Covid19 pandemic has brought a myriad of challenges in most parts of the world. Kenya being a developing economy is not an exception. As the urban folks rue the uncertainty brought about by the pandemic namely joblessness and sudden change of lifestyle, the upcountry folks are faced with a pandemic that is threatening to tear apart the very fabric that the social tree is anchored on.
High teens pregnancy in Vihiga county…
Vihiga county has the highest number of young people/ boys and girls.
With a population of about half a million people in Vihiga county, 44% are aged below 15 years an age that is still school going.
Half of Vihiga county women aged between the age of 20-49 had their first sexual encounter at the age of 18 years( which is the age of consent)
While their male counterpart had first sexual encounter at the age of 19 yrs.
Whereas women in Vihiga get married between the age of 20-24, their male counterparts marry at the age of between 34-50.
During this covid-19 school break, many teens have recorded an increased number in teen’s pregnancy with some cases being reported as incest and an abomination according to locals.
Clara Imali helping reverse the worrying trend of teens pregnancy in Vihiga county.
Disturbed by the statistics in Vihiga county, one young lady Clara Imali has decided not to sit and watch but do something.
www.goodmorningkenya.com caught up with her and sought to know what drove her resolve.
‘’ As a young lady, I was disturbed by the constant reports of cases of defilement, high girl’s drop out from school as a result of early pregnancies. As much as our people have taken steps to help curb early marriages by helping keep the girl child in school, some very remarkable predators are preying on the innocent young girls thus causing them to be discontinued from school. This trend has to stop.’’ lamented Clara.
‘’ We must take the bull by its horns and be ready to be counted as agents of change and save the girl child’’ Clara.
‘’ One day during a chit chat in a WhatsApp group, I shared a picture of condoms ( see pic below) which ignited a debate with some male folks condemning me for the info. It is at this juncture that I came face to face with the stigma and ignorance that is associated with sex education in my home county of Vihiga much to the detriment of the girl child. The negative energies generated from the WhatsApp group was the fuel I very much needed to reach out to the young girls in the village through sports to help have an engagement with them so that we could confront the elephant in the room.
A simple post on Whatsapp rubbed many men the wrong way with some even threatening to exit the group leaving me to wonder how on earth are they advocating for secrecy on matters of sex and contraceptives. I kept on asking myself are these really parents or sex predators worried about my candid and straight talk on sex education an engagement I strongly believe if undertaken will help save the girl child” says Clara.
Viyalo starlets girls team.
The above incident left an indelible mark on her and her journey to help liberate the girl child.
‘’Yes, no turning back. I will personally walk the talk by traversing the county of Vihiga and at least do something to arrest this runaway situation. The culture that considers the boy child higher than the girl child has not made things better for the girl child either’’ adds Clara.
Over the weekend, Clara will be gracing an all-girls soccer tournament in Chavakali area of Vihiga county where she intends to interact with over 500 young girls who stare at the dangers of teens pregnancy every day as a result of either peer pressure, abusive male relatives and or as a result of poverty where girls fall victims to unwanted sex simply because a prospective predator has promised to buy her sweets, mandazi or sanitary towels.
How can you be of help.?
“We can do much to save our young girls by insulating them against sex predators hence ensuring a brighter future for the girl child. I personally want or call upon all people to rally our efforts and help in educating the community.
‘’Do not shy away from discussing sex education with the young girls..
We should also discourage our people from sticking to the old age culture of looking at the girl child only as a tool of trade/sex valued in terms of how much dowry they can fetch and instead treat our girls as equal members of the community. Cases of incest, rape, and defilement should not be treated at the family level but instead let those found guilty of the barbaric acts to face the full wrath of the law’’ added
Clara Clara Imali is a trained teacher and a mentor majoring in educating the endangered girl child.
