September 16-30, 2010
ISSUE 025
A bimonthly on-line newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of African Woman and Child Feature Service
Slum teens pay with unwanted pregnancies
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By David Njagi
amuel Njoroge (not his real name) and Evelyn Anyango may be from different genders but they share a string of experiences. Both are young, have grown up in the Korogocho slum and are school dropouts. But the most striking similarity is that they both lost their virginity at 14 years. Now 24 years old, Njoroge remembers that he was lured into early sex through peer pressure. With that initial experience he cannot remember the number of girls he has impregnated who have given birth to children out of wedlock. However, there is a black spot to his young machoist life.
hiv infection Today Njoroge is among the people living with HIV. He discovered his status when he was 17. He was so angry with what had become of his life that he set out on a revenge mission. “I cannot remember how many times I had unprotected sex so that I could revenge on those who had infected me,” recalls Njoroge. “The best spot was on the open ground along the river but night burial arrangements fitted me fine because I could pick up any young girl I wanted with only KSh50.”
That was the life he led until he met an HIV counsellor three years later, who changed his life.One of the girls who was having unprotected sex with Njoroge could have been 20 year old Anyango, because the promise of instant money was the reason she engaged in premature sex.
Unprotected sex Unlike Njoroge, however, an unwanted pregnancy shocked her into visiting a VCT centre, where she happily discovered that she was HIV negative. She has never had unprotected sex again. Both Njoroge and Anyango have one regret though. Their parents failed to groom them on matters related to sex.“Here in the slums it is not easy to discuss sex matters with parents because the issue is yet to be demystified,” says Anyango, who is also a mother of a five year old daughter. Like Anyango and Njoroge, youth growing up in Kenya’s slums find themselves trapped into the vicious cycle of early sex, some even before they have been initiated into teenage hood. Parents in the slums especially the women are trying their best to instil good morals on their children especially now
A section of Kibera slum. Inset: Evelyn Anyango and a fellow slum teen who are victims of teenage pregnancies and HIV infections at the Korogocho slum. Pictures: David Njagi and Reject correspondent
that teenage pregnancy is on the rise. Immaculate Musya, a slum women’s leader is calling on slum women to take up the responsibility of educating their children on sex matters to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and early pregnancies.
Open discussions “Women should be open with their children when it comes to discussing issues relating to sex,” Musya says. She reiterates: “Children as young as 14 are engaging in premarital sex. Parents need to talk to their children on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and the importance of practicing safe sex.” It is because of the high incidence of teen pregnancy that Musya took it upon herself to sensitise slum women on the
importance of constantly talking to teenagers. Musya, chairperson of the Slum Women Network last week attended a seminar on how to lead a better life as Nairobi women and how to lead better families by the Nairobi Women’s leaders. “The information that I received from this training is what I have been sharing with fellow parents in the slums,” she says. A mother of two and coordinator of Laini Saba Project Centre and Home Care in Kibera, Ms Margaret Atieno says she talks to her children as often as possible about premarital sex and HIV/AIDS. “I try my level best to counsel my children about the dangers of engaging in Continued on page 2
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