Last updated: June 15, 2020
Motherhood is an important occurrence in a woman’s life. However, the growing number of teenage mothers is a concern in Kenya. Early motherhood affects not only the adolescent girls who are not ready to become mothers, but also their family, school, and society. Ashura, like many adolescent girls in Kenya, dropped out of school at the age of 18 to take care of her infant. She lived and went to school in Pumwani, home to some of Nairobi’s poorest people - many of whom depend on the informal sector for an income. Ashura believed it was the end of her education and, judging from her peers’ experience, she was convinced that there would be no bright future for her. Stigma plays a key role in keeping girls out of school as they are too ashamed to resume learning.
Christine (not her real name) and her two children travel from Uganda to Kenya every two weeks to trade in fish and farm products. During this trip, she visits Port Victoria sub-County Hospital to refill her family’s antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. But the arrival of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) upended her trips.
“I’ve lived with HIV for 18 years and am still going strong,” says Joan. "As a mentor, I can influence behavior change through meaningful messages and encourage more involvement of people living with HIV.” Joan learned of her HIV status in 2002 when a doctor suggested she take an HIV test. She was not responding to medication for flu-like symptoms. “I was devastated when I tested positive and frustrated when there was no one to talk to about my feelings or the way forward with regard to antiretroviral therapy”, she says.
Once found across the scrublands and plains of East Africa, now confined to small pockets of Ethiopia and Kenya, the Grevy’s zebra are fighting for their survival. They are one of Africa’s most endangered large mammals. They are struggling to survive in the face of habitat loss, limited access to water, poaching, conflict with humans, and diseases. In 1970, approximately 15,000 Grevy’s zebras were alive. Today, they are fewer than 3,000. That is an astonishing 75 percent decline in a matter of decades.
A few weeks later, Laticia was invited to join other “lead mothers” and community volunteers from the area at training workshop organized with support from USAID’s Kenya Nutrition and Health Program Plus. At the workshop, Laticia and other participants were taught basic facts about nutrition, including benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding for young children. They also learned about different food groups and how to prepare nutritious meals using affordable local ingredients. Through this training, Laticia and the other “lead mothers” now lead group education sessions using Kenya’s National Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Feeding (MIYCN) Guide, developed with support from USAID’s nutrition program.
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