Teen mum keen on teaching girls not to end up like her
Every time students sit their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), Susan Wavinya Wairimu recalls her experience five years ago. Susan who was heavily pregnant stayed in school until the second last day of her KCSE paper in 2016, when she got labour pains and had to do the remaining paper in the maternity ward after delivery.
“I managed to complete the exam despite the pain,” she recalls.
Susan was thrust into the world of motherhood when she was 17 years. Young and with no experience on parenting, she didn’t know how she was going to navigate through this journey and thought the child would end her dream of going to college and having a career.
“I realised that I was pregnant after two months of missing my monthly period. I kept it a secret for four months until when I told my aunt about it. My aunt then broke the news to my mum who, was disappointed. However, she accepted and encouraged me to keep the pregnancy and complete my studies,” says Susan.
Picking up the pieces
She adds: “My mother has been supportive of everything I do. She believed in me. She allowed me to keep the baby and has really helped in raising my daughter as I try to pursue my dream and passion.”
Susan is currently a student at the Ngong Technical and Vocational College pursuing a course in Human Resource Management and simultaneously pursuing Social Work and Community Development at Amani Counselling Centre.
Today, Susan is a proud mother to a beautiful five-year-old daughter, Dr Tiffany Wairimu, as she loves to be called.
Knowing firsthand the obstacles that teenage mother’s face, Susan founded Inspire Teenagers Foundation, (ITF) a registered community-based organisation that has been running since 2019 and seeks to mentor and educate adolescent girls and young women on matters of sexual and reproductive health and life skills.
“Pregnancy robbed me of my teenagehood. With the challenges I faced as a young teen mother, my aim has always been to provide support to teenagers and help them make the right decision in life,” she says.
“I decided to be a source of hope to teens. I must say that I experienced rejection from friends. Some viewed me as a disappointment and a disgrace, but this didn’t hold me down. Being raised in the slum with no access to sanitary towels and even the right information on menstrual health and hygiene, I decided to use my story to reach out to more teenagers and young mothers in the slum,” adds Susan who was born in Ngando, Nairobi county and raised in Mathare slum in Ngong.
Impacting others
ITF aims at educating and mentoring vulnerable teenagers and young mothers. “We advocate for proper menstrual hygiene management and ensure that every girl has right information about their monthly periods. We aspire to create a safe space where young girls can freely express themselves without fear of being judged,” says Susan.
For the last two years, the organisation has reached 2,000 teenagers, whom they have mentored and provided them with sanitary towels with support from friends and well-wishers. “Half of this number was reached during the Covid-19 period. We have also distributed innerwears boxersh to boys and mentored them through the initiative,” she says.
She adds, “Some girls exchange sex for pads, which in most cases leads to the high rate of teenage pregnancy. We have visited schools, children homes, as well as taken part in community based mentorships. We have mentored girls in Ngong Mathare slum, Gichagi Village and Oloolua Ward, all in Kajiado North consituency, Mugure slum, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Ngando Village among other informal settlements.”
Young achiever
Besides running Inspire Teenagers Foundation, Susan vied for presidency at the Ngong Technical and Vocational College and was elected as the first President of the Student Council at the institution in 2020, something that helped her influence students positively in the institution. She is also the global peace County Ambassador for Kajiado county where she champions for peaceful engagements among the youths.
“I am a Zuri Awards Honoree 2021 under the young achievers’ category for my contribution towards supporting and championing for proper menstrual health and mentoring teenage girls and young mothers. I am also an alumnus of Emerging Leaders Foundation, where I was elected President Cohort 8. These positions have shaped me into a formidable woman who speaks out and is never afraid of getting to spaces that most people fear,” explains Susan.
She offers: “Being a young woman full of dreams and ambitions, I view this as a challenge to learn, unlearn and relearn things. These platforms have made me believe that young women can lead and influence the community despite one’s background or the resources you have.”
Her biggest motivation has been witnessing girls going back to school to curve a brighter future for themselves despite what they consider past mistakes. “Many girls are now better prepared for their first periods and are able to make informed decisions about their bodies and life as well as careers,” she says.
As a mum, student, leader and founder of ITF, Susan says it has not been easy balancing all this, but proper planning has helped her oversee all her roles.
“I go to school during weekdays and do my projects over the weekend and still ensure that I make time for my baby and family. I have also learnt to practice self-care and give myself a break when things get too much for me,” she says.
Her plan is to grow her initiative into an organisation that supports both boys and girls in rural and informal settlements, to impact them with skills and raise a generation of well-informed young adults and be an inspiration to the coming generations.
