Empowering Adolescent Girls of Kenya

Girls from poverty-stricken backgrounds face many challenges. ​

Poverty:​ poverty leads to hunger, nutrient deficiency, increases the rate of girls dropping out of school and increases the rate at which girls are taken advantage of sexually which leads to increased rate of pregnancy. Poverty also deprives girls of basic needs and contributes to inter-generational poverty cycles.

Early marriage, forced or arranged marriages, and child dowry: These arrangements deprive girls of their childhood and contribute to a lost sense of self.

Traditions & Culture: Some harmful aspects of culture and tradition are rooted deep, going back generations. These aspsects propogate gender inequality starting from early childhood and leave girls stripped of dignity and power, with lack of self worth and self confidence. Gender based violence, stereo types, FGM, early marriage and gender inequality all are rooted in culture and tradition. 

HERE FOR HER
Breaking the Cycle by Taking Action to Empower Girls ​

Each year, we bring together girls into our Here for Her initiative, where we will empower them to stay in school and to avoid early marriage and FGM. We teach them how to care for their minds and their bodies, to know their value and to expect more out of life. Our goal is for these girls to become strong, powerful women in their communities.

Our two-week program is all-female led and includes a curriculum designed to cover a broad range of topics. It’s an intensive program hosted at our children’s rescue center, Garden of Hope, in Western Kenya. The program is strategically scheduled into a critical window of time during the annual school breaks in Kenya, when many traditional ceremonies take place, including early marriage and FGM. Not only will the girls be kept safe from these traditions by being in our program, but we’ll also utilize the time to teach them essential life lessons. Our program will cover a broad range of topics, including:

• Importance of education and resources for ways they can stay in school

• Female wellness, health and hygiene: we will distribute reuasable menstrual kits from Days for Girls. Proper menstrual health management is a universal human right, a critical component of gender equity and vital to women and girls reaching their full potential.

• Nutrition

• Team-building exercises

• Ending gender-based violence; training and education regarding boundaries and healthy relationships

• Practical training: each girl will learn from women who have paved their own way, either through entrepreneurial action or through education and formal training. The girls will learn about what is required to go to college and will learn examples of vocational livelihoods. We’ll teach them how to care for chickens, and a traditional “kitchen garden” both of which can be leveraged for healthier diets and for income.