BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

With the high rising rate of HIV infections among adolescents and teenagers in Kenya, it is key for parents to have open talks with their daughters and sons about sex, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infections.

In a report released by the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council, adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 34 years contributed to 73% of all new adult HIV infections in 2023.

What You Should Know:

There is a risk of triple threat among teenagers who engage in early sex. It happens in this order:

• Gender-based Violence

• Teenage Pregnancy

• New HIV infections

Types of sexual violence include:

Ø Defilement – when a girl aged below 18 years is abused sexually by any person.

Ø Rape – penetration (no matter how slight) of the vagina or anus with any body part or object without consent of the victim.

Ø Intimate partner violence – when a current partner or a former sexual partner abuses the other physically or sexually.

Ø Incest – when a male or female sexually abuses a close relative

Ø Sodomy – when a male person is sexually abused by another male person

Despite the fact that matters to do with sex are still taboo in the Western region of Kenya, the statistics are disturbing.

Clarion Call:

This calls for the society to boldly go against the norm and step in to fill the gap of knowledge at all levels.

Parents, teachers, clergy, and governmental and non-governmental organisations should be part of this change!

Zero tolerance for teenage motherhood and new HIV infections does not start with the young girls, nor does it end with their parents.

Teaching them and protecting them remains a communal responsibility because you are either infected or affected.

In 2024, over 1/3 of all sexual gender-based violence cases reported are amongst adolescent girls aged 10 to 17 years old.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2024, showed that adolescents and young women aged 10 to 19 years record 40 new HIV infections every week.

WORLD BANK REPORTS: 17% of GDP is lost due to the lifetime cost of adolescent pregnancy. If girls in Kenya had completed primary school alone, their additional output over their lifetime would be equivalent to 20% of annual GDP.

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

With many cases of teenage pregnancies being reported across Kenya and more especially in Bungoma County, there is a dire need for the community to stand up and change the narrative.

Stakeholders in the education sector, Ministry of Health together with the clergy should join hands and address this burning issue with the seriousness it deserves.

According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), about 18% of teenage girls aged between 15 and 19 years have either had a live birth or are currently pregnant.

The pregnancy rate is reported to increase with age, rising from 3% among 15-year-olds to 40% among 19-year-olds.

SLUGGISH TREND ON FIGHTING TEEN PREGNANCIES:
Even though Kenya has set a goal of ending teenage pregnancy by 2030, the progress has been extremely tardy.

Agripina Kwoba, the Sub County Reproductive Health officer for Kabuchai, attributes the high rate of teenage pregnancy to backward customs and traditions within the native Luhya community, who are predominant in the region.

“It is a taboo for parents to talk to their children about sex, but with the easily accessible internet full of pornographic materials, teenagers need guidance to stay on the right track,” highlighted Kwoba.

GRECA ON ZERO TOLERANCE TO TEENAGE PREGNANCIES:

Joy Wasilwa, the Executive Director for GRECA, maintains that as much as the organization is working with Harambee Centre and many other well-wishers to help teenage mothers grab a second chance in life, they are determined to ensure zero tolerance for teenage pregnancies.

“It is our satisfaction to see teenage mothers pursue education, but we are not encouraging our girls to get pregnant; we are working in tandem with other key stakeholders to ensure we eliminate such cases in the near future and witness the girls achieve their full potential.”

HIV/AIDS prevalence has also been overlooked among teenagers since they are often naïve and don’t know their HIV status, hence posing a risk to their sexual partners regardless of age or societal status.

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

As would have been expected, our Cohort 3 Najijali beneficiaries closed the school in April and opened on May 6, 2025.

During their holiday, the girls had ample time to bond with their children, whom they had left for three months while they attended their first term at Makindu Advanced Training College.

Not only did they reunite with their families, but also they had a golden opportunity to bond with each other and share their achievements and challenges away from school.

This was also a chance for them to practice what they have been studying at school since GRECA opened up workshops for them to do hairdressing and dressmaking as they await to resume school.

“I am so glad that when I go back to school, I will be a bit ahead of where I was when we closed. Since this workshop was opened, I have been coming here thrice a week to practice dressmaking, and I’ve learned a lot thus far,” Salome Wanyama said.

For Pamela Muyoka, her dream had come true, and she had already attended to three clients at the salon, and she was looking forward to at least doing hair and nails for ten clients before she resumed school.

Even as the girls were so excited, the holiday was over, and now they are back in Makindu. As they continued with their studies, the GRECA team ensured they visited their homes to keep track of their parents, children, and caretakers.

For all 25 households, children were doing well, and some had now started school. Caretakers were also faring well and were very grateful to receive the foodstuff we normally take to them every month we visit.

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

As the April holiday came to an end, GRECA fraternity was as excited as the young mothers to know how the holiday had been and find out exactly what the ladies expected as they went back to Makindu to continue with their studies.

A day before leaving for Makindu Advanced Training College, GRECA was privileged to arrange an intense yet very informative session with a visitor from Australia, Jaime Peris.

Jaime, who is the founder and CEO of Minds Beyond Measure, could not hide her passion for helping youth believe in themselves and also encourage young mothers that there is life beyond being a teen mother.

With great interest in menstrual health and hygiene, Jaime together with Joy Wasilwa, The Executive Director for GRECA with Rhoda took the girls through an educative training on male and female reproductive systems.

The young mothers were taught about adolescence, the stages of transitioning to adulthood in both boys and girls, the myths and facts about menstruation as well as how babies are formed.

They were also taught how to be respectable women in society by carrying themselves around with dignity both at home and at school while respecting others regardless of their status.

Additionally, the girls were equipped with knowledge on how to have healthy relationships with boys and men around them without necessarily turning things into a sexual spree.

The highlight was when they were given tips to be independent self-sufficient women in society who strive to be financially independent by gaining knowledge at school and practicing it for the betterment of their future.

All said and done, the girls were handed over colourful dignity kits which had reusable sanitary towels to aid in ensuring a dignified menstruation period each time nature calls.    

GRECA family wishes the young mothers all the best as they pursue their second term!

Much gratitude to Harambee Centre and all other supporters and donors of this noble course.

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

It was a bright Tuesday morning when the young mothers turned up in large numbers with enthusiasm and excitement to arrange their new production centers within GRECA offices.

The girls are divided into two distinct groups according to the courses they are undertaking, which are dressmaking and hairdressing. 

With 17 of them studying dressmaking and 8 doing hairdressing, the tailoring room has to be more accommodating with fabrics and sewing machines.  

After servicing 5 sewing machines and testing them over the weekend, all was set for the production centers, and the girls just had to put everything in order and get ready to start work.

 Abigail and Esther were so excited as they sampled cosmetics, braids, and working tools for their hairdressing room.

Agripina and Linda couldn’t stop chuckling as they carried sewing machines to their room and arranged fabrics to be displayed to would-be clients and customers.

The determination in their eyes is enough to vividly explain their curiosity about perfecting the art they are learning back at Makindu Advanced Training College.

Even as they plan to be visiting the production centers whenever they have time, the doors remain open to the community as well so that they can freely walk in, learn, interact, and get services.

All GRECA and Harambee Centre says… is for the betterment of the society! 

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

As the flower blossoms and opens up to the bright sun, it becomes vulnerable to many predators like insects, animals and not to forget the scorching sun itself.

I wish the story could have been about flowers but disheartening as it may sound, this represents the real life of many teenage girls Africa, precisely rural Kenya.

Yvonne from Nangili, Bungoma county fell victim of early marriage just when adolescent knocked her door.

What was meant to be enjoyed as a stage between childhood and adulthood turned into a sour life journey with no escape route.

A young girl robbed off her innocence, a naïve and gullible village girl yet to be a mother, with neither quality education nor financial muscle to call herself independent.

Yvonne went through a very tough period in what she though would be her matrimonial home and earn her the respect of the society as someone’s wife and mother.

 After trying her best to tolerate physical, financial and emotional abuse from her partner, Yvonne decided to call it quits and meekly went back home to her parents whom she knew would not welcome her back.

To her surprise, her father and mother were open arms to receive her back and support her and her child despite the fact that they still could not afford school fees to take her back to school.

One bright day through the area chief, Yvonne’s father heard of GRECA in collaborative with Harambee Centre and knew this was the breakthrough they had been praying for all along.

Like all other interested girls, Yvonne arrived at Chwele for vetting and as luck was on her side, she joined her new friends to Makindu Advanced Training College to pursue dress making course.

She joined her fellow students at Chwele in April to showcase their skills and share testimonies to some of their sponsors and parents present.

      

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

About 51 kilometres from Bungoma to Kimilili, then Kamukuywa via Chwele, we set foot at Stella’s home in Makhonge where we find her mother and her almost two-year-old daughter.

Imagine at a very tender age, finding yourself in the unforgiving hands of teenage motherhood, and as if that’s not enough, you give birth to a baby who has special needs.

As much as that could be very daunting to any parent, the effect it has on a naive, vulnerable teen is something else.

The untold agony, the shame, the stigma, and the isolation from society notwithstanding, Stella loses her father to the monstrous, insatiable teeth of death.

Misfortunes never come singly. Life’s hope all gone! The family’s breadwinner is gone forever, leaving a helpless teenage mother and an innocent yet so vulnerable baby with cerebral palsy to take care of single-handedly.

They say life’s unfair, but to the likes of Stella, it could be ruthlessly brutal!

God’s time, as the religious fellows would put it, is the best. One day, during the normal Sunday church service at Makhonge, the area local chief announced that there’s an organisation that wants to take teenage mothers to advanced learning institutions where they would learn a life-changing skill that would be entrepreneurial.

Stella’s mother did not hesitate to dare her daughter to try GRECA. Grace Resources for Community Action was God-sent!

Though many teenage mothers showed interest and had to go through a fairly transparent vetting process, Stella’s case was outstanding, and as it would have been, she got a chance to join Makindu Advanced Training College.

Now, she is going on smoothly with her learning in the quest to advance her knowledge and transform her life, that of her baby and her entire family.

Her mother couldn’t hide her beaming smile when logozshe welcomed us to her humble abode with her grandchild in her arms.
With GRECA in collaboration with Harambee Centre, there was hope after all!

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

As would have been expected in any African household, Faith was sent away from her home by her father after realizing that she was pregnant at a tender age.

She was to either find new shelter at her supposed boyfriend’s place or any other far away from the scowling eyes of her biological father who could no longer stand the shame in society.

Not so far from Bungoma – Busia Highway, in Nang’eni, we find Faith’s mother; her blithe smile tactfully hides her underlying agony clearly seen within her vicinity.

“We are certain you may not know us well but we are GRECA team who sponsored your daughter to go for training in Makindu, we are here to find out how you and her child are faring on her in her absence,” Joy Wasilwa, Executive Director, GRECA divulged.

Without holding back her delight, she explained how grateful she is that GRECA gave her daughter a chance to learn a new life changing skill that would later earn her a decent living.   

“I may not be very conversant with GRECA, but through our village elder who is also my brother-in-law, I heard about you and took Faith from my grandparents’ home where she had found refuge,” she explained.  

Adding that, “Since she got that opportunity to join Vocational Training Centre, I dedicated myself to ensure her child is well taken care of and the foodstuff we receive every month has been of great aid since he no longer eats soil.”

Joy encouraged her to ensure the baby attends all his clinic checkups and receive vaccinations as required.

Indeed, Faith’s faith had worked away from home and now she pursues her dream, though far yet close by heart to her mother’s love.

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

A few metres from Bungoma town we meet Charity’s mother. She takes us to her house where she lives with her two year old grandson Liam. He is indeed a healthy baby and one who loves visitors as his eyes shone when he saw us come in.

Her mother, Charity just joined Vocational Training College as a beneficiary of GRECA Cohort 3 early this year and as it is our culture,we visit their children monthly to check on their progress.

Not only do we check on their well-being but also ensure they visit clinic regularly for health monitoring(by looking at their clinic booklet).

“I don’t have any formal job, I only wash people’s clothes around town and I can only say that God bless GRECA team for changing our lives through giving my daughter Charity a second chance,” said Liam’s grandmother with a warm smile .

She adds:” The day we bid good bye to my daughter is the day I knew Liam’s world has changed forever, we will no longer be the same after Charity’s return.”

We also give some foodstuff to the family to cater for the baby’s balanced diet: green grams,peanut butter, cooking oil,porridge flour and rice.    

 

BY ISABELLA MAUA FOR GRECA

Life has it that misfortunes never come singly but for sure every dog has its day. To Hope Sharon from Namutokholo , life lost its meaning when her mother left her dad and went away leaving her with her siblings behind.

This happened not so long after being burdened with the heavy term ‘teenage mother’.

Her life had come to a standstill until they heard of Grace Resources for Community Action which gives teen mothers a second chance in life.

GRECA came to her rescue and now a proud grandfather extends warm greetings to us as we set foot at his humble aboard.

As we do our monthly household visits, we find Sharon’s daughter in perfect condition and despite her silence, she’s neat and welcoming.