Early Pregnancies And Back To School

October 12, 2020

On a Wednesday afternoon, we met with a group of girls from Ongata Rongai and had a discussion about early pregnancies and back-to-school challenges. Many of the girls have unfortunately, fallen pregnant during the pandemic period while they have been home; some have also given birth. We looked at the below:

• The definition of early pregnancies
• Causes of early pregnancies
• Effects and consequences of early pregnancies
• Prevention of early marriages
• Group discussions

A group leader was appointed to present the work from each group. Our goal was to engage them in teamwork and test their level of knowledge on the topic of early pregnancy. After the presentation, we realized the girls had received enough knowledge on early pregnancies, but we still discussed the points briefly just to make sure they all understood and retained the correct information. The girls listed some of the factors that lead to early pregnancies namely, peer pressure, poverty, rape, drugs, curiosity, media impact, misinformation, amongst others.

Though it was not mentioned by the girls, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was added as a leading cause of early pregnancies since, once a girl undergoes the procedure, she is considered an adult and a husband is immediately found, the age of the girl notwithstanding. FGM, early pregnancies and early marriages go hand-in-hand.

We also encouraged the Form 4 students to do their best in their studies as they prepare to go back to school on Monday the 12th of October as directed by the government. Some girls had concerns that they might not be able to go back to school immediately due to lack of school fees. Their parents generally felt the one week given by the government for students to return to school was not adequate; the parents felt they needed more time to prepare financially as they had assumed schools would reopen in January 2021.

Both parents and students are anxious and depressed, especially those parents who got laid off from their jobs due to Covid 19. Families which relocated to the villages in an attempt to cut costs are now burdened with the task of raising money to relocate back to the city. (Bear in mind that the transportation cost is double the normal price due to high demand and social distancing).

Parents will have a hard time providing tuition fees plus new uniforms for the children. Most of the old uniforms are either too short or too tight because the children have outgrown them in the seven months they have been home from school.

The girls noted that their challenges would be mostly waking up early in the morning and concentrating in their classes especially for the first week in school, and additionally following rules which have been put in place by the government in schools to stop the spread of Covid 19.

We encouraged the girls to stop worrying about the financial situation of their parents and have faith in God that everything will fall into place. They just need to focus on their studies and look forward to accomplishing their goals in life, and to thereby, make themselves and their parents proud.

Group 1 Discussion Presentation

Group 2 Discussion Presentation

Group 3 Discussion Presentation