Leadership Training for Girls in Rural Kenya

Kakenya's Dream's health and community outreach initiatives work together to transform the underlying norms that hold girls back and drive negative health outcomes and harmful traditional practices. Our Health and Leadership Training Program teaches adolescent girls and boys about their sexual and reproductive health and how to prevent female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV). By breaking the stigmas associated with these topics and training participants in leadership, public speaking, and other essential life skills, youth are empowered to promote more equitable attitudes and behaviors in their lives and networks. This afterschool program is known as Jijue locally (“know yourself” in Swahili) and runs on a three-year cycle per school. It is being taught at 87 partner schools this year in Narok and Kisii Counties, a 53% increase from last year. To ensure the program’s sustainability after our three-year presence, we gathered representatives from the 30 new partner schools together in March to align on goals and secure buy-in. 

Consultant-led longitudinal surveys of participants have tracked the program’s effectiveness, showing increased student self-confidence, improved sexual and reproductive health knowledge, and growing rejection of norms around FGM and child marriage. These attitude shifts have been accompanied by positive behavioral changes with teachers and facilitators reporting higher levels of youth participation and more fairness in classroom chore divisions. As students learn how to advocate for themselves and challenge gender biases in the classroom, we hope they will bring these skills and mindsets beyond school walls to become allies for girls’ rights in their communities. 

Jijue works in tandem with our primary community engagement initiative, the Linda Dada Campaign (“protect a sister” in Swahili), which uses monthly forums to engage village elders, parents, and youth on the barriers that girls face to shift discriminatory attitudes and behaviors. Last year, we expanded to a new sub-county, Transmara South. After initial low turnout there due to the difficulties of openly discussing taboo issues like FGM and child marriage, we worked with community gatekeepers to mobilize participation and have seen increased engagement from men, women, and community leaders, reflecting growing interest and concern over girls’ rights. This year alone, Linda Dada has directly engaged 2,691 community members. In March, the program was featured in radio and TV documentaries that were broadcast regionally, raising critical awareness and reaching thousands on the importance of empowering and protecting girls with community-led solutions. 

Bridging the gap that girls, women, and the community face at large in accessing basic, quality healthcare in our remote setting, our health clinic provided primary services, confidential family planning, antenatal care, and mental health services to 5,710 patients this year. Because many people lack transportation options outside of walking and roads are often unpaved, we conduct mobile pop-up clinics so that hard-to-reach communities can still get the care they need. Since January, we have held two pop-ups, which were particularly timely as heavy spring rains challenged people’s ability to visit our clinic in-person. The clinic has seen increasing service utilization over the past few months, including high demand for counseling services, indicating growing community trust in the facility as well as a deep need for mental health care. 

Thank you for your contributions through GlobalGiving, which bring vital healthcare to girls while transforming their communities to value and support them.