Major Gender Concern That Affect The Girl Child In Kenya.
The hardest part is to get the people of Kenya to be willing to change from their culture with their customs, habits, and mutual differences, what’s really going on today. The main question is, what are the current and future effects of the gender issues that affect the girl child in Kenya? Child abuse, child marriage, drug abuse, female genital mutilation, and child labor just to name a few of the issues a girl child has to face without proper education and support from the parents. I often wonder, how can the girl child in Kenya escape the effect of the gender issues that tend to affect the girl Child’s present and later stages of adulthood. How do they learn the facts about being a girl and then becoming a woman? Who are their role models?
It’s unfortunate for the Kenyan girl child to drop out of school, once they start puberty. Life begins as a wife, then a mother shortly after. Most parents prefer educating the boy child. I noticed during my stay in Kenya how the father treated their daughters, not all, but it stood out when I did see it. I asked the question, why is the little girl afraid of her father? It was in a way where she would look at him from a distance but knew not to make eye contact. The girl child is faced with financial constraints, sexual abuse, and gender-based labor division which affect the girl child’s school performance since the girls fail to competitively do their school-given homework. How can they study when they are trained at a young age to become mothers and wives? You see the girl child taking on more responsibility early on, than the boy.
Since Kenya introduced free primary education in 2003, enrollment rates have increased to 84 percent. However, in some regions, where poverty levels and gender inequality are high, only 19 percent of girls are enrolled in school. Based on an article in educatingachild.org. In Kenya, where primary education is free, families often must pay for textbooks, uniforms, 2 meals, and teachers’ salaries. Additionally, when children attend school, they are not contributing to the family’s income. These costs and perceived losses make it difficult for families to justify sending a child to school. Particularly in communities such as Naivasha, where girls are expected to marry early and join their husband’s families, parents do not readily see how education benefits their daughters or the family. March 13, 2019, USAID’s programs are achieving respect for and realizing the rights of all Kenyans. AGU Girls Inc has funded the start-up of a Primary school and Daycare center. This school is located in Karagita, Kenya, and provides not only the children with education but the parents with child care. Many parents must work during the day and can’t afford school fees. Many of these children are left to roam the streets without an adult to look out for them.
AGU Girls Inc International is a small organization but making big changes in the world. We started by teaming up with local organizations and helped with reusable goods donations, youth programs, and other volunteering opportunities. After seeing there was more work to be done we decided to start our own organization.
Our team has been in operation since 2009 but we have become a licensed Non-profit in 2016. We continue to work domestically in the United States but have since extended our services internationally. We have opened up a school and daycare center in Naivasha, Kenya, provided clean drinking water for tribes in Suswa County, and sponsored various small business owners. It is our intent to provide help but in a way to not create an unhealthy dependency.
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