THE BUMP

'THE BUMP'

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'l got pregnant at 17, it got me as a shock, l didn't understand the world l will be moving in, l had depression and felt so lost.......children are a gift yes, but they should come by choice, so let's talk about sex, contraceptive but most importantly abstinence,' she said.

'Stories we could tell with our eyes closed,'Biko Zulu says.

Hello my esteemed readers, it is my pleasure to be back here again, after a very long time.

I hope you have been keeping well and that we are going to enjoy our ride together.

My opening statement is already evident of what l want to pen down today, and why l choose the african portrait as my photo of reference, is the unending passion l have for Africa and all that is in it.

I would have loved to start this blog by reminding us of our lows and highs in the month of October but then, it would take forever, however it's not lost in my mind that,

'No human is limited.'

I am a social media campaigner, and l promote most of the issues l hold so dear on my online platforms. For the last three weeks, l have been promoting this campaign dubbed 'Sauti Sasa' which most of us are familiar of because l tagged you along and you didn't hesitate to join the challenge, many thanks, we owe this generation.

'Sauti Sasa' is an online campaign that's focused on amplifying our voices against the rapid rise of teenage pregnancy in the 47 counties. But, what attracted me to this campaign? I was startled by the statistics of the growing number of teenage pregnancies, particularly in the western counties. This made me rally every single person to just put their voices out there and be part of the challenge, because sometimes that's what counts.

Allow me therefore to seek your indulgence and engage you on some of the voices put out there.

First, why should teenage pregnancy matter to us, it's because most of the victims are below 18 years, right!

Where l sit, l feel we have created more awareness, and what's left to us is starting to actualize solutions to teenage pregnancy, from the effective implementation of adolescent health friendly services in our counties to the New curriculum accomodating age and developmetally appropriate comprehensive sexuality education.

I have a particular interest in Sexual Reproductive health and Rights, but it's so unfortunate that key players haven't got into it's full implementation, but good news is, it is quickly catching up with us.

Many times, when l reflect on the levels of teenage pregnancy in Kenya and beyond, l spend much of my time wishing SRHR was an agenda on its on and not pegged on anything.

Are our schools sensitizing both boys and girls on SRHR?

Are the police arresting perpetrators?

Are perpetrators being prosecuted ?

Are schools making reentrance of girls as easy as possible?

Let's painstakingly reflect on these hard but so important questions

Ending teenage pregnancy is surely a collective effort, we all have a role to play in combating this,

'If we all swept our door steps, the world would be a cleaner place.'

If we all played our different roles, ending teenage pregnancy would slowly be a milestone achieved, it would have seemed like too much effort was put to it, but everyone would have played a role!

It may be as small as advocating for the implementation of certain policies, mentoring girls and boys on sexual Reproductive health and rights, grassroots advocacy or even getting into sustainable programmes like reusable pads that will keep them in school.

I urge you to take it upon yourself and see what we can collectively do.

It is indeed a promising world, no doubt.

Yours Sincerely

Abukayo Murunga