She Leads is a five-year programme funded by Terre Des Hommes and conducted by the Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa, a non-governmental organization.
•NAYA programme officer Dorcus Mwachi says the programme has rescued many girls from gender-based violence and empowered them.
Image: SHABAN OMAR
Four years ago, Hazina Saidi Mwajefa from Bombo village in Matuga, Kwale dropped out of school after getting pregnant while in Form 2.
Due to the difficult environment at home, she became an easy target for sex predators, men who promised to help her.
However, after struggling, there was light a the end of the tunnel.
She is now an upcoming businesswoman and among young women in Kwale whose lives have been transformed by the She Leads programme.
She Leads is a five-year programme funded by Terre Des Hommes and conducted by the Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa, a non-governmental organization.
Its main objective is to increase the sustained influence of girls and young women on decision-making and transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions.
Mwajefa says since she enrolled on the programme, she has been empowered.
“I had lost control of my life because I gave birth when I was young but I embraced the programme for a better change,” she says.
Mwajefa is now reaping huge from a mobile boutique, a business idea she got from the programme.
In Mwangulu Lunga-Lunga subcounty, Mwanapili Kauli has also managed to make a fortune from the programme.
Kauli got pregnant while in Form 3.
Due to constant hardships at home, she got married aged 18 years.
Marriage lifege was not a soothing one and had to return home.
However, she is now a young livestock businesswomen in Mwangulu.
Miriam Wanjiro from Matuga who dropped out of school after getting pregnant in Form 4 back in 2016, is a second-hand clothes seller in the county.
Apart from doing business, the young women have resumed learning and joined technical training institutes and colleges within Kwale.
Kauli is pursuing her certificate in Information and Communication Technology in one of the private colleges in the region.
Wanjiro is currently doing Social Work and Community Development courses while Mwajefa is undergoing special business management training.
Wanjiro says the exposure and empowerment she got from She Leads made her realise the value of education.
“We used to meet other girls in seminars under this programme who are well educated and that ignited my passion for education,” she says.
Mwajefa’s business is one-and-half years old and she started doing table banking before coming up with the business concept.
She said the programme provided them with various socioeconomic skills that helped broaden their mental capacity.
Mwajefa says she and the other 30 girls formed a merry-go-round group where she took a loan as a start-up for her Swahili clothes business.
She sells stylish Dera dresses, head scarfs, ladies’ leather sandals, handbags, necklaces, bids and bangles.
She Leads exposed the girls to government grants and projects to help sustain their livelihood and enhance resilience.
Mwajefa says she got a boost after receiving KYEOP grants.
“Thanks to this programme, I came to know of many youth funds and empowerment projects because with KYEOP I was able to add more stock,” she said.
The business is currently sustaining Mwajefa and her family.
She says the programme has helped her reclaim her life back and become self-dependent.
“I got pregnant because of poverty and used my body to survive but now, I have my own business and I live a decent life,” she says.
Kauli says she started her business with two goats which she bought using her savings.
The young mother says she was employed as a casual labourer at Mwangulu market where she managed to raise Sh2,500 which later became her business starting capital.
She could count the livestock coming in and out of the market.
Kauli says the business has grown and she is now selling 15-17 goats within two weeks.
One goat could go for Sh6,000 or more depending on the size of the animal and season.
Kauli has two children.
Wanjiro raised her capital through contributions from friends and KYEOP grants where she bought a bale of clothing for Sh13,000 which gave her a Sh27, 000 profit.
The 23-year-old operates in an open-air market and goes round Kwale selling clothes.
She started the business in May this year and she has already sold four bales. One bale could take about three weeks.
The business has become the biggest source of Wanjiro’s income.
“I thank God, I pay my college school fees, buy food and look after my children with the profit I get from the business,” she says.
The young women have urged their colleagues never to give up.
“It doesn’t matter how your life got messed up, what’s important is doing the correct thing and focusing on the future because anything is possible,” Wanjiro says.
NAYA programme officer Dorcus Mwachi says the programme has rescued many girls from gender-based violence and empowered them.
Therefore, this has made hundreds of girls and women believe in themselves and establish various businesses for self-support.
She says before, the community was opposed to women’s leadership and girls had no voice.
“We have made great achievements before the community were into old tradition and culture that hindered women’s leadership and empowerment,” she says.