PANTIES FOR FOOD

A famous phrase goes that "If you want to deny a black man something, hide it in a book." Mmmh, because they can't read or they are simply too lazy to read! Thank God now that a variety of fora are now at our 'black's' disposal; one being the blogspot.com!

The woeful plight of the girl child.

Despite the introduction of free primary education by the government in 2003 together with legal and policy framework as well as gender policy in education which were later adopted in 2007, the fate of the girl child in Kenya is still hanging in the balance yielding to the fact that some very paramount policies key among them stopping violence against girls are yet to be implemented.

This has made equity in education unachievable raising a major concern to stakeholders and development partners like ActionAid which with support from the Big Lottery Fund, UK (BLF) in July 2008 launched ‘The Stop Violence Against Girls in School’ (SVAGS), a five-year project aimed at empowering girls to enjoy their right to education and participation in a violence-free environment in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique.

Being on its fourth year now, the SVAGS project is doing well with community dialogue meetings and training workshops for various categories of the target groups where issues affecting girls’ education have been highlighted and solutions agreed upon.

The project under the sponsorship of Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), The Girl Child Network (GCN) and ActionAid International Kenya in Kenya, has managed a research mapping out gendered patterns of violence experienced by girls in schools, homes, communities and their effect on participation in education in Wenje Division of Tana River County.

According to the survey findings, progress with school enrolment hasn’t been matched with improvements in quality of education, and the legislative and policy plans are not effective in ensuring girls’ safety and achievement within schools.

The results indicate that girls access education at later years than expected and there registers no evidence to indicate an adherence to the laws and directives on violence to protect or support girls in various communities in the division. This state has been attributed to revolting cultural practices coupled with distressing levels of poverty in the area.

On the gender gap, boys turned to be more than girls in later years because many parents can’t afford in-direct school fees, uniform, books and sanitary pads for girls despite the Free Primary Education and directive on provision of sanitary pads to girls in marginalised schools. Also, girls lack role models or women in school with whom they can confide in because there are few women teachers.

Communities in Wenje Division have strong views on gender roles, physical punishment and traditions like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriage of school girls. Often they do not see traditional attitudes and practices, which are largely discriminatory against girls, as being oppressive or against human rights.

 Early pregnancies and child marriages are major reasons for girl-child school dropouts. From a socio-cultural perspective, most parents perceive early marriages as a way to protect girls from unwanted sex, as well as providing material support to the family in the form of bride price. According to the survey, girls experience multiple forms of violence, mostly physical like whipping and beating .Sexual harassment was also prevalent with one among every ten girls confessing to have been raped.

Unfortunately in the middle of all these, the means for girls to air their grievances are limited. They have few main sources of support including friends, family members and teachers. While the teachers deal with problems by punishing offenders, which perpetuate violence, the referral system is equally weak.

The begging question remains, ‘what then should be done?’ According to the survey findings, it’s paramount that a sustainable and integrated rights-based approach that enables children, communities and schools to challenge violence is required. Methods such as girl forums, training, sensitization and adult education to address Female Genital Mutilation, alternative forms of discipline and gender mainstreaming ought to be done.

Sensitization of the entire community children rights to challenge the held traditional practices and traditions e.g. FGM, early marriage and teenage sexuality without leading to hostility in communities, and therefore resistance to change should be done by stakeholders working closely with the local and opinion leaders on both religious and cultural fronts.

The Teachers Service Commission did a noble move which saw the commission develop the TSC circular on Teachers sexual offenders in 2010 and in 2011, launched a national database where teacher’s sexual offenders can be reported and be effectively handled.

To address the challenge further, the survey proposed the following policy interventions to be implemented by all stakeholders: One, strengthen advocacy and focus on localized implementation of policies promoting gender equality through dissemination and trainings, Promote child participation in school governance at all levels including training and support of teachers.

Secondly, in addressing violence against girls there’s need to work with girls and boys on how to manage relationships, sexuality, sexual and reproductive health, to promote alternative forms of discipline within a broader gender and rights framework by conducting a mapping exercise of existing and potential alternative discipline practices, working with teachers, teachers’ unions, teacher training institutions and families too.

On FGM, implementation of laws banning the practice be promoted and stakeholders to share information to develop alternative sources of livelihoods for FGM practitioners, among other measures.

Concerning gender parities in education, stakeholders are supposed to work with schools, parents and communities on strategies to increase girls’ enrolment and increase retention in Standard 6-8 as well other supportive measures.

On violence, an effective integrated system need to be established to address violence both at school and community levels. 

                                                            

This is an office, not a market place!

Different places have their respective decorum. The way people perceive and behave in a bar, for instance, is not the same as how they conduct themselves while at their varied places of worship.
These mannerisms are not taught in school and probably no one will ever stop in the streets to cut you a piece of mind on how to carry yourselves around. Come on, for Christ’s sake even cooks exhibit a change of conduct when they enter their offices-the kitchen!
I was in office today, and for your information am a public relations and communications specialist in my organization, when my colleague entered the office whistling a Bob Marley song. I was like ‘what the heck is wrong with your upstairs buddy?’
A few minutes later, believe it or not, a lady colleague came in on her high-heeled shoes hammering the floor irritatingly. I lost my concentration and felt like struggling her and in fact could it not have been that I usually have a crash on her, I would have cut her a piece of my dirty mind!
An office is a place of work and sometimes brains are under high voltage especially when people have a bulk of work to get done. At these times a simple distraction can earn the offender an insult or lifetime ridicule from colleagues.
As a matter of fact, a good and cohesive relationship with colleagues at work can come along as cheaply as a result of just behaving nicely than by buying your colleagues an expensive lunch or dinner!
Let’s be careful with how we conduct ourselves. You might never know, a simple colleague of yours today might be your boss tomorrow and besides, it’s good to be nice and well behaved. That’s all about being human. You aren’t a pet after all!

If symptoms persist, seek medical advice....

“If symptoms persist, seek medical advice.” Although this has always been the disclaimer accompanying all self described prescriptions for instance painkillers, stomach complication-relief medication as well as local antibiotics, many people have taken this short advice with a blind leap.

I was talking to a friend of mine just the other day and he blatantly disclosed to me that he has been taking painkillers daily for a month now following persistent headaches he has been experiencing every evening for the last one month. You should have seen how my face suddenly turned pale. I felt a cold teaser thrill run through my feeble spine. I felt sorry for the guy because he is a low income earner. But wait, I didn’t leave him just like that. I cut him my piece of advice, “please visit a doctor and have yourself checked.”

Some serious diseases especially the chronic types start with just mere ‘alerts’. If by any bad luck these hints are not discovered and properly attended to, the problem advances. Consider illnesses like asthma, respiratory allergies, Tuberculosis among other chronic illnesses. Serious respiratory allergies start with as less serious symptoms like persistent sneezing, un-ending flues among other signals.

The worst case of these respiratory allergies and complications is when they proceed to cause lung inflammations and sores in severe cases. As a matter of fact, even skin cancers and tumors start with as less signs as pimples on the skin, then under the skin lumps and eventually serious tumors.

In just a few words therefore, it is advisable that if one discovers any persistent health complications, he or she should act fast and seek appropriate and timely medical attention. With timely medical attention, potentially serious complications can be easily and successfully averted.

May you have healthy lives!

              Copyright @Paul Musyoka, 2012