At 15, Susan Wairimu became a mother while still a child herself, growing up in Mathare slum in Ngong town.
Twelve years later, the experience that once defined her struggle has become the foundation of her mission—to help other teenage mothers rebuild their lives.
Now 27, Wairimu is the founder of the Inspire Teenagers Foundation, which is using her personal experience to mentor young mothers and equip them with skills to become economically independent and advocates against teenage pregnancies in their communities.
The foundation marked International Youth Day on Wednesday by welcoming its second cohort of young women aged 18 to 25 from Matasia, Kiserian and parts of Ngong into its three-month “Inspire to Rise” programme.
“For me, it is mentoring a teenage mother and then sending them back to be champions in their communities,” Wairimu told KNA.
The programme comes as Kajiado continues to grapple with high rates of teenage pregnancies. According to the 2026 Economic Survey, the county recorded the highest number of pregnancies among girls aged 10 to 14 nationally.
A separate analysis by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, placed Kajiado second nationally for teenage pregnancy prevalence among girls aged 15 to 18, at about 36 per cent.
But behind the statistics are girls facing poverty, violence and limited opportunities.
“Most of the cases we are having are as a result of violence and transactional sex due to the high poverty rate,” Wairimu said.
She said the foundation’s approach begins with healing before skills development.
“One key challenge we are having is the mental breakdown of teenage mothers. Most of them are living in a situation where hope is very low,” she said.
After psychosocial support, participants choose from four skills pathways—tailoring, pastry and bakery, detergent production and poultry farming—and gain practical experience through job shadowing in local businesses.
The foundation works with the County Government through Community Health Volunteers, Fred Foundation, an international non-profit focused on holistic well-being, nature, and community support; and the Capillion Foundation, a collaborative partner supporting local community and maternal empowerment initiatives that co-operate on grassroots human dignity and social support programmes.
Wairimu, however, says inadequate coordination among government departments remains a challenge.
“When you go to the youth department, you are told this is a gender issue. When you go to the gender department, you are told this is a youth issue,” she said, calling for stronger cooperation.
For 22-year-old Elizabeth Mitian, a beneficiary of the programme’s first cohort, the initiative has already begun to change her story.
After graduating last year, Mitian put her training in entrepreneurship, farming, soap-making, bag-making and detergent production into practice. She now keeps chickens and sells eggs.
“I use the skills, especially farming, to keep my own chickens, and the entrepreneurship skills to know how to manage the money, where to reinvest and how to do it,” she said.
But like many young entrepreneurs, she faces limited access to markets and capital, and Mitian tells KNA that a government youth financing programme she applied for provided training but no funding.
“They are there in the books, but when you get to the ground, they are not really existing,” she said, urging the government to strengthen implementation.
For Wairimu, Mitian’s journey represents the bigger purpose of her work: transforming teenage mothers from statistics into young women with skills, confidence and the power to change their communities.
Her own painful beginning has become a pathway of hope for others.
International Youth Day is observed annually on August 12 to celebrate the potential of young people, highlight global youth issues, and advocate for their active participation in decision-making and sustainable development.
This year’s commemoration ran under the theme “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations”.
By Byron Ouma
