Members of Community Initiative for Development (COMID-Kenya) organization in Migori have intensified efforts to empower learners in Grades 6 and 7 with knowledge and life skills aimed at combating teenage pregnancy.
Speaking during an induction workshop with the learners from schools across Kuria, aimed at gauging their understanding of teenage pregnancy, Washington Jalang’o, the project manager at COMID-Kenya, said they were using arts and crafts to enable the learners to express themselves more freely on their knowledge of teenage pregnancy.
The official announced that through arts and crafts, the young learners can express themselves and pass messages aimed at combating teenage pregnancies more than verbal expressions.
“With the pencil, they can sketch their feelings and understanding of teenage pregnancy, as well as the colours to campaign more efficiently against teenage pregnancy,” said Washington.
He noted that teenage pregnancy in areas like Awendo has been on the rise due to economic challenges, which over time have exposed young adolescent girls to sex predators.
“The area is under sugarcane plantations with a lot of informal settlements, and since the economic status of the community is low, most learners are lured,” he added.
Mwita Vincent from Kuria East, who represented the County’s Department of Education, admitted that retrogressive cultural practices have played a major role in escalating teenage pregnancy, calling upon the local leaders and activists to help in eradicating it.
He reiterated that the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which targets adolescent girls has been used by the elders as a rite of passage into adulthood, making the situation worse in the region.
As narrated by Mwita, in Kuria and other regions where FGM are practiced, girls who undergo the cut are regarded as adults, making the society become silent when they become pregnant.
Even though the practice has been a challenge to both the activists and the local administration due to the cross-border migrations during the peak seasons, Mwita confirmed that COMID-Kenya has had engagements with the Children Advisory.
Committees in Migori County to chart a new front for curtailing the rise in teenage pregnancy. “In April, we held a meeting with Children Advisory Committee and addressed how to prevent FGM, which is blamed for teenage pregnancy among girls in school,” said Mwita.
“When it was raining, you will find them at the rivers harvesting sand that, an activity that allow them make money,” noted Mwita.
Joel Mwita from Safe Engage Foundation lauded COMID-Kenya for coming up with such program, saying that such workshops make children free to talk about their daily challenges, as well as their suggestions on what can be done to reduce the risks.
He noted that through such arts and workshops, the learners feel encouraged to speak up without being judged, pass information boldly and increase their levels of self-awareness.
“Art speaks where teenage girls and boys cannot speak through words but through drawing, communicate with acting, they really express their feelings and emotions,” said Mwita.
He mentioned that through such engagements, they have created many safe spaces in the villages where children can report to and speak about challenges they face.
He encouraged parents and the stakeholders to have talks with teenagers on teenage pregnancy and prevention measures.
Ansela Chacha, curriculum support officer in charge of special needs education, highlighted the effects of teenage pregnancy, associating it with the girls dropping out of school to do menial jobs.
She also explained that through COMID-Kenya, they have coined programs linked to CBE, which have enabled such children to learn self-employment courses like agriculture and arts.
“Such trainings have enabled the affected girls generate income to enable themselves economically,” said Ansela.
Martinas Baltieus, a support partner from Finland highlighted that teenage pregnancy is not just a concern from health perspective, but also a barrier to education, calling on the Kenyan government to intensify the fight against it.
by Wendy Merryl
