Tharaka Nithi First Lady’s Initiative To Vulnerable Teenagers Through Jiinue Sasa Program
Tharaka-Nithi County First Lady Mrs Margaret Muthomi (centre) with students of Turima Hills Day School in Tharaka constituency. She donated dignity kits to both boys and girls through her Jiinue Sasa Intiative. Photo/ Mwenda Njeru
By Mwenda Njeru
Worth Noting:
- “We must end teenage pregnancies and early marriages in our county so that girls, even those from poor families, can be empowered through education which is the greatest equalizer in the society,” said Mrs Muthomi.
- She said boys also drop from school due to drugs and other challenges ending up becoming very desperate in life.
- Mrs Muthomi said she decided to start the initiative to promote community advocacy for education while keeping girls in school through sanitary towels, dignity packs and mentorship programs.
- The program also capacitates women, youths and people living with disabilities through innovative community practices and development of life skills which bring sustainable changes in their lives.
Tharaka Nithi County First Lady has put a smile on the faces of vulnerable teenagers through her Jiinue Sasa Initiative
Tharaka Nithi County First Lady, Mrs Margaret Muthomi has stressed on the need to deal with challenges which lead to learners dropping out of school.
Speaking on Friday while donating dignity kits to students in Kiaritha Secondary School in Igambang’ombe ward and Turima Hills Day Secondary School in Marimanti ward through her Jiinue Sasa Initiative, Mrs Muthomi said one of the main reasons why girls drop out of school is teenage pregnancy.
She said some men take advantage of innocent girls from poor families by luring them with money resulting in teenage pregnancies or even early marriages.
“We must end teenage pregnancies and early marriages in our county so that girls, even those from poor families, can be empowered through education which is the greatest equalizer in the society,” said Mrs Muthomi.
She said boys also drop from school due to drugs and other challenges ending up becoming very desperate in life.
Mrs Muthomi said she decided to start the initiative to promote community advocacy for education while keeping girls in school through sanitary towels, dignity packs and mentorship programs.
The program also capacitates women, youths and people living with disabilities through innovative community practices and development of life skills which bring sustainable changes in their lives.
Climate challenges
She added that the initiative also addresses the challenges of climate change through creating awareness and providing community-based solutions including planting trees.
“We need to not only take care of our girls but also the boys because they are also vulnerable to the social evils so that we can have both empowered girl-child and boy-child for a balanced society,” she said.
Some of the items donated to the students included; sanitary towels, soap, inner wears, tissue paper, tooth paste and toothpaste.
Tharaka Nithi County Gender Chief Officer, Ms Kelly Rwigi noted that there are also cases of defilement and some are not reported to the authorities for a legal action.
She said some of the criminals involved in defilement cases are the same relatives who are supposed to protect the victims and sometimes such cases are not exposed.
She asked girls to avoid men who take advantage of their poverty and innocence only to impregnate or even marry them before completing school.
“Data shows that there are still many cases of defilement in our county including sodomy,” said Ms Rwigi.
County Public Health Chief Officer, Ms Rose Micheni and nominated Member of Tharaka Nithi County Assembly Zachary Njagi also stressed on the need to protect both girls and boys from social evils.
Protect both boys and girls
Kairitha Secondary School Principal, Mr Silas Mboroki and his Turima Hills Day School counterpart Judith Kamunda appreciated Mrs Muthomi for identifying their schools for her program.
Ms Kamunda urged the First Lady through the initiative to consider donating some foodstuff for Form Four candidates during the examination period.
“We usually have food challenges during the examination period because I cannot send the candidates home to bring fees, making it very difficult to keep them here,” said Ms Kamunda.
While lauding the initiative, Turima location chief, Philip Njeru and his Kathura assistant chief Brenda Mbinya said the collaboration between national and county governments administration officers has helped end many social evils.
Mutugi insisted that they will not relent on the fight against teenage pregnancies, early marriages, female genital mutilation, drug abuse and other evils which ruin the current and the future lives of the young people.
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