Betty Gikonyo: Investing in girls’ education the key to unlocking their power

Today, in retrospect, I can state with solid authority the benefits, to society, of investing in women.

In my autobiography, The Girl Who Dared to Dream, I expounded at length how I started from the basic roots of village life in central Kenya, grew up on bare necessities, clinging only to the thread of education to become one of Kenya’s female pioneers in cardiology.

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The International Women’s Day stirs me to broach the topic: Investing in Women.

As we reflect on the meaning of this UN-recognised day, we need to emphasise that women begin as small girls, become bigger girls, and then young women, progress to be women with a family, mature women and elderly women.

This dissection is useful as it allows us to state specific requirements and interventions that we need to address at specific stages of a woman’s life.

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In early childhood, investing in the woman should take the shape of ensuring that the toddler girl gets the same recognition as her counterpart boy-child.

The preference for boys in some communities discriminates against the baby girl from the onset.

The background in which I grew up was replete with stereotypes that cemented discrimination against the girl-child.

She was seen as a temporary resident as she would be married off to another home. This meant that investing in her was only in the interest of getting a good bride price when she would be married off, often as an underage bride.

Discrimination in education and health started at this early age.

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To overcome this trend, investing in girls from birth to school-going age must become a proactive rather than reactive policy.

She should be seen in the same light as her boy-child counterpart and be accorded educational opportunities as a clear investment objective by parents, guardians and society.

Chores at home should be shared with the boy-child, not to disadvantage the girl-child in her school performance.

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Those of us who grew up in the village will testify to the fact that a schoolgirl rushed home to assigned chores of fetching water from the river, fetching firewood and being in the kitchen until the family was fed.

No one saw the cardiologist in me as I blew the embers of firewood to bring githeri to the boil, while the boys played freely without hard chores.

The boy-child counterpart returned from school with minimal responsibilities and could play and be a child, a stimulus to good health.

Investing in the young girl, the future woman, needs to start at this early age.

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Come puberty and adolescence, girls need great support in handling menstruation. Missed school days are the norm for many girls who cannot afford sanitary pads.

This topic has remained taboo, hence unaddressed. Luckily, greater awareness of the hindrance that this biological phenomenon places on girls’ education has led to establishment of foundations locally.

Providing monthly sanitary pads for girls as part of school stationery is a great way of investing in women of the future.

They will not miss school; they will not have to deal with embarrassment when they stain their uniforms.

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These may seem trivial issues, but they impact psychologically, emotionally and, in the short and long term, on the academic performance of our girls.

Investing directly in the education of our young women means affirmatively ensuring equal numbers of boys and girls at all levels of education.

Not only do we have to invest in the high school education of our girls but also in science infrastructure and teachers.

This will open up opportunities for our girls to study science subjects, thus preparing them for science-based university and Tvet courses.

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Opportunities in the workplace may be close to a fair playing ground for similarly qualified graduates.

Another issue that comes up is another biological phenomenon called pregnancy, one unique to the female gender.

I sometimes wonder what God intended for the career woman who wants to have a family and progress her career.

If I had a chance to meet God, I would propose that the responsibility of carrying the unborn child be alternatively shared between men and women, now that we have graduated from the hunters-and-gatherers evolutionary phase.

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Having no possibility of such a conversation, let me go back to investing in women by helping them navigate the pregnancy and career progression.

This has been addressed theoretically, albeit with little to show on the ground about working from home, breastfeeding stations, baby crèches, in the workplace.

Investing in women must be more than paying lip service but by executing clear initiatives that empower the girl-child from infancy and throughout the life cycle of a woman’s life.

The writer is the chairperson of The Karen Hospital.