Approximately
three years ago at Akili Dada we started the conversation of scaling our
programs and being more intentional to serve the most underserved girls and
young women in our communities. For the Young ChangeMakers Program, scaling our
scholarship program meant venturing into new territories where few other
scholarships funds were present and where the need was dire. After a year of extensive
research, site visits, learning and unlearning what works for girls in these
geographies we finally settled on two pilot schools: St. Daniel Comboni
Secondary School and St. Thomas Girls Secondary School in Turkana and Kilifi counties
respectively. In 2019, we successfully
awarded scholarships in both schools.
According to the
Ministry of Health - Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Report, the net
enrollment rate of children in primary school in Turkana County is 59%. Only
12% of girls in this region transition to secondary school. Many girls in the
region are at risk of dropping out of school due to poverty, harmful cultural
practices such as FGM and early and forced child marriage. In Kilifi, on the
other hand, only a quarter, (26%) of children in the official secondary
school-age are enrolled in secondary school. The Kenya Demographic and Health
Survey 2014 shows that 1 in every 4 girls aged 15-19 years in Kilifi has delivered
a child. Alarming high rates of teenage pregnancy, low illiteracy, poverty and
poor parenting plague the region.
Yet with these shocking
statistics, barriers and huge impediments there are always outliers. In our
humbling and fulfilling experience programming in both these regions we have
met them! Not one girl but many of them! We have seen firsthand perspective how
girls with a will and an opportunity can soar. For instance, we have met the fantastic
four; Dzidia, Susan, Swabra and Safina from St. Thomas Girls who invented an
IED Detector for the Kenya Defense Force as part of their science project! We
have met the pioneer KCSE candidates from St. Daniel Comboni who despite lack
of proper infrastructure in their school were able to send a dozen girls to
public university later this year. We have met girls who are hungry to learn,
who want a seat at the front row of their class and who want the same for their
sisters, cousins and neighbors! We have met girls who are challenging lack of
implementation of the back to school policy and who refuse to accept that they
cannot be a teenage mother and a student at the same time. We have met girls
who have spoken up and who have convinced their parents and guardians that
education is truly their key and their right to life. We have met girls who are
hopeful for the future and who want to change the narrative for girls in
Turkana and Kilifi. We are excited to be part of their journey and can’t wait
to see how their stories unfold….
First Published
By Akili Dada on 24th March 2020
