New facility in Turkana village to boost war on Triple Threat
Shalom Youth Friendly Centere in Nabulon village on the outskirts of Lodwar town on January 11, 2024. It is meant to promote access to sexual and reproductive health information by adolescents and young people to counter teen pregnancy and HIV infection, among other challenges.
What you need to know:
- Lilian Ekamias, the wife of Governor Ekamias Lomorukai, said the centre will provide a safe place for the youth to access educational and entertainment resources.
- Assistant County Commissioner for Turkana Central Andrew Mutuma vowed to continue the crackdown on illicit brewers and drug peddlers in the village.
Health Executive Iris Mariao said alcoholism has also affected the young generation based on the current statistics on pregnancies, HIV infection and GBV.
Lack of access to comprehensive information on sexual and reproductive health and rights has been blamed for increasing cases of gender-based violence and HIV among adolescents in Turkana County.
County Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Health Peter Lomorukai said that out of the total 542 new HIV cases reported in 2023, adolescent and young people accounted for 62 per cent.
Mr Lomorukai said there is low uptake of contraceptives, increased rates of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as well as higher rates of gender-based violence (GBV) such as rape and defilement.
He was quick to note that youth and adolescents in villages where local administrators have raised concerns about increased trade in illicit brew, such as Nabulon on the outskirts of Lodwar town, are the worst hit.
The village has several drinking dens. As early as 6.30am every day, addicted customers storm to be served the brew, locally called Kaada.
It’s a sorry state of affairs. Even teenage boys and girls line up for their routine morning gulps.
In a few minutes, the once quiet dens suddenly become noisy. Some girls and mothers wearing dera dresses or loose clothing pick fights with their male counterparts.
Augustine Longor, a 19-year-old resident, said that after a drinking spree, confrontations often ensue, with some sexual predators taking advantage of teenage girls or women.
“There are those who come to the dens to look for vulnerable girls and women, buy the alcohol in exchange for sex in thickets or on the banks of the Turkwel River that in most cases is unprotected," Mr Longor said.
County Education Executive Audan Lokala, also a resident, described the village as a hotspot of illicit brew and GBV with escalating HIV prevalence.
“Many villagers have lost lives to alcohol and drug abuse and related gender-based violence, as well as HIV," Ms Lokala said.
"Men are literally beating up their wives, most of whom are also alcoholic, when they don't get food or lack money for more alcohol. Some stressed-up women also beat up their husbands."
As among her efforts to fight alcoholism, she has been reaching out to women owning the dens to organise themselves in groups and engage in other alternative livelihoods such as table banking and farming along the Turkwel River with support from development partners.
County Health Executive Iris Mariao said alcoholism has also affected the young generation based on the current statistics on pregnancies, HIV infection and GBV.
“Rate of teenage pregnancy among adolescent girls aged 10 to 14 years has also increased by 39 per cent between 2021 and 2022," Dr Mariao said.
He noted that adolescents aged between 10 and 17 were also perpetrating GBV by accounting for one in every four cases reported in 2022.
“These worrying statistics are indicators of an intergenerational social cycle of poverty and illiteracy if nothing is done by parents taking responsibility, county government, national government’s Ministry of Interior and the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council."
Through funding from the Global Fund, the county government, in collaboration with Kenya Red Cross Society and World Vision Kenya, has established Shalom Youth Friendly Centre at Nabulon village targeting young people aged 10 to 24.
Ms Lilian Ekamais and county government officials at one of the stalls at Shalom Youth Friendly Centre on January 11, 2024. Some young people make chairs from used tyres. She said unemployment and alcohol abuse were fuelling alcohol and drug abuse, as well as risky sexual behaviours.
Lilian Ekamias, the wife of Governor Ekamias Lomorukai,said the centre came at an opportune time. It will provide a safe place for the youth to access educational and entertainment resources.
More importantly, it will provide essential sexual and reproductive health services to counter alcohol and substance abuse, teen pregnancies, and other challenges prevalent within this target group.
“The facility will address social, psychological, and physical needs of a younger population.
“Girls will be provided with dignity kits that contain hygienic and sanitary items as a structural intervention to eliminate vulnerability that exposes our adolescent girls and young women to HIV, teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence.
“This is a proven approach that goes along with protecting them against predators,” Ms Ekamais said.
Assistant County Commissioner for Turkana Central Andrew Mutuma vowed to continue the crackdown on illicit brewers and drug peddlers in the village.
“We won't sit down, relax and watch as a whole generation is being wiped out because of the illicit brew. We will conduct an impromptu operation in the area.”
He said many parents have no time for their children because of the high levels of alcoholism in the village.
“Parents, who should courageously be guiding the adolescent ones during puberty, don't have close relationship with their children"
