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Personal Stories
Male Champions Against FGM
Moses, 21 years old, is a moran – a Samburu name given to young warriors between the ages of 12 and 25 – living in Wamba, Kenya which is home to the Samburu tribe. Morans play an important role in Samburu society. While elders ultimately make the decisions, morans are expected to discuss issues together and weigh-in, Moses tells us, “Most of the time when ceremonies like marriages happen, the first people to gather are the morans to see if the girl is able to be married off.” The decision for a community to continue practising female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and chil
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Personal Stories
Girl Rescued from FGM
Sarafina is a teenager and goes to a boarding school in Wamba, Kenya. She is like many teen girls around the world: she enjoys school, loves to study Social Studies and English, and has dreams to be a doctor. However, unlike most other teenagers, Sarafina and the other girls in her community face the very real issues of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM). Wamba is home to the pastoralist Samburu tribe which has a higher prevalence rate of CEFM at 38%, compared to the national average of 23% in Kenya. CEFM and FGM/C are linked in Samburu cu
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Fighting FGM/C and Child Marriage in Kenya: “My Experience is my Power”
Talaso Gababa is a member of the Gabra, a pastoral community-based in Marsabit County, Northern Kenya. For the last three years, she has worked with Amref Health Africa to bring an end to Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C) and Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) in her community. I was six years old when I was passed through “the cut” at the behest of my grandparents, who are very traditional. In my community, the cut is viewed as a rite of passage into womanhood: a precursor to marriage. When a girl is cut, word will spread from village to villag
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Personal Stories
Security Guard by Day, Health Worker in Training and Practice, Jane’s Story
Many unsung heroes are making a difference in their community, particularly during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-six-year-old Jane Njeri Kagwiria Kubai is one such individual. She wears many hats; she is a security guard, a frontline health worker, a student and a mother based in Nyeri County. She works hard as a security guard so at to fulfil her dreams of being a health worker. A single mother of a six-year-old boy (her greatest inspiration) Jane is an early bird, waking up at 3 AM every day to catch the worm. Growing up in a humble family setting, Jane navigated life with v
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Building Health Worker Capacity on Home-Based Care and Isolation Using Digital Learning in Kenya
By Leticia Buluma “The Kenya Ministry of Health launched the Home-Based Isolation and Care protocols, on 10th June 2020 as one of the case management strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This was because approximately 78% of persons who have contracted COVID-19 are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms which can be managed at home’’ Kenya Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe. As Kenya continues to experience an increase in the number of persons contracting COVID-19, there is increasing pressure on the available resources necessary to provid
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Personal Stories
The Story of Gloria Bella, a Youth Advocate
On Wednesday the 12th of August we celebrate International Youth Day. The film crew of Amref Health Africa Dagoretti Child Protection and Development Centre spoke to several inspiring youths about meaningful youth engagement. Their voices are important today and therefore they should be included in political processes now. Young people are standing up, raising their voices and contributing to sustainable change. Let’s listen. My name is Gloria Bella Ouma. I’m 20 years old and I’m working as an advocacy officer. I am also an actress and I work in
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Personal Stories
Faith – Family planning with youth
Faith is one of the 20 nurses working at the Waithaka Health Centre in Dagoretti, a neighbourhood in Nairobi with high rates of poverty. It is the only health centre with maternal facilities in an area of nearly 330,000 people. Every day 500 patients visit the centre, and about 8 to 10 women give birth daily there. She manages the family planning services with women and youth of the area. She has noticed a change lately. "Something must be changing in the community, as more and more young people are coming to the family planning service," she says. That change probably happens thanks to
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Personal Stories
Gideon Obuya – Peer Educator at Riruta Health Centre, Dagoretti
Gideon Obuya welcomes the visitors of the Riruta Health Center, in Dagoretti, a neighbourhood with high levels of poverty and unemployment on the outskirts of Nairobi, with a smile on his face. He likes to deal with people. Maybe that is why this 23-year-old television actor decided, five years ago, to become a peer educator for young people of his neighbourhood and improve the situation of the boys and girls surrounding him. "I want to be a change-maker in my community," he says smiling. "And I think I've changed something”. This change involves improving the sexual and reproduct
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Blog
5 ways in which the UK media can improve its coverage of COVID-19 in Africa
Written by Rachel Erskine and Janice Njoroge, Communications Managers with Amref Health Africa
Africa Bracing for a Head-On Collision with Coronavirus, The coronavirus could devastate poor countries, African Countries Fear They Are Defenceless Against Inevitable Spread of Coronavirus. These are just some of the headlines that have appeared since the first cases of coronavirus were confirmed on the African continent. As we write, the number of confirmed cases in Africa has just passed 1 million. Rates of testing vary dramatically from one country to the next, suggesting w Read More
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Personal Stories
Hope for Underprivileged Girls as 49 Receive Scholarships
Many children in Kajiado County, Kenya do not have a chance to study beyond primary school due to social, economic or cultural factors. Girls, on the other hand, are disproportionately at risk of facing the harsh cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) leading to child marriage and teenage pregnancy, which affects their school enrolment. Statistics from a 2016 Ministry of Education study shows the gross enrollment rate in the County was about 22 per cent for boys and 18 per cent for girls. In 2017, Amref Health Africa in Kenya awarded 49 girls and 19 boys in Kajiad
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