Linda Msichana giving teen mums new lease of school
Gloria Cherono (In uniform) a beneficiary of Linda Msichana initiative with the founder Linda Salbei (centre) and Beatrice Cheruiyot the deputy principal of Tegunon Secondary School in Kipkelion County. Gloria re-enrolled at the beginning of the year after delivery.
Every year, thousands of schoolgirls get pregnant, making them opt out of school. These adolescents face social and financial barriers to continue with formal education after childbirth.
To rescue the teen mothers from early marriages, Linda Salbei from Kericho County founded Linda Msichana, a Charity-Based Organisation (CBO) in October 2015. The organization operates in Ainamoi and Kipkelion sub-counties in Kerciho County
Ms Salbei who has a background in flight operations and leadership, says she created the CBO to address issues affecting the girl-child, especially those in rural areas.
The 24-year-old says seeing girls drop out of school after getting pregnant broke her heart. It gave her a desire to start a CBO to help those who wanted to go back to school but couldn’t afford the fees.
“We focus on empowering girls through education, training, workshops and mentorship programs,” Ms Salbei says.
Drop out of school
“Our target group is girls aged between 11-21 years. This is the age many school going girls get pregnant and drop out of school,” she adds.
According to Ms Salbei, an award winner of social founder category by FOYA awards 2017, Linda Msichana's mission is to educate, empower and inspire young women who become vulnerable after giving birth at a tender age.
The CBO is out to ensure that girls access equal and quality basic education after giving birth.
“We do this by re-enrolling young mothers back to school and ensuring they stay there by applying bursaries on their behalf, or getting well-wishers to fund their education,” discloses Ms Salbei.
With the help of chiefs and teachers from local schools, the organisation identifies young mothers who dropped out of school and are willing to go back and facilitate their re-enrollment process. The founder says that since the start of the organization, many girls have come forward as young mothers, willing to go back to school.
Parents and girls who attended Linda Msichana workshop in 2019.
Teen mothers
“So far, we have re-enrolled more than 40 teen mothers back to school. We have also received a lot of positive feedback from our annual workshops. Teen mothers and girls have generally changed and developed positive attitude and mindset,” notes Ms Salbei.
She says the workshops that run for a week have had a positive impact on the girl child.
During the one-week period, she adds, extensive topics including; Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH), human rights, financial literacy, communication, gender-based violence and civic education are covered.
“Our workshops attract an average of 250 teenage girls and teen mums. We have candid and open conversations on SRH and many teens have become aware of their bodies, which we hope will eventually lead to a decrease in teen pregnancies,” said Ms Salbei.
She, however, says that one of the challenges they face especially in their community outreaches, is getting the community to understand their work and its importance to the community.
