She Doesn’t Have A Bright Future 13/10/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: Digital story telling project, early marriage, education, girls, Kenya, women's rights
1 comment so far
It was last Sunday evening when I watched the local TV news and I could not believe what I saw with my own eyes. At 14 years, a girl was married and pregnant. This happened to a girl in Turkana District where she was forced by her mother to get married.
As she explained how she got into marriage, I felt sorry for her since her mother denied her the right to get an education. She also explained that she is not the only one who has gone through this situation; there are many young girls who have gone through this. I was reading a report by UNICEF (http://www.unicef.gr/pdfs/Early-Marriage.pdf) that said that 30.5% of women in Kenya get married before the age of 18 years.
This happened to my friend’s cousin in Kikuyu District. His cousin was forced to get married at the age of 16 years so that her family could get rich easily since the family got ten cattle as the bride price. Her mother did not value her education; all she wanted was to get rich. This has made my friend’s cousin feel like an outcast in society and she can’t go back to school. I felt so sorry for her since she did not complete her education. Four years later, she is still married and has one child.
I was reading an Adventist News Network article (http://news.adventist.org/data/2006/1150229698/index.html.en) and I thought this was an interesting part: “ ‘The Maasai community [has] a low opinion [of] women. Hence they believe educating a girl is wasting [a family's] resources because she will one day be married off and end up being of benefit to another family…’” This is the reason why the Maasai want their girls to get into early marriages.
I’m pleading to the government of Kenya to take action on this issue of early marriages that are affecting our young girls by denying them their right to education. The laws are there, but there’s no one to enforce them. The government should call for public awareness where they can discuss the issue with various communities, especially the Maasai. If this is done, the girls will not only be protected from early marriages but they will have a much brighter future too.
Did He Deserve It? 02/10/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: children, death, Digital story telling project, Kenya, nairobi, street
add a comment
It happened around 3 a.m in the streets of Nairobi. I remember his last day with me like it was yesterday. It was on a Sunday morning when a friend of my younger brother’s called and told me that he had just died.
He snatched a mobile phone from someone in the streets and he faced mob justice. My mind suddenly got overly shocked and became sad and mad about the bad news.
He should have never turned to the streets. It was a choice that was made for him. He decided to go after he failed to complete his primary education.
The following day, I went to the scene where he was beaten and his friends told me that they had called the police for help to take him to hospital because he was losing too much blood since his head had a hole in it, and his leg and hand were broken.
My family arranged for his burial and after six days he was buried. I felt sorry for him because he was our last born brother so he died young. The mob did not do the right thing, instead they could have taken him to the police station so that he could be taken to court and face justice. But they do this because they see a street child as someone who does not have a family and someone who is there to disturb others.
This did not only happen to my brother because there are still others who face the same thing. Yesterday as I watched the news, I saw a boy who also faced the mob and was beaten to death. I felt depressed for him like I did when this happened to my brother, bringing back my memories of him and causing me to realize that no one has dealt with this issue yet .The government should address this issue by informing the public that their negative attitudes towards street children.
What Next After Seven Months? 23/09/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: Digital story telling project, displaced, election, hunger, Kenya
1 comment so far
Recently, the West Pokot residents raised their voices to the government to aid them with food since they are suffering from hunger. This happened as a result of the post election violence whereby their animals were stolen, their houses raided by some community members and their property destroyed.
As I watched this on the news I felt sad for them. The government so far has not taken any action, not even the Red Cross Society of Kenya has. I think the government should help them for the time being since now they have no food.
One resident explained how the hunger has affected them by saying many children are dying due to lack of food and medication. My friend John was one of those who were displaced during the post election violence and he told me he feels bad since their property was destroyed and their livestock was also taken away.
John is living in the Nakuru camp for the internally displaced people. He told me that the government now is taking action to take them back to their home and he is delighted about this. I will be glad if the government or any other well wishers will try to aid these people by donating anything they have because, for me, I know how it feels to be hungry without food for some days.
Children Have Their Rights Too 17/09/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: abuse, children, Digital story telling project, Kenya, nairobi, rights
add a comment
Recently, in our home area a child was being abused by his father. He burned his child by dripping melted plastic material all over his body. His father claimed that his child had taken his thirty shillings and went to buy sweets and snacks.
The neighbours who live near this man’s house reported the matter to the police and he was arrested, but within two weeks he was released from the jail.
This hurt me so much that I wished I had powers to punish this man. This means that the government did not take this seriously enough. If the government continues like this, it means that many children will continue being abused and their rights will be violated.
It is the work of the government to take responsibility for those children whose rights are being violated and take action for those parents who abuse their children’s rights.
Today in Naivasha, many cases of child abuse have been reported, but the government is not taking any action. A child was tortured by her mother and also many young girls have been raped and some have died.
These examples show why the Act of 2001 enumerates the rights of children and requires everyone to observe them.
Children should not be discriminated against for their colour, birth, religion or economic and political status. Every child has a right to life, education, health and medical care, protection from torture, protection from child labour, privacy and parental guidance.
Photo By martin Ndung'u
Those who abuse their children and torture them like the man who burned his child should face justice and punishment.
I Believe in The Best I Can 22/08/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: Chorela, Digital story telling project, Diseases, environment, Kenya, pollution, Tyhoid
1 comment so far
I believe that we are all here to leave the world better than we found it.
I believe in the best I can, I may be last at the finish line but as long as I work hard then im satsfied.
Polluting the environment is harmful to all of us. If sewage is leaking, it should be treated because it can lead to the outbreak of diseases such as Typhoid and Cholera.
It happened to my cousin child who got typhoid due to playing with water where there was sewage leaking.
The goverment should start up gabbage collections projects so that the enviroment up.
If the goverment ignores to clean up the envoment and also planting trees then our counrty will be having problems of water shortage, lack of enough rain and food shortages.
Let us clean up our enviroment for a better living place.
Who Suffers At Last? 01/08/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: alcohol, Digital story telling project, Drug Abuse, Drugs, Kenya, tobacco, Youth
add a comment
Recently I met some people, young and old, abusing drugs in local pubs. Many of them included the youth. The drugs that they abused are commonly sold in shops and they include: Tobacco, Alcohol and Miraa(khat).
Alcohol is found in beers such as Busaa, Muratina and wines. Some of my blogs show some men, young and old drinking traditional liquours which include busaa and muratina.
Tobacco is another drug which is commonly abused by many people in the world today. Other drugs that are also abused include: cocaine, bhang(marinjuana) and mandarax, which are not sold in shops. An effect of drugs is dropping out of school.
I had a classmate who dropped out of school due to drug abuse he used to smoke bhang. Another effect is that many drivers drive drunk and cause many accidents and kill many people. Other effects include: marital conflicts, loss of job, rape, fighting, increase of HIV/AIDS and loss of memory.
One way of stopping drug abuse is by being rehabilitated. My friend was a drug addict but he was rehabilitated and he stopped taking drugs. Many youth who engage in drug abuse today know the effects but they want to experiment. So it’s better they stop earlier before they get addicted.
Street Families 25/07/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: Digital story telling project, disease, families, HIV, Kenya, malaria, nairobi, poverty, street children
add a comment
Photo by Martin Ndung'u
In the streets, it is getting hot and the street families are searching for food, clothes and shelter.It was on a chilly Friday morning when I walked around the streets of Nairobi and met some street families who explained to some of the problems and challenges they face in the streets.
Photo by wamaratu
First I met Caroline Wanjiku with some of her friends who told me about some of the major problems and challenges they face. They told me first about the background of their lives, that they were born in the streets and grew up in the streets and that they do not know any other home except the street.
Photo by Martin Ndung'u
They explained to me that the major problem they face is hunger and starvation which leads to the death of their young children sometimes.
photo by Martin Ndung'u
Clothes and shelter is also a major problem they face. Lack of shelter leads to the death of their young children because they do not have heavy clothes to protect them. This is because they sleep outside near the river of Nairobi where there is stagnant water and mosquitoes, which easily spread malaria especially during the rainy season. Police harrassment and city council is also another major problem in the city where they call home.
They also lack clean water and food. They collect from dust bin litters resulting in the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid. These diseases are hard to cure due to lack of money to take their children to the hospital. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are also increasing which comes as a result of being raped by strangers and sometimes their own enemies.
Finally they told me that it is the work and responsibility of the Government to take action and provide for them a better place to live so that they can have a bright future.
youths Enjoying Their Leisure Time By Taking Most Commonly Abused Drugs 24/07/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: Drug Abuse, Kenya, Youth
1 comment so far
“Eat A Sweet With Its Wrapper” 11/07/2008
Posted by martinndugu in Uncategorized.Tags: AIDS, cancer, circumcison, HIV, safe sex, women's rights
add a comment
For most of us who have a sweet tooth for chocolate and all the candy there is, it is quite hard to enjoy the candy with its wrapper on.
This is quite similar to how most people behave when having sexual intercourse, especially the youth who are not married who practice unprotected sex. Think of the fact that most men put their wives at risk by evading circumcision.
If all men do respect women especially their wives, it is recommended and respectable of a man to see that he gets circumcised, in addition, personal hygiene should be observed so as to minimise the cervical cancer rate in women.
Circumcision happens to be an assumed practice to some societies especially the Greeks. Mr and Mrs Happens respect this and have dealt with it by teaching their beloved son how to observe personal hygiene since his mother is a woman and she would also want him to be a respectable man in the future.
She granted him the right to undergo circumcision, if he finds its necessary one he is a man enough. She also took it to be her responsibility to talk to him about using condoms in order to practice safe sex as he is in a very trying and tempting generation.
Cervical cancer is triggered by viruses, for a circumcised man, vaginal fluid will hardly accumulate at the sheath of the penis, unlike in an circumcised man due to friction. These are just few ways in which transmission of cervical cancer and other diseases occurs.
Circumcision is rarely practiced, especially in Africa. Those who do carry it out in a crude and traditional way. The importance of being circumcised is that HIV|AIDS transmission is rarer.
However, that is not a very good reason since we are living in a society that observes gender equality so I do feel that men should be circumcised so as to reduce cervical cancer transmission in women.
Being a proud Kenyan, I do find these cultural practises very annoying and quite senseless. And there are more. For instance, I do recommend that men in tribes, especially from western Kenya, should stop wife inheritance.
This practice has proven to be yet another reason for HIV/AIDS to increase.
