Women journalists from Kirinyaga County have expressed concerns over the high number of expectant girls living in the streets.
The journalists who partnered with the Kenya Red Cross Society to donate foodstuffs and other essential items to street children in Mwea town said it’s unfortunate that most of the affected girls are underage.
Kirinyaga Media Queens Association Bancy Lole called for urgent measures to be put in place to help get the children off the streets and ensure the expectant ones receive the necessary medical care.
Reports indicate that some children run away from their homes to work in rice farms that provide a high demand for cheap labour and eventually end up on the streets.
Lole appealed to the county government to consider establishing a training program that would give the street children a chance to enrol for technical courses in local vocational training centres to give them a source of livelihood in future.
“The county government has many community health promoters who can reach out to the girls and help them start their ante-natal clinics,” Lole said.
She also underscored the need for street children to be sensitized on sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancies to help them make better decisions.
She called for the formulation of a law that would require a census of all street children to be conducted and some of the children re-integrated with their families.
“There needs to be strict punitive measures against parents who neglect their children, forcing them to turn to the streets,” she added.
Lole said they chose to spend the day with street children to encourage and mentor them saying many members of the society stigmatize and segregate them despite their young ages and needs.
With some support, the journalist said some of the children exhibit skills and talents that can be honed and enable them to be self-reliant.
“If more well-wishers are available, we can find ways of helping them go back to school and improve the quality of their lives. We may not be able to get them off the streets instantly but over time, we’re confident the numbers will go down,” she said.
On her part, Kenya Red Cross representative Mary Mwai said some of the children ran from their families due to peer pressure while others are drug users and require rehabilitation.
She however noted that many have displayed the desire to change their lives but require continuous mentorship.
The children accused the police of brutality saying they beat them up and dispose of their clothes to discourage them from inhabiting the streets, denying claims that they have been engaging in criminal activities.
The majority of the street girls narrated stories of how they left their homes, mostly due to gender-based violence, negligence by parents, poverty or death of parents.
