As reported in our previous newsletter, in rural Kenya, many teenage girls, often from very poor households, find themselves pregnant. Their parents, busy with survival, leave their children to their own devices. The girls know virtually nothing about human reproduction. But when they get pregnant, the parents are often very angry and take the girl out of school as punishment and out of shame. As a result, her future is severely compromised. These early pregnancies are also high risk, as the girl’s body is not ready. Fistula and other lifelong invalidating sequels can occur when a teenage mom survives a difficult birth she went through all alone, caught by surprise or deliberately hiding away.
We want to save the lives of these pregnant teens and bring teenage pregnancy down. They need appropriate care and assistance during childbirth, as well as advice on contraception and support for returning to school or finding employment, and acceptance by their families.
To reduce teenage pregnancies overall, sexual education classes will be organized by the JamboMama! team in the secondary schools and other places where youth gatherings occur in that area. The age of first pregnancy continues to go down; we need to reach young people who have barely reached puberty, aged 11-14.
The educational and training materials used are the content of our JamboMama! app, available in video and PowerPoint formats for viewing at group discussions and special sexual education material under development in consultation with the local implementing team. Content: healthy lifestyle and nutrition, biological reproductive health facts, but also how to access post-rape counselling and care, including the morning-afterpill, now approved by the Kenyan government.
Our crowdfunding goals:
1) Medical care, pregnancy monitoring, and school reintegration or a decent job for some 50 pregnant teenagers.
2) Sex education and pregnancy prevention for girls and boys in secondary schools.
- With €100, you provide one pregnant teenage girl with antenatal, intranatal and postnatal care and coaching for reinsertion for a future of hope > € 5000
- With €50, you fund a sexual health education session for 20 to 40 young people > € 600
- With €30 you pay for the travel, food and mobile credit allowance for a health promotor visiting pregnant teenagers.
Total: €7200, in partnership with a medical clinic in Endebess funded by the NGO Angels Cover.
This campaign will start on October 19th on HelloAsso. Keep an eye on your mailbox and be the first to contribute!
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