NAIROBI:Jackline Bosibori wept when she found out she was pregnant. The 17-year-old's mother, who is raising six kids alone, collapsed in their one-room home. They had been repeatedly threatened with eviction and couldn't afford another mouth to feed.
"If I was in school, this could have not happened," said Bosibori, who wants to become a lawyer.
With school closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and her mother out selling vegetables on the roadside, Bosibori got involved with a man in his twenties. When she told him she was pregnant, he stopped answering her calls.
During her pregnancy, Bosibori helped with chores like washing laundry in puddles in Kibera shanty town - a poor suburb of the Kenyan capital Nairobi where people live in tin-roofed homes crammed together and criss-crossed by railway lines.
In a nearby marketplace, she bought second-hand clothes for the baby.
Global lockdowns could lead to rising rates of adolescent pregnancy, non-governmental organisations working on reproductive health have warned.
In Kenya, some preliminary data suggests that is happening.
In the far northern town of Lodwar, teenage pregnancies among clients of the International Rescue Committee aid group nearly tripled to 625 in June-August this year, compared with 226 in the same period a year earlier, IRC data show.
In the nearby refugee camp of Kakuma, adolescent pregnancies among clients jumped to 51 in the March-August 2020 period, compared with 15 in the same period in 2019.
At the clinic that Bosibori attended for antenatal visits – often with her classmate, who also became pregnant around the same time as her – the number of expectant girls has been climbing.
"Since COVID-19 started, we are having more," said nurse Joy Ambiyo.
And more pregnant girls may be skipping doctors' visits altogether.
"We know that young girls who get pregnant do not access healthcare services like adult females because of the judgment," said Ademola Olajide, the United Nations Population Fund representative in Kenya.
That makes them more vulnerable to health complications and unsafe abortions, he added.
Globally, pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death for girls aged between 15 and 19, according to the World Health Organization.
Bosibori had some complications of her own. Her doctors recommended a caesarean section, but she and her mother Ann were apprehensive and sought approval from a traditional healer.
With the healer's blessing, Bosibori had the procedure and delivered a healthy 3.3 kg baby girl.
"I am happy the baby is here, the anxiety is now over," said Bosibori as she held her new-born child on the family's only bed, flanked by dusty old speakers that act as bedside tables.
Until January, when Kenya's schools are set to fully reopen, Bosibori will be caring for the baby full time, squeezing in revision when she can.
After that, Ann, who had Bosibori when she was 18, said she'll find a way to care for her grandchild.
"The girl has to go back to school."
Reuters
Tue Nov 17 2020
Secondary school student Jackline Bosibori,17 who is seven-months pregnant, holds a doll inside her home in Lindi village within the Kibera slums in Nairobi, "I don't know what I feel right now, I am having mixed feelings." REUTERSpic
Suruhanjaya Eropah saman Hungary atas dakwaan pelanggaran hak asasi
Budapest gagal hilangkan kebimbangan mengenai undang-undang baharu Hungary yang bertujuan mengehadkan pembiayaan asing bagi kempen politik.
PM Pakistan gembira atas perbincangan produktif dengan PM Malaysia
Bidang-bidang utama itu termasuk perdagangan, IT, tenaga, pertanian, eksport daging halal, pelancongan, pendidikan dan pertahanan.
Rwanda catat 7 lagi kes virus Marburg dan satu lagi kematian
Rwanda mencatatkan tujuh kes baharu penyakit virus Marburg dan satu lagi kematian.
Menurut angka terkini yang dikeluarkan lewat Rabu Kementerian Kesihatan Rwanda,
jumlah keseluruhan jangkitan virus Marburg sejak wabak bermula kini sebanyak 36 kes, dengan 11 kematian dilaporkan setakat ini.
Menurut angka terkini yang dikeluarkan lewat Rabu Kementerian Kesihatan Rwanda,
jumlah keseluruhan jangkitan virus Marburg sejak wabak bermula kini sebanyak 36 kes, dengan 11 kematian dilaporkan setakat ini.
Lebih 140 sekolah UNRWA diserang sejak 7 Oktober
Lebih 140 sekolah UNRWA diserang sejak 7 Oktober dalam keadaan dimana penduduk Gaza berlindung di bawah naungan PBB.
Perkara itu dimaklumkan Pesuruhjaya Agung Agensi Bantuan dan Kerja Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu untuk Pelarian Palestin (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini dalam satu hantaran di X.
Perkara itu dimaklumkan Pesuruhjaya Agung Agensi Bantuan dan Kerja Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu untuk Pelarian Palestin (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini dalam satu hantaran di X.
28 petugas dilapor maut dalam tempoh 24 jam lalu di Lubnan
28 petugas kesihatan dilaporkan terbunuh dalam tempoh 24 jam lalu di Lubnan.
Perkara itu dimaklumkan Ketua Pengarah Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pada Khamis.
Perkara itu dimaklumkan Ketua Pengarah Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pada Khamis.
UNIFIL kekal pada posisi walaupun didesak berundur
Pasukan pengaman PBB di selatan Lubnan terus bertahan pada kedudukan mereka, di bawah mandat UNSC, walaupun diarah Israel untuk berundur.
G7 desak pemain serantau di Asia Barat bertindak cermat dalam krisis
Pemimpin Kumpulan Tujuh (G7) mengulangi kebimbangan mereka terhadap krisis di Asia Barat dan menyeru pemain serantau supaya bertindak dengan bertanggungjawab serta berhemah.
Mereka turut menegaskan sokongan penuh terhadap keselamatan Israel.
Mereka turut menegaskan sokongan penuh terhadap keselamatan Israel.
AS sokong operasi Israel di Lubnan meski risiko meluaskan konflik
Pentadbiran Joe Biden menyatakan bahawa adalah wajar untuk Israel meneruskan serangan darat dan udara terhadap Hezbollah buat masa ini, menurut jurucakap Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat, Matthew Miller.
Namun, beliau mengakui risiko operasi di Lubnan mungkin melangkaui matlamat semasa Israel.
Namun, beliau mengakui risiko operasi di Lubnan mungkin melangkaui matlamat semasa Israel.
Shamsul Iskandar dakwa kesepakatan parti dalam PN kian longgar
Shamsul Iskandar berkata, perpecahan dalaman PN itu dapat diukur melalui prestasi mereka pada PRK DUN Nenggiri dan DUN Mahkota.
Politik stabil, dasar kerajaan tarik minat syarikat global melabur di Malaysia - Gobind
Menurut Menteri Digital Gobind Singh Deo, pada masa ini terdapat banyak perbincangan, tidak hanya antara syarikat-syarikat di negara serantau malah dunia berhubung perkara itu.
Presiden Kenya terbuka tukar misi perangi keganasan ke operasi pengaman PBB di Haiti
Presiden Kenya, William Ruto memaklumkan beliau terbuka untuk menukar misi memerangi keganasan kumpulan bersenjata di Haiti kepada operasi pengaman Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB).
Perangi samseng, 400 pegawai polis Kenya berlepas ke Haiti ketuai misi PBB
Kontinjen 400 pegawai polis Kenya, kumpulan pertama daripada 1,000 anggota, berangkat dari ibu negara Nairobi awal Selasa untuk ke Haiti, lapor Agensi Anadolu (AA).
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Ketua ajaran sesat Kenya didakwa bunuh lebih 190 kanak-kanak
Mackenzie arah pengikut-pengikut agar mereka dan anak-anak mereka berlapar sehingga mati dalam usaha mengejar syurga.
Angka kematian akibat banjir El Nino di Kenya cecah 160 orang
Jumlah kematian banjir yang tercetus akibat El Nino di Kenya meningkat kepada 160 orang, dengan 529,120 orang daripada 105,824 isi rumah kehilangan tempat tinggal.
Korban akibat banjir di Kenya meningkat kepada 136 orang
Menurut Kementerian Dalam Negeri, lebih 92,400 isi rumah dan 462,100 penduduk terjejas.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Kenya sambut Hari Mandela di tengah seruan perbaharui komitmen terhadap perkhidmatan awam
Kenya menyertai seluruh dunia memperingati Hari Antarabangsa Nelson Mandela, yang jatuh pada 18 Julai setiap tahun, di tengah-tengah desakan memperbaharui komitmen terhadap perkhidmatan awam.
48 maut selepas dirempuh treler bawa kontena terbabas
Sekurang-kurangnya 48 orang maut dalam sebuah kemalangan di Londiani, barat Kenya, selepas sebuah treler yang membawa kontena kapal terbabas dari jalan dan merempuh beberapa kenderaan.
Fadillah ke Nairobi bermula 3 Julai, teroka eskport pasaran sawit
Ia bagi memberi ucaptama dan merasmikan Malaysian Palm Oil Forum East Africa Region 2023.