A blind poet in Kilifi County has volunteered to use his talent to wage the war against early pregnancies which has of late reached alarming levels in the area.
Samuel Karisa, 45, has come up with the decision of dedicating the rest of his life to fight the vice that has been rampant not only in the rural but also in urban areas as well.
He said he has been devastated by the rate at which girls drop out of school at a tender age due to early pregnancies noting that poverty among other factors should be blamed for the vice.
Speaking to the press at Shaka primary school in Ganze Sub County where he joined a group of other devoted young girls fighting the vice with a target of reaching thousands of teenage girls in the area,
Karisa said his crusade would also help save thousands of girls against early pregnancies.
“My poems will be sending messages to the girls as I move around the County to showcase my talent during public meetings, funerals and other forums. I will sometimes be moving together with this team dubbed Bamba’Divas Community Group’ when crusading against early pregnancies”, he said.
Karisa called on Kilifi County government and other donor agencies to be donating sanitary towels to the group to issue to the young girls when moving around adding that among other challenging factors are the lack of money by parents to give their daughters to purchase the towels forcing them to fall prey to boda boda riders who readily exploit the opportunity to help them.
“Most parents of teenage girls cannot afford to give them the required money for them to buy sanitary towels and underpants. As a result, wicked men offer to help them in exchange for sex,” he said.
He said though blind, his talent has been received well in many schools while some keep on asking him to visit them and sing the poems saying that he has changed lifestyles for many teenage girls both in schools and outside.
Speaking at the same forum, Bamba Divas Chairperson Ms. Zawadi Alphonse said they have already moved to 13 primary schools including Goshi, Mariango and Shaka among others adding that they are targeting 40 schools by the end of the year.
She said she is among a group of University students hailing from the area who felt the urge to mentor young girls from the region so that they can have many of them exceling in class all the way to the university levels adding that they have been borrowing sanitary towels from well-wishers so that they can assist them.
By Harrison Yeri
