Sounding the war cry against under-age sex

By Crystal Okusa

What picture comes to mind when you hear about a proprietor of a girls’ or children’s centre? A rich and retired philanthropist? Perhaps you visualise a shrewd middle-aged woman swindling donors of charity funding.

Rarely is the story about a young woman who gives up her youth and uses her limited resources to help the less fortunate.

But 25-year-old Rose Wanjiru is one such woman.

When I walk into the restaurant where I’m meeting her for dinner, she quickly stands to hug me and flashes a smile that gives no hint of a troubled background.

"I would not wish my childhood on anyone," she begins our conversation.

Rose runs the Change Initiative — a programme she begun in 2005 in Matopeni slums in Kayole. The centre helps to rehabilitate commercial sex workers aged between nine and 24. Currently, the home houses 45 girls and 15 of their children.

She says girls in the neighbourhood trade their bodies for as little as Sh20 in order to buy a meal for themselves and their children. On a good night, they could make up to Sh50.

Difficult childhood

Rose was raised by her grandmother and uncles after her estranged mother sank deep into the trade.

Living with her mother was not easy as she vented her anger on the only child she had.

Says she: "This irritated granny so much that every time mother beat me up, she intervened. And when we could not see eye to eye, she tried to unite us."

She recalls how at the age of eight, her grandmother took her to a club somewhere in the red light district, where her mother conducted her business.

"She wanted to use shock therapy to bring my mum to her senses. She wanted her to stop the drinking and the bar brawls — but it never worked," she says.

The family prayed for Rose’s mother to come back, but this brought the little girl more misery than joy as the mother would always beat her up.

"Mum was always angry. She would beat me mercilessly for little mistakes. I felt so unwanted," says Rose.

This experience planted in Rose’s heart the seed of compassion for desolate girls. She points out that her mother has since reformed and even assists at the centre, sometimes even counselling the girls.

Rose also narrates how at 20, she was gang raped by five men, who dragged her into a building at night and raped her in turns, defiling her in full view of the watchmen.

She says life in Kayole, where she has been living since she was 17 reminds her of her past. Girls are forced into early marriages due to poverty or are raped and left with early pregnancies to take care of and exposed to sex too early. So the preteen mothers leave their children at home all night to engage in prostitution in order to fend for them.

Wake up call

"Some of my friends would not plait my hair past 6pm. I always wondered why they said they had to attend to some other jobs. After enquiring, I realised that most of them were exposed to sexually transmitted infections. So I consulted the Family Health Options of Kenya (FHOK) for assistance with free treatment and condoms as well as advise the girls on safe sex. I had previously worked at Fhok as a volunteer peer youth counsellor in Majengo and Eastleigh," says Rose.

"Slowly, word went round and more girls were coming. This was an opportunity to start counselling them. As the numbers swelled, I called a former colleague at Fhok to assist. Later, we registered the group as Fortress of Hope Empowerment Program, renting a mabati structure to train the girls on personal grooming, self protection and reproductive health," she adds.

Although some girls came for the classes, Rose still faced stiff resistance from others who did not understand why an outsider would come and try to change the pactice that their mothers engaged in to feed and clothe them.

To lure more girls, she offered biscuits and juice during training sessions.

Because many could hardy afford a meal, it worked perfectly well.

Starting from scratch

But due to the high levels of poverty, other challenges cropped up. The girls needed sanitary pads and food — a challenge that persists to date. Sometimes they are forced to live on porridge alone.

Then there is the rent issue, not forgetting her hassles with outlawed sects who occasionally demand security fees.

Says she: "They once burnt my hand just to show the seriousness of the matter."

In 2008, Rose relocated and changed the name of the centre to Change Initiative after her partner defrauded her of the sponsor funding they had.

"She left us with a sick child who later died and rent arrears that saw us thrown out from the shelter. I had a nervous breakdown and almost gave up but the girls were looking up to me. Luckily, a good Samaritan assisted us with free shelter for the first two months before we got back on our feet," she recalls.

Although the Governments gives them a grant of Sh10,000 every year, it is a drop in the ocean. With help from well-wishers and friends, a determined Rose is reaching for the stars.

Girls in prostitution

"I just managed to finish paying our rent arrears the other day when a group of friends came over. I also posted the centre on Facebook hoping it would catch someone’s eye and that they would come to our rescue," she says.

She narrates the challenges of one girls, Benedict, a 23-year-old mother of four.

"When she moved to the centre, she would sneak out to go into prostitution. She even refused to breastfeed saying it would disfigure her and lower her market value. This led to the death of one of her babies who was malnourished. Although she has since reformed, I did not release her to go fend for herself as is the custom because I felt she needed more attention," explains Rose.

Benedict says: "This centre has really changed me. The lessons I got from Rose and Pumwani Hospital where she took me to train on human rights have been very helpful. I learnt that by leaving my children alone in the house I was putting them at risk."

Most of the girls appear too old for their tender ages due to the harsh lives they have led. Rose trains them as hairdressers, caterers and tailors with the help of sponsors. Each girl stays in the centre for one year.

"I can’t just abandon them. These girls have suffered so much. The last two girls I just brought in literally witnessed prostitution when their mother brought in clients into their one-roomed house," says Rose.

She adds: "This is not a research; we are living it right here in Nairobi. What breaks my heart is that I am housing very bright girls — some of whom scored B in KCSE and others with over 400 marks in KCPE — who are just lazing with no future. Sometimes they give up and sneak back into the streets."

Another is Nyambura, 25, who has to work in a nearby quarry every day under very severe conditions, crushing huge rocks into ballast for a paltry Sh10 per bucket.

Although Rose earns her living from running a beauty shop, she has to split the earnings to feed the girls in the centre.

Her dream of joining the university for a degree course is proving a mirage, but then, as she says, hers is a life full of miracles and she has learnt to believe in her ability to turn around bad situations.