Lamu girls get bicycles to curb school dropouts, unwanted pregnancies

Humanitarian and community conservation strategists have heightened the fight against unwanted pregnancies and early marriages among school-going girls in Lamu County through bicycle donations.

The donors, including Safari Doctors in partnership with Buffalo Bicycles have donated over 200 mountain bicycles to students, mostly girls to prevent rising cases of unwanted pregnancies and early marriages.

Many times girls, especially those who walk long distances to access institutions of learning have ended up being taken advantage of by boda boda riders who give them free rides in exchange for sexual favours.

In the end, the girls get impregnated and left in desperation.

Speaking during the issuance of the bikes to the students in Mpeketoni and other areas of Lamu West, Safari Doctors Founder Umra Omar stressed that the introduced bicycles are aimed at making innocent girls more independent and curbing incidents of them being lured into sexual acts.

"We are donating these bicycles to students, especially the girls here who are a vulnerable gender when comes to matters of education. You can imagine a girl waking up at 4 am and trekking for over 7 kilometres to reach school. Such a scenario exposes our girls to sexual predators like boda boda riders. After getting the free ride, the riders coerce them into engaging in sex, hence impregnating them and in the end, dropping out of school. We want to curb such cases by ensuring our girls are fully independent," said Umra.

Buffalo Bicycles official Nickson Otieno said the initiative to donate bicycles to students in Lamu is also meant to help ease their daily journey to school.

The donation provides much-needed relief to students who had previously endured long walks of several kilometres each day to attend classes.

Otieno highlighted that unreliable transportation has been a major barrier to regular school attendance.

He stressed the importance of removing the strain of difficult commutes by ensuring that children can access education more easily. He noted that with the bicycles in place, they will, as well, help improve academic performance.

Otieno also said the bicycles will enhance sexual education and rights for adolescent girls in the various schools in the region.

"We are envisioning partnering in the bicycle donation to ensure that mobility among school girls in this place is no longer a challenge. When our girls have the bicycles, that means they won't seek any favours from boda boda operators who end up impregnating them," said Otieno.

Lucy Kariuki, a parent, lauded the donors for intervening and helping the girls. She expressed her sadness over the fact that boda boda operators have always become a nuisance to girl-child education in many parts of the country.

"It is indeed a big challenge as our students have to cover distances as far as 10 kilometres to come to school in the morning and go back in the evening. Boda boda riders tend to offer them free rides in exchange for sex. We have seen scenarios where tens of school girls here in Mpeketoni, Hindi, Witu and surrounding areas have been impregnated by the boda boda operators and forced to drop out of school. We welcome this timely initiative," said Kariuki.

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Duncan Irungu, a parent, highlighted some of the benefits of the donated bicycles key among them being improved access to education.

Irungu said bicycles always help students get to school on time and spend more time in class.

"The bicycles donated today will help reduce safety risks, especially for the female students. They are a form of empowerment for our children. At least they are relieved of the frustrations of walking long distances to reach school," said Irungu.

Jackson Kesi, a principal at Witu Secondary School, admitted that boda boda operators have become a nuisance to the girl-child education in the county.

He called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to ensure the safety of the girls to enable them to remain in school and learn like the rest.

Kesi advised the men, particularly boda boda riders, to stop luring young girls into premarital sex and instead allow them to concentrate on their education.

"It is high time men allow these innocent girls to pursue their dreams. Unfortunately, some men have been targeting our young girls, engaging in sex with them and destroying their future. I am happy for the bicycle donation since that makes our girls independent," said Kesi.