To Erase Some of the Obstacles on the Education of Girls and Help them Stay in School

I went back to this same neighborhood where the trainathon took place as they said I was welcome to visit them anytime and that they were more than happy to help. So, this time they were more in numbers despite the heavy rain which almost made me to cancel the appointment I had made with them. Of course I arrived almost thirty minutes late when some of the members were ready to go to their gardens as the rain has brought happiness to those whose crops were withering already or those which fail to sprout, so, it was clear excitement of the two days of constant rain, day and night and even this morning of the meeting which made some members especially those who sat on the veranda where rain started splashing on them just when the meeting was about to end since we all could not fit in the hut. It was the day for their savings too. I have learnt that in this group, one can save USD 0.27 or 0.32 to 1.6 a week. They also lend to members half of what that person has saved and they return it after a month with an interest of 10%. It is what keeps them going and do other things like run a small vegetable stall or support their children in public schools.

So, first and foremost, we discussed early pregnancies in particularly what causes this;

Poverty on the side of the parents who cannot afford school fees leaving some of these girls frustrated from being bullied about the inability of their parents to afford school fees or basic requirements. And also the girls get tired of being sent home from school almost every week which make them easily give up or surrender to some of the men and boys who have been perusing them.

Distance from school. Because some of these girls lack transport, they have to walk long distances to school and back home (2hrs walk to school and another 2hrs walk back home). So, some of the motor bike riders offer to drop them for free which eventually turns out into a friendship and finally to an intimate relationship resulting into pregnancies and STIs.

Seeking for a better life style in terms of having better diet (eggs, fries, bottled water, chicken and other street fast foods) compared to the ones served at home which make them to accept “friendship” from the boys and men who can buy them such.

Misunderstanding between parents which sometimes cause embarrassment and trauma to the girls who then feel it is better they leave home and stay with a boy she feels gives her peace of mind. But because she knows her parents will not support that relationship, she decides to get pregnant as a key to leaving home and accessing the boy’s home.

Attending functions meant for adults like the last funeral rites where they are taken advantage of by men or boys older than them. And since they have no will power to say “NO” they will eventually be taken advantage of by a single boy or a number of them in that one night of the dance.

Lack of time from parents especially those who work in faraway places and also those who live in the same house but hardly get time to sit down with their daughters to talk about an issue such as this one.

Need for basic personal requirements like pads, panties, handkerchiefs which make them accept the small gifts offered by the boys or men with some of them finding their ways with these girls in bed leading to early pregnancies.

Authoritarian parenting style. This scare some girls who may make this for being unloved and feel as though they are a burden to their parents. They will therefore choose the “the easy life of affection” from strangers or boys and men who end up taking advantage of them.

Too much freedom here some of the girls are given too much space to do all they want which will make them to misuse such freedom to indulge in inappropriate behaviors which eventually put them in the hands of the wrong people who can make them teen mothers.

Lack of school fees which will make the girls go into helping their mothers in trade which may require moving from customer to customer of which some of them may end up luring the girls into accepting their “relief gifts” which gives them access to abuse these young girls making them become teen mums.

Peer pressure/bad friends who rally behind a girl and then keep sending them to pick gifts from boys/men who may not necessarily be strangers and they end up becoming pregnant as a way of paying for those gifts they accepted and yet even in most cases, these gifts were of no monetary values.

Pornography where some children with access to smart phones influence these girls into watching pornography which will tempt them to try out or demonstrate what they watched and in the end, will become pregnant or even drop out of school.

Death of parents which sends these girls into seeking support from the wrong people who might even be relatives who then take advantage of them.

Child-labor with too much work which makes some of these girls to run away in the name of getting relief from work, unaware that thy will become victims of teen mums.

Lack of straight talk which in a number of ways most parents do not share some of this educational straight talks with these girls who may not know that when they run away from home or their parents, they face a number of hardships and even early pregnancies.

NB: Poverty makes parents to collaborate with the perpetrators who may pay their way off to have these girls as wives at such tender age.

Whereas the girls are facing a number of challenges especially in their education, some of them can be prevented which is much easier when they are supported financially. So, I call upon anyone willing to send a girl to school and keep her dreams alive to contribute something towards this cause so that a girl-child can attain education. For USD 20, a girl is able to stay in school for a term in a public day school. You can choose to support with school fees/tuition or school requirements.