Creating a safe space for ‘rejected’ children with kids of their own

For decades, teen pregnancies have been a reality in Kenya. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, fuelled the situation shedding light on the crisis at hand.

The stigma and family shame associated with it has made many young girls, who need support and guidance, a punching bag for their families and the society at large. Most of the teenagers are rejected.

However, at the heart of Kieni, Nyeri County in a small village called Gatarakwa, a 32-year-old woman is out to change this narrative.

Elizabeth Muriuki started a rescue centre for expectant teenagers and teen mothers. She hoped to create a safe space for these children who now have babies of their own.

The former social worker started the home to help teenage girls rejected by their families and communities for getting pregnant.

Having been a teenage mum herself, she knew all too well how hard it was to raise a child while still a student. While her family supported her, she saw her peers lack support and forced to drop out of school and their futures ruined.

She wanted to create a place where the young girls would continue with their education despite being mothers.

“I sat for my KCSE while pregnant and I remember how scared I was because I believed that my life was over and that I had to drop out of school,” she says

“I had support from my family but that was not the case for other girls in my village, most of them dropped out and got married at a young age and this made me want to support teenage mothers,” she adds.

Rescue centre

Ms Muriuki did not realise how much she wanted to assist the girls until she moved to Nyeri as a social worker. She discovered that there were young girls who had been shun simply because they got pregnant.

“I met one girl specifically and I helped her get into a rescue centre though it was a big hustle; so I thought that there could be more suffering yet did not have a place to go. I started the home in January 2020 with two girls,” she says.

During the Covid-19 pandemic the number grew and now there are 28 girls in the home.

While some have gone back home to their parents for the holidays, 13 are still at the shelter because they do not have families to go back to.

She then had to find a way to ensure the girls continue with their education.

She started a secondary school within the facility, where the girls can continue with their education while close to their children.

The girls in the home are aged between 14 and 20 years. Some are pregnant, while others have children whose ages range from two weeks to two years.

“Unlike other schools, here, a girl cannot be stigmatised for having a baby because they all do and this helps them cope and feel safe,” the mother of three says.

The girls attend their classes in the morning while the children are left under the care of a matron and two social workers.

During the break, the girls go off to see their children and feed them as they have their tea. The girls take care of the children and ensure they are fed and cleaned during the lunch hour.

“The children are their responsibility. They feed them, wash them, and clean their clothes. This is to make sure they know that it is their responsibility,” she says.

“We also have rules; as long as you live here, you are not allowed to be in any romantic relations. Since the baby is here, we cannot kill them for it but I discourage them from getting pregnant again while still in school,” she says.

The programme has seen nearly 30 girls who dropped out of school, due to early pregnancies enrol back to class.

Most of the girls are in secondary school in Form One, Two and Three, while two are in primary school.

Sex education

She offers counselling services for the girls on topics including sex education, health and psychosocial support. She also hold talks with them on several occasions.

“I love those babies. I visit them, look at them individually. I am concerned about their wellbeing. I want to make sure they do not suffer like their mothers’ have,” she says.

“These girls have been through so much; from lack of to quality and youth-friendly, judgement free antenatal care, to denial of a functional home, educational, economic and social access and support, they have limited options in their lives as young single mothers,” she adds.

The hardest time, she says, is when one of her girls goes to labour.

“I always have an array of mixed feelings. Am anxious, scared, and happy among others. I pray that they deliver safely and love their own babies because if they do not, that is the hardest part,” Ms Muriuki says.

“Most of my girls come to me homeless, hungry, depressed and pregnant and I help them. I get some people who curse me saying that we are encouraging more kids to engage in irresponsible sexual behaviour by taking them in, but these kids would be homeless on the streets uneducated and unable to support their babies, which is not right,” she adds.

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