Lamu teen mum fixing her life as a mechanic
Margaret Nyambura Mugo,19, the Lamu teen mum mechanic in action at Sparkle Vehicle Garage in Mpeketoni, Lamu West.
What you need to know:
- Margaret Nyambura Mugo dropped out of school after she got pregnant while in Form One.
- Today, she works as a mechanic at the Mpeketoni Sparkle Garage.
- She is the only woman at the vehicle garage that has more than ten mechanics and casual labourers.
Margaret Nyambura Mugo is determined to change the teenage girl’s narrative, especially teen mothers.
The 19-year-old dropped out of school after she got pregnant while in Form One, in 2018.
The last born in a family of five, felt that she was a great disappointment to her parents.
But she did not lose hope.
After giving birth, she started doing odd, casual jobs to survive with her child, in their rural home in Bahati, Mpeketoni in Lamu West.
With the little cash she earned, she was able to save and enrol for a mechanic course at the Lake Kenyatta Polytechnic within Mpeketoni.
She completed the course in 2020.
Today, Ms Nyambura works as a mechanic at the Mpeketoni Sparkle Garage.
She is the only woman at the vehicle garage that has more than ten mechanics and casual labourers.
When Nation.Africa catches up with her at the garage, she is all smiles, giving the picture of a contented woman.
Teenage girls
She is dressed in a blue overall, holding in her greasy hands, tools of trade, including spanners.
Ms Nyambura tells Nation.Africa that her goal is to change the belief that teenage girls who get pregnant and drop out of school, all end up getting married.
She went to Bahati Primary School between 2009 and 2017, and later joined Bahari Secondary School, a mixed day school within Mpeketoni Division. Unfortunately, she got pregnant in term three of Form One.
“I dropped out of school after getting pregnant. I had a child and I was forced to remain at home. But I didn’t lose hope. I joined one of the polytechnics within Mpeketoni, where I learnt skills in the car repair business,” says Ms Nyambura.
She explains that her job has enabled her to raise and educate her two-and-a-half-year-old child, independently.
Ms Nyambura fixes a car at Mpeketoni Sparkle Garage where she works.
She has worked at the Mpeketoni Sparkle Vehicle Garage for more than a year now.
She enjoys what she does and says customers love her too - they scramble to get her services, she says.
“I look forward to getting good employment that will help me educate my child up to the level he wants. I made a mistake in life. I don’t want my child to follow suit. I also appeal to well-wishers to empower me even more. I am more than willing if there’s the chance,” says Ms Nyambura.
Not ashamed
She says her day begins at 8am and ends at 5pm, depending on her work schedule.
“I work hard. This profession has always been perceived to be a job meant for men, but as for me, I have never been ashamed of it,” she says.
She advises teen girls not to think their dreams of living a good life are shuttered once they get pregnant.
“You need to make a positive transformation after becoming a teen mum. You can still enrol in programs that can transform your life and be independent, instead of being a burden at home like what our society always thinks of us (teenage mothers),” says Ms Nyambura.
John Njoroge, a casual labourer at Mpeketoni Sparkle Vehicle Garage says he enjoys working under the supervision of Ms Nyambura.
“I am a casual labourer here. I assist Ms Nyambura by providing her with the right tools while doing car repairs. She is hardworking and down to earth always,” says Mr Njoroge.
