10-Year Old Kenyan Girl Gives Birth
 

Don't Agonize Over Gladys-ORGANIZE for Children's Rights in Kenya

Onyango Oloo Adds His Voice to a National Outcry...

Like tens of thousands of Kenyans accessing our newspapers via the internet, I was literally stupefied for twelve seconds when I visited the East African Standard website to find out what was happening at home a few hours ago.


http://eastandard.net/images/issue/hmp200605.jpg


The picture by Soni Tanu of yet another brand new child mother,10-year-old Gladys Chelagat(a former pupil of Chemamul Primary School) holding her baby weighing 2.8kg at Kericho District Hospital stunned me as I reflected that this little msichana was four and a half years younger than my own teen son- who is still very much a child to me. I shared the anger, bewilderment and shock of most of my compatriots who have been united in their outrage across a range of Kenyan discussion forums. We all clicked ferociously for the text to accompany that harrowing image- but this turned out to be a fruitless quest.

Having recovered from my shock, I would like to urge myself and all Kenyans reading this that we really should not be shocked AT ALL.

There are other child mothers out there, as you can see from the picture below:

http://savethechildren.org/enewslett...therchild2.jpg

Now consider this factoid:

- Each year 1 in every 10 births worldwide is to a mother who is still a child herself.
- Girls in their teens in poor countries are twice as likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes compared with older women. Girls 14 and under face even greater risks.
- Children born to children are more likely to be delivered prematurely and at low birth weight and are more likely to die in the first month of life.
- Young mothers also face enormous health risks: Obstructed labour is common and results in newborn deaths and death or disabilities for the mother. Research shows that young mothers and their babies also are at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
- Globally, the minimum-age-for-marriage laws must be improved and enforced.
- Canada has a low rate of infant mortality due to a high level of young girls enrolled in secondary school.

SOURCE

Here is an excerpt from the 2004 Save The Children Report focusing on Child Mothers:

More than 1 million infants and an estimated 70,000 adolescent mothers die each year in the developing world because young girls are marrying and having children before they are physically ready for parenthood, according to the report released today.

The reports Early Motherhood Risk Ranking identifies 50 countries where motherhood is most devastating for young girls and their babies. Nine of the ten highest-risk countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Niger, Liberia and Mali top the list. Other countries with high-risk scores outside of Africa include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Yemen.

In the ten highest risk countries, according to the report, more than 1 in 6 teenage girls aged 15 to 19 give birth each year and nearly 1 in 7 babies born to these teenagers die before age 1. The rankings are based on marriage and birth rates among teenage girls in each country as well as infant mortality rates for children born to teenage mothers.

This is so damn sad

I cannot tell you how sad it makes me feel to see the beautiful faces of children holding babies of their own.

As a Social Worker, news like this breaks my heart.

Those pictures and that article have brought me close to tears

The babyperson's beautiful, but this is just wrong. No 10-year-old should be a mother.:mad: :(

:eek: :(

I have a 10 year old. She can barely wipe her own behind, yet alone someone else's....:(

:eek: WTF???

I had JUST started mestruating at 10.

What happened at home? WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

Back in the day, we all were shocked and appalled at a NINTH grader having a baby. In my whole graduating class, only 5 people had babies, most in the 11th or 12th. Having sex wasn't even an OPTION back then. Yeah, we talked trash, but actually DOING it?? NO!!!!

They need to bring back sex ed in elementary. We had it starting in 5th, and I think it scared us good. I was too scared by what I knew to even think about it until I was in my second year of college. This is just too damn much!!

And this is NOT just in Africa. This is down the street. Its horrible!!


:( :o :mad: :eek: :confused:

That first little girl's pic is just haunting. I can't stop looking at the expression in her eyes...it just makes my heart break for her. I can just see her trying to love that child the best she can knowing she doesn't really want her.

I can't even comment on this...it took me several times going by thie thread before I even read because I didn't like the title...this is really so sad.

Somewhat related (off the NPHC yahoo listserve)

STORY OUT ABOUT A FIVE YEAR OLD GIRL WHO GAVE BIRTH TO
A HEALTHY BABY BOY.....



http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/medina.asp

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Ditto

Oh my Lord!
 

What I want to know is, medically/scientifically speaking, when is a girl, on average, able to have a baby? I mean, I guess from the articles from the time she's born, she can turn around and have a baby!!! I am so shocked right now. And seeing that picture of that little girl PREGNANT is very, very scary to me. My heart dropped, literally, when I saw that picture. I'm just dumbfounded by it all.

And another thing, where are the men in all of this? I mean, I don't really know the history of Kenya, but where are the men who impregnated these "babies?"

Her eyes just show it all, don't they? She's scared and quite frankly, though she may want to love the child, she may not even know HOW, which makes it all the more "haunting."

Even more sickness in the world
 

News
07/26/2005 19:14:08 EST Man Charged for Having Sex With Teen Wife
By KEVIN O'HANLON
Associated Press Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. - A 22-year-old man faces criminal charges in Nebraska for having sex with an underage 13-year-old girl, although he legally married her in Kansas after she became pregnant.
The man's lawyer said the couple, with their families' support, "made a responsible decision to try to cope with the problem."

Matthew Koso, 22, was charged Monday with first-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He was released on $7,500 bail pending an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing.

After the girl became pregnant, her mother gave permission in May for Koso to take the young woman to Kansas, which allows minors to get married with parental consent. The girl is now 14 and seven months pregnant.

"The idea ... is repugnant to me," said Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. "These people made the decision to send their ... 14-year-old daughter to Kansas to marry a pedophile."

He said the marriage is valid, thanks to the "ridiculous" Kansas law, "but it doesn't matter. I'm not going to stand by while a grown man ... has a relationship with a 13-year-old - now 14-year-old - girl."

Bruning, who has said he will seek a second term in 2006, has aggressively prosecuted sex crimes against children since he was elected in 2002

The couple were married in May by a judge in Hiawatha, Kan., just across the state line from Falls City.

Nebraska requires people to be at least 17 before they can marry.

Kansas law, however, sets no minimum marriage age, although case law sets the minimum age at 14 for boys and 12 for girls. The marriage must be approved by both parents or guardian, or by a district court judge, said Whitney Watson, spokesman for Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. A judge also must approve if only one parent approves.

Koso's lawyer, Willis Yoesel, said the girl's mother and Koso's parents approved of the marriage. He said the girl's father has not lived with the family for some time.

"It seems to me like they, as much as they could, made a responsible decision to try to cope with the problem," Yoesel said.

"The families are all united in this effort," Yoesel said. "I don't know who is complaining. ... What benefit is there to anybody in the prosecution of this young man?"

There was no comment from Koso, who does not have a listed telephone number.

___

On the Net:

Nebraska Attorney General: http://www.ago.state.ne.us/



Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
:confused: :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused: :eek:

disturbing but true
 

In the bush, the bros try to sleep with virgins because they think it will cure aids.

I don't know about how young a human female "has to be" in order to become impregnated and have a baby...

I do know that for mice, it take at least 3 months to get them ready to go for producing babies, safely, without dying by dystocia [sp?]--uterine collapse, loss of a lot of blood...

The lunatic sexual offender predators need to be gulliotined for doing this to children--who can't even wipe their own butts!!!

I just HATE having to read this... It hurts...

Re: disturbing but true
 

I just heard about that. They had that on Oprah. Men raping BABIES, because they think it'll cure AIDS. In Africa. Makes NO damn sense.

My heart aches for these young children
 

It's not doubt that these young female girls were raped and abused....Lord please help the children! While these and other children in many countries especially our own here in the United States need hlep, were doing dumb Sh*& like sending people to the freaking moon......WTF is really going on in America's Leaders minds.... :mad: