Tales Of an Empowered Girl

Growing up with my grandmother in the early years was an exciting experience as we grand children were untouchables. From fighting with my brothers to climbing trees, grazing the goats and all boyish activities… I was fully indulged as they were the only playmates I had during childhood. I did not go to kindergarten as my father schooled me from home, he would buy text books and children storybooks so we could learn how to read and speak English. I remember we had a secondary school boy who would teach us in the evenings during his spare time from school. It was not easy then learning to master the pronunciations and spellings of most words but looking back, I attribute my  excellent English language skills to him as later on when I advanced in school, truth is I used to top my class in reading lessons including winning a trophy for my house during the inter house competitions. I would always top the English class in grammar and comprehension. Anyways I loved studying from the word go. When I went to primary school, I went to boarding school as my father’s income had increased and he could afford a good school. The first day at school, due to the excitement of boarding school I remember we did not pack lunch so I miserably spent the day hungry something I told my grandmother and she still remembers to this day at 87 years of age. Transitioning from the daily play with the boys to a lonely life without my mother and grandmother was a nightmare as I cried every single day because I wanted to go back home.  I suffered multiple headaches due to over crying but soon I made friends; sort of like a support group where we would comfort each other about our ordeals of missing home and wanting to see mummy or daddy. Soon we made new friends from Tanzania and when we looked at the map we realized our friends came from a different country so that even encouraged us the more to appreciate the school routines and enjoy studying.

As a young adolescent, I started developing pimples as early as primary five and since we had started health science classes, I loved to read about adolescence and puberty and other bodily changes and processes that I go through as a girl in transition to adulthood. There was a favorite newspaper pull out called ‘’Young Talk” that we loved to read as the school administration allowed upper primary to read newspapers so they would collect and distribute or we also had an option of accessing them in the library. When I started reading the pull out of young talk, I realised there were lots of young people out there who were like me and so reading through the questions they asked and the answers kept me going as a girl. Since then I have come to realise that knowledge is power in sexual and reproductive health and rights as a girl.

This knowledge transitioned to secondary school as I went to a mixed school and trust me I could not be deceived as I upgraded to “Straight Talk” which deepened my understanding of puberty and reproduction. We had a mantra that went like; “Thou shalt not be defeated by a boy”. This helped me stay on top of the class in particular subjects like English, Biology, French and Geography to mention but a few. I remember sometime I wrote a bad essay and someone else topped the class and the teacher expressed their disappointment towards my decline nevertheless I got my game up.

Along the way I have not had troubles with men as a child as I have grown up with boys and I always made sure I am in company of one or two. My teachers have been very instrumental in terms of advice and counseling. I largely learned from the mistakes of others from the popular saying of; “Learn from the mistakes of others as you cannot live long enough to exhaust all mistakes.” This has stood out in my mind up to date having watched my cousins get boyfriends at a tender age in school and they failed their final exams I vowed that I would never involve myself in “boy-girl relationships” as we used to call it back then. My goal was to go to university which I did and my parents were proud of the fact that I had completed without any disciplinary cases.

After university I joined USAID funded Leadership Management and Governance Project’s East Africa Womens Mentoring Network led by Management Sciences for Health. As a mentee, fresh from university, it was a new experience of collaborating on an online project.  The LMG Mentoring Network provided emerging women leaders in sub-Saharan Africa access to experienced mentors who could provide active support for professional and personal development. The program provided a confidential platform for mentees to realize their leadership potential by enabling personal and professional relationships with mentors, who act as role models, share knowledge and opportunities, and provide guidance to them. The LMG Mentoring Network offered opportunities to develop contacts within your sector, access global health and development information, and gain valuable insights from experienced and successful professionals. The mentoring relationship was guided by the mentoring agreement signed by both the mentor and mentee. As a mentee I learned lots of issues from family planning to reproductive health, and lots of many women health issues, gender based violence, HIV/AIDS and many more. On a personal level I learnt the element of accountability and goal setting with my mentor and I have accomplished many that I set. Having graduated as a reproductive health champion from that program, today I am a better leader, more accountable and a woman health champion.  Girls today are afraid to speak out on the matters affecting them I think majority die in silence yet when you reach out they do not open up.  Mentoring is very crucial in every girls’ life and it is the way to go. I wish every girl out there can enjoy the mentorships that I enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who has directly or indirectly impacted my life and yeah the struggle continues to a world where girls can realise their full potential without fear.

    https://lmgforhealth.exposure.co/developing-the-next-generation-of-healt...