Mildred Atieno* (not her real name) had a promising future from childhood. Born in a family of four, she was dearly loved by her parents. She was an intelligent child which showed through her excellent grades, and with her parents’ belief in her, she knew that nothing would stop her from achieving her dream of becoming a lawyer. The family equally had a lot of hope in her, by the age of eight she began behaving, talking and carrying herself as she saw lawyers’ do. The future was promising!
In 2007, Mildred lost her dad. Her uncles turned against her mother which led her to flee her matrimonial home after losing all the property including the land that was left in her custody by Mildred’s father. Mildred and her younger siblings were left behind with no hope, no parents and completely nothing to lay their hands on. They were frustrated by the treatment they received from their uncles. It was at this point that her dream of becoming a lawyer started diminishing as she could not afford to attend school regularly.
Mildred and her siblings went through a lot of emotional and psychological trauma which left her depressed. At the age of 15 years while in Form two studying in a day school, she met a bodaboda (commercial motorcycle) rider who promised to support her with school fees – a choice that she quickly opted for. Unfortunately, the intentions of the ‘would be samaritan’ were not known to her then until she was raped by him and became pregnant. As an orphan she did not know what to do. She aborted the pregnancy.
Shortly afterwards, a distant relative rescued her and took her into her home in Rarieda Sub-County in Siaya. While at her home, Mildred was re-enrolled into a day school and was grateful for the support she was receiving. Her life and dreams starting to slowly take shape again. About one year later, her relative passed away leaving her all alone.
By this time, Mildred’s mother had remarried and fortunately enough, did not live very far away from where Mildred was living with her relative. She decided to trace her mother. Together with her siblings, they were welcomed into her mother’s new marital home. Their stepfather loved and cared for them. Sadly, this love was short-lived as he soon began to physically abuse Mildred’s mother in their presence. The situation got worse when the foster father attempted to defile Mildred whenever the mother was absent from home. Quickly, everything changed and she stopped going to school again.
Despite the situation in her life not seemingly working out, Mildred’s determination for success was unwavering. She decided to go back to her school and plead with the school principal for a chance to finish her education, despite lacking the necessary finances. Luckily, the Principal agreed to re-enrol her in form three and she resumed her studies.
In 2017 while still in school, she fell into the hands of a teacher whom she thought would support her meet the cost of being in school. The teacher took advantage of her situation, lured her into his house where she was raped for the second time at the age of 16 years. She got pregnant again. When the teacher realised that Mildred was pregnant, he left her and ran away.
CHS’s Support to Mildred
CHS came to learn about Mildred’s story during a Gender-Based Violence Sensitization Outreach Program at Rarieda Secondary School. She was a form four student who had lost all hope in life. Her academic performance had worsened due to pregnancy, stigma and discrimination by her peers, and trauma associated with her situation. She hardly stayed in class for a whole weak.
After the necessary screening for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Mildred was referred to one of the CHS-supported health facilities in Siaya County where she was managed as a survivor of sexual violence. The facility staff at the health centre became her best friends. They did all they could to bring back hope into her life. With the provision of comprehensive SGBV care at the facility, she went back to school and has just completed her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams at the end of this year. She was also supported to get legal redress from the Children’s’ Department, Rarieda Sub County and the Kenya Police.
Through partnership and linkages, CHS managed to secure education support for Mildred from Plan International. They paid off her school fees arrears that had accumulated to a total of KES 46,760. With this support, Mildred has been retained in school for successful academic transition. CHS also supported her to go through antenatal care clinic and she had a successful delivery at Bondo Sub-County Hospital.
Mildred is still determined to achieve her dream of becoming a lawyer. The fire in her eyes is eyes is unquenchable, and we believe that the support she has received so far has gone a long way in launching this next phase of her life.
Our Work in Support of SGBV
Through funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Refief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CHS currently directly supports SGBV activities in eight counties.
We have adopted a multi sectoral approach by working together with players in other sectors that address gender issues such as the Ministry of Interior Services, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs, various County Departments of Children’s Services, the Judiciary, National Gender Equality Commission (NGEC), as well as other implementing partners such as World Vision and Plan International, through active Gender Technical Working Groups.