With an alarming number of teenage pregnancies reported in Meru County, two social workers have set up a school for the teen mothers with the aim of establishing them in all 47 counties.
Social worker Purity Gikunda and Samuel Mukilya, a public health officer, co-founded a charitable organization Greenlands Empowerment Hub which has established the Greenlands Girls schools in three counties.
The schools cater for teenage mothers and their babies in Meru, Kajiado and Makueni.
“Our idea is to have 47 teenage mothers’ schools in Kenya because these girls are so many and if each county can manage its own numbers it will be easier for us,” she said.
Unlike the ordinary schools, Greenlands admits both mother and child, with a special daycare facility for the babies.
The newest school which has 40 teen mothers was opened last week in Makueni.
“We are opening another one in Kilifi and we have a prospect of another in Narok County,” she revealed.
“Kajiado’s is the mother school and right now we have 200 teenage mothers. Just as we are doing with others we enroll them with their babies. The youngest mother is 13,” Gikunda said.
Gikunda said the school in Meru was established after the international ‘Shujaa wa Mashuja’ professional boxing extravaganza was hosted by Meru in March, which raised funds and awareness on the teen pregnancies menace in Meru County.
“We came here for a boxing tournament to create awareness on teenage pregnancies and also to advocate for second chances for teenage mothers. Because Meru is currently ranked first in the country and being an organization advocating for girls education, we decided to come to Meru for awareness and second chances,” she explained.
The organization teamed up with nominated MCA Gacheri Muthuri, who said the girls needed such intervention since they were at the risk of missing out on education after they give birth, adding that majority of the cases come as a result of poverty, poor parenting and other reasons.
“We offer various courses including food and beverage, hair and beauty. We encourage the young mothers to come with their babies and we take care of them in a child care centre as the mother gets skills that can help her to be employed or become self-employed,” she said.
Some of younger girls who were in primary when they gave birth attend a nearby day primary and return to the facility in the evening.
YOU MAY ALSO READ:
Government urged to help in eradicating stigma on menstrual hygiene
By John Majau
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
