Eradicate all forms of inequalities through Sports

We have had a wonderful time having sessions with the adolescent girls on and off the schools, we have had an opportunity to be joined by two amazing young ladies, Neola and Sophie, both of them have the passion to mentor the girls in their communities and they have chosen Girls Up as their entry point to make a difference.

This is the shortest term in the school calendar, about 7 weeks before the schools are closed, with a lot of activities , this meant less time with the girls, this is because of demanding school work that took some of the weekend time.We have have 33 sessions that touched on sexual relationships, including pregnancy, STD’s and HIV/Aids, menstrual cycle and how can one keep themselves clean during the days.

There are engagements with young professional female lawyers who wants  to have a one on one mentorship with the teenage girls. As a result, the female professionals will be coming to talk to the girls about choosing career, and what it takes to be who you want in life, among other topics

One of the highlights of this term is that, one of the girls who used to attend Wasichana Juu sessions in Mukuru has finally agreed to go back to school, Nanjala who is not her real name decided to go back and rewind a class so that she can do her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2020. Nanjala who is 15 years, was supposed to do KCPE this year but she was not able to because she was not registered as a candidate. She had given up with school due to peer pressure from other adolescent girls

After having lengthy talk with teacher Damaris, who is one of their mentors, she finally agreed to go to Class 7 this year so that she can prepare well for the final exam come October 2020.

Nanjala has become a beacon of hope to her community coaches and we hope that she will motivate her peers to work hard in school and decide their destiny.

Wasichana Juu is a weekly, 2-hour Sport for Development program that runs 4 times per year, each session is between 6 – 8 weeks (weather permitting).  We provide an opportunity for girls (aged 9 – 19) to participate in a guided open dialogue of health (physical, sexual, psychological), safety (personal, environmental) and leadership (effective leaders, inclusivity, public speaking) while engaging in physical activity.

We are thrilled to announce that our last session, running May 25 – June 22, 2019 has seen a 400% increase in attendance from the February 9 – March 16, 2019 session.  Our addition of incorporating a Girls Football League has seen our numbers grow from 23 to 90 young women participating in our Saturday program.  Our mini-league has 6 teams that compete every Saturday and then participate in the discussion group.   

We have engaged the girls in discussions about the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse, education regarding healthy and abnormal menstrual cycles and when to seek medical attention, and the potential risks of entering into sexual relationships, including pregnancy, STD’s and HIV/Aids.

We try to empower the young women, show them that knowledge is power.  Having the young women be able to make educated decisions around the social pressures they face is a step forward in the right direction.  We emphasise that through education they will have more opportunities to better support their families, have more enriched relationships and be able to make informed life decisions.

We will continue to focus our program in two slums of Nairob; Mukuru Kwa Njena and Shauri Moyo and are preparing ourselves for the next 400% increase.

We look forward to the next few months and see where the girls lead us.

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