these counties. Through strategic partnerships with other organizations and well-wishers, teenage mothers who dropped out of school like Maureen, and who wishes to go back to school can get a second chance to live their dreams. Supporting a girl at a time is our commitment. Ending the triple threat of FGM, child marriage and teenage pregnancies is one of our core strategic interventions and we remain open to partnerships that help us achieve this goal.