Assist Teen Mothers in Kibera, Kenya with Soraya

My name is Habiba Juma, Founder of Soraya, Nurturing Teen Moms and Females.

Soraya (Nurturing Teen Moms and Females) is an organization that empowers teen mothers to be change agents. Through mentorship programs, it helps school children minimize teen pregnancies, recognize the value of education, and educate females on menstrual health, contraceptives, and parenting.

I'm asking my community and the more extensive network for help in raising the funds that are needed to keep these two critical initiatives running for another year.

Soraya was formed in the year 2020 through a feeding program that involved giving food supplies to orphan families, widows, the elderly, and other people in need in the region of Kibera, the largest slum within Nairobi, Kenya.

We expanded our services in 2021 to include training for residents of the Mathare slum. At both the primary and secondary levels, we worked with 30 teen moms and 30 school-age girls. They completed our six-month training in Personal Development, Entrepreneurship, Reproductive Health, and Mentoring. To accommodate a larger number of females, we later created a second branch in Kibera.

In Kibra, we worked with 30 teen mothers and conducted a community awareness program in which we trained over 50 young mothers and parents on contraception, menstrual health, and parenting. We have been able to support and alter the lives of at least 100 teen mothers and many kids who are still in school as a result of this journey. We've improved several relationships between adolescent moms and their parents as a result of this, and we've also included the community in the events to help them understand what the girls are going through and how they can support them despite the setbacks in their lives. The majority of individuals in the community are aware of the issue and are eager to support our program.

Additionally, we have been able to assist a few ladies in obtaining employment prospects as a result of this training, and we are still exploring internship opportunities to connect the rest of them and provide some of them with startup financing.

We decided to train in both Kibra and Mathare this year. We've taken 30 teen parents in both locations and broadened our scope of reach by focusing not only on Personal Development, Entrepreneurship, and Reproductive Health, but also on digital literacy, mental health, parenting, and Leadership.

We have been facilitating our activities for the past two years based on what I was able to earn through my profession as an online safety educator, commercial modeling, acting, and help from team members and a few friends. Unfortunately, I was in a major car accident and was unable to continue working. My loss of income, combined with the rise in the cost of food and supplies in Kenya, has made it difficult for me to continue supporting this essential activity and receiving help from friends and the team.

We seek assistance in carrying out our mission, which includes assisting teen mothers in bettering their lives and providing for their infants. Some of them were compelled to marry young because they became pregnant before finishing school. We will not only alter their lives but also provide them with possibilities to sustain themselves and their families if we conduct these activities with sufficient support.

In order to fully fund this program for these two cohorts, we need to raise a total of $8348.54 (Ksh 1198850) by October 15th.

Our first objective is to raise $4601.67 (Ksh 660,800), which will allow us to continue offering training resources to the two sites and delivering our training consistently. This includes teaching materials, rent for the training facility, books, pens, and a nutritious training meal.

If we achieve our first objective, our second aim is an additional $529.60 (Ksh 76,050). This allows us to arrange a modest graduation ceremony for the girls and invite their parents to assist in the development of their relationships and encourage them to support their children by being bold enough to hold their daughters' hands in the process of change.

Our final goal would include $2089.14 (Ksh 300,000) which will allow us to fully offer business funding to help the girls grow themselves, use the skills we've taught them to start their own businesses and provide support for their children and families.

If we accomplish all of this then our stretch goal would include $1128.13 (Ksh162 000), so that we would be able to completely fund both cohorts, pay our staff, and assist a lot of young parents in making changes in their neighborhood and developing a solid, healthy relationships with the community.

We have already begun our training, however, we are a little behind in providing the necessary materials for our girls while they are in training. We've come to seek assistance in completing the course until December, when they'll graduate and we'll join another group of teen mothers.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and learn our tale.

Let us join hands and help each other to make a difference.

Thank you for taking the time to hear our story on behalf of our girls.

P.S.

Hi Friends, Annie Lightbody here. I am helping sponsor this fundraiser for Soraya because I know how impactful Habiba's work is to the community of young women in Kenya. Please consider supporting this important and necessary work in any way you can. Spread the word, donate what you can, let's get this done!