Sisi ni Dada

Teenage Pregnancies

 There are 16 Million teenage(18-19 yrs) pregnancies globally, which comprise 11% of the total births. In Kenya, teenage pregnancy stands at 18%  between the ages of 15-19 years.The situation varies by county with some counties being disproportionately affected than others. 14% of girls aged 15-19 years in Bungoma County have begun childbearing; lower than the national level. Specifically, 0.7% are pregnant with their first child and 13.8% have ever given birth compared to 3.4% and 14.7%, respectively, at the national level.2

Bungoma County’s age-specific fertility rate for girls aged 15-19 (adolescent birth rate) is 103 births per 1000 girls; marginally higher than at the national level (96).

The causes of teenage pregnancies are lack of education on sexual reproductive health, lack of information about contraceptives, poverty which leads to inaccessibility to menstrual products and harmful cultural practices. 

This has seen many girls' dreams shuttered as they were unable to continue with their education and were required to stay at home and take care of their children.

We believe that our girls need information on SRHR and that is why we started the Sisi ni Dada campaign. This is a blended online and physical campaign under Back Up and Strong, a program that focuses on teen's general well-being. 

Sisi ni Dada aims to reach out to young girls both online and physically and provide them with information on contraceptives and menstrual hygiene. We do this with the help of the parents and the community at large including the administration, village elders, church leaders, community health volunteers, community health workers, public health officers and the nearest health facilities.

By providing information on SRHR, we help to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. Many young girls in our community, are underserved because once they are victims of teenage pregnancies most of them are forced into early marriages which puts an end to their education.

During our campaigns, parents are encouraged to support their children as we also provide information about the SRHR

We strongly believe that we are the right people to design and deliver this solution because with the three wholesome years of working passionately and tirelessly in improving the Sexual Reproductive Health care of young girls in our community at large
We indeed are in a great position to deliver this solution as we have good understanding of the barriers to SRHR care that our girls face and the outcomes to that

To understand the needs of the girls we are always having Open Discussions where young girls open up on matters affecting them. This has helped our girls know that they can open up about issues they are facing without fear. They are mostly engaged through the open discussions and the Qn, sessions
The community is also at the forefront in spearheading our solution because for the process to be effective we need everyone around us to participate and that includes Teens, health practitioners, church leaders etc

Two hundred and Fifty girls

Sisi ni Dada has blended both online and physical spaces unlike most of the campaigns similar to this that are either fully online or physical and hence reach out to a specific audience. This in turn gives us a wider audience hence a positive intact

1 .Zero/Reduce no. of teenage pregnancies
2. Zero/Reduce no . Of school drop outs
3.Have a community of girls helping other girls

We are reaching to a high number of girls both physically and online in different parts of the country. In Bungoma alone, out of 1,000 girls 100 of them are victims of teenage pregnancies. From an interview, we had with some of the girls in Webuye West Constituency they are not able to access the information on SRHR care i.e contraceptives and they also lack basic menstrual products and these are the major causes of high cases of teenage pregnancies and school drop outs

3

3years

1. Diversity - Our team has a diverse field of members from different..... When we scale down to our leaders, we have people holding different beliefs, from different tribes, with different religious stand yet they work together towards achieving our organizations goal and bringing our vision to life
2. Equity- We are able to reach out to girls who are underserved ensuring that they have equal opportunities to access to information SRHR care and menstrual equipment and break the barriers they face.
 3. Inclusivity - We know and believe that for us to achieve what we want to we need to include and involve everyone in the process. And that's why the community is at the forefront in the process of bringing this solution to life
We work together with the local administration, the institutions around, churches and the health practitioners to ensure that our girls get to a point where they are able to get access to information on SRHR and the services as well.