Ugandan parliamentarians have commended Greenland girls’ school in Kiserian, Kajiado County for giving hope to teenage girls.
The legislators visited the unique school which is meant for teenage mothers pursuing secondary education in Kenya on Thursday.
The were led by Dr Omar Dawood, who is from Uganda and is the East Africa Manager of Wingate Learning sponsorship program.
The team comprised MPs Asuman Basalirwa, Twalla Fadhil, Dr. Aabuka Okullo, Orone Derrick, Sarah Najjuma and Uganda’s Principal clerk in parliament Kagoro John Bosco.
MP Asuman said they do not have such an institution in Uganda which would give hope and restore dignity to girls who are totally neglected and isolated.
They will call for the implementation of what they learnt at the institution.
Purity Gikunda, who is the founder of the school, said she decided to start this initiative since teenage pregnancy robs girls of their childhoods, education and future.
“We resurrect the dead dreams for teenage mothers at Greenland Girls School because many teenagers when impregnated are not able to fulfill their dreams, and are exposed to stigma and discrimination,” she said.
The director said most teenage girls are forced to hide their children for fear of being rejected and isolated.
But at Greenland, they learn, share, encourage each other and thrive together.
Samuel Mukilya who is a co-founder said the programme was born in 2018 on the International Day of the Girl Child.
He said many teenage mothers willing to go back to school come from very poor backgrounds, and some are orphans or are from single parents unable to cater for the needs of girls in school and with no one to leave their kids when they attend school.
Through the initiative, the school has a baby care centre at the school where the mothers take care of the children while their mothers attend classes after realizing that when these girls go back to their former schools, they experience stigma and discrimination.
The school is privately owned by a non-governmental organization; Greenland Empowerment Hub which in partnership with Kajiado’s County Government, offers support to the school.
In addition, Kajiado County’s First Lady was represented by CEC Member Janet Sereu appealed to the government to establish more schools for teenage mothers in every county so that no teenage mother will be left behind when it comes to pursuing education.
Initially, Greenland School for teen mothers mainly absorbed survivors of female genital mutilation and early marriages but later found the need of helping teen mothers by getting them back to school because besides having given birth, they are still children.
Other officials present from the school administration were Rachel Njoroge, and Nancy Milanoi who is a board member in the school and a survivor of FGM and early marriage.
By Thuita Jaswant
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