Mentoring 16 orphan and needy girls in Kenya

Nairobi Kenya,

Dear Friends,

I would like to tell you about a one-day seminar we ran to train girls from Gichagi slum area of Ngong Division, Kajiado County. The seminar had three objectives:

1. To create awareness of issues surrounding rape and how girls can protect themselves against this behaviour
2. To discuss girl-boy relations issues with a view of empowering girls to say no to sex and control their lives in such relationships.
3. To encourage girls to effectively compete with boys in academic cycles so that they can acquire necessary education to brighten their lives.
4. To enhance knowledge and best practices on hygiene particularly during the menstrual cycles.

After a warm welcome and settling down as everything was in order, we participated in the following activities:

Everyone was requested to introduce herself to the group. This offered an opportunity to know the names, age and level of education as well the school. The girls were given the first priority, then trainers and SAWA staff concluded. The main purpose for this was to enhance familiarization and create good rapport.

Margaret spoke about girl-boy relationship, their strengths and weakness and how they should be used to foster education.  She also gave the girls tips on how to avoid early pregnancies which would affect their education. There were so many questions which all the other facilitators helped to answer.

I talked about rape which is increasing in Kenya today, particularly where old men are spoiling young girls, mostly their relatives.  She stressed on behavior and habit of such people which girls need to be aware of.  She also gave tips of how to avoid being victims and advised that should one become a victim they should not hide it but report to the parents, guardians and other grow-ups so that medical attention can be sought and necessary legal action taken.  There were so many questions and the topic was not exhausted.  It was postponed to April 2015.

The reusable sanitary towel project was revisited where nine of the girls present confirmed that they still make them for their own use though not every month.  Our group distributed some sanitary pads packets that.  It was a very exciting moment.

It was a wonderful session and the girl articulated ‘life is a learning process and each and every day we learn a new thing’.

Thank you for supporting us in our efforts to mentor young girls and encourage their education and empowerment.

Catherine Kaimenyi