Parents and stakeholders at a school in Magarini are in shock following revelations that nine teenage girls from Muyu Wa Kae Primary School in Magarini sub-county of Kilifi county are reportedly pregnant.
The girls aged between 14 and 16 years were rescued by Women on The Move Against Gender-based Violence after they got the reports that they had fallen victims to the GBV and after counselling they were taken back to school.
Women on the Move against GBV (WIMA) have been conducting sensitization in the community to help reduce the cases and ensure no girl who got pregnant dropped out of school.
Some of them are ‘heavily pregnant but due to the awareness are coping up well with their peers without any worry of being stigmatized.
The pregnancy cases come at a time when the teenage pregnancy rate in Kilifi county has reportedly gone down.
Karisa Charo village elder Muyu Wa Kae C said the cases of GBV at Muyu wa kae have become rampant.
“Last month we managed to rescue nine girls who are all pregnant, there are so many challenges in the community and we would like parents to be sensitized more,” he said.
Some of the girls he said were impregnated by fellow students while others were victimized by outsiders and the majority engaged in sex to get as little as Sh. 50 to buy basic needs like pads due to the high poverty levels at their homes.
Currently, he said they are still looking for the culprits so as to be brought to book while the girls are still in school.
Charo said parents are to blame for the pregnancies as the majority do not buy the basic items for the girls which makes it easy for them to be lured into sex.
Halima Kazungu (not her real name) said she engaged in a relationship with a boyfriend who is in form one at Mrereni secondary school and missed periods one month later.
Kazungu said her mother used to provide her with basic facilities like pads and is a beneficiary of WIMA donations of sanitary towels, underwear, and soap but does not know why she agreed to engage in sex at that tender age.
She is now in class eight and the boyfriend is in form one at Marereni Secondary
The girl began clinic and is expecting her baby next year.
She revealed that they have been in a relationship with the boy but one day he told her that they would do sex only to become pregnant.
Her parents insisted that she continues with her studies as the pregnancy should not prevent her from going to school and she aspires to become a police officer after finishing school.
On the other hand Sidi Japhet (not her real name) aged 16 years from the same school in class seven said poverty drove her into early sex because her father died and left behind the mother to provide for the family which is tough.
Japhet already delivered a child and is still in school.
To her, life was tough as her mother is poor and had to borrow pads from friends and at times use pieces of clothes during the menstruation period.
She is also among the beneficiaries of the WIMA program that supports teenage girls with sanitary towels, underpants, and soap which to her have been very helpful as the family could not afford it.
Japhet said the mother and her boyfriend have been very supportive during the pregnancy period and even after giving birth.
Chairperson of Women on the Move Against GBV Kilifi county Helda Lameck said they have been rescuing girls, and sensitizing them due to the increase in cases of teenage pregnancy in the area.
The majority of the girls she said were aged 14 years and above and are lured into sex for money such as Sh. 50 and end up getting pregnant.
“We rescued eight girls who were pregnant aged between 14 years and 16 years which gave us morale to continue sensitization among the children and the parents,” she said.
Their sensitization she said is bearing fruits because girls now understand the importance of being safe.
Magarini Assistant county commissioner Abigael Mulobi said teenage pregnancy has gone down since the interventions by WIMA through the support of the Centre for Education Awareness (CREAW Kenya).
She said the numbers may seem to be on the rise in her area but since the Program of WIMA was introduced there has been a positive change in the areas reached as society was now understanding the importance of ensuring teenage girls are protected.
Mulobi said previously there were no organizations that were supporting them against the vice but since CREAW came the numbers have gone down.
*This article was written by Ramadhan Kambi for Uzalendo News. Email: uzalendonews24@gmail.com to submit your story.
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