肯尼亚未成年母亲获得第二次受教育机会

Kenyan Teen Moms Get 2nd Chance at Education 肯尼亚未成年母亲获得第二次受教育机会

NYERI, KENYA—

Rates of teen pregnancy are high in Kenya, where a recent government survey found that 18 percent of women aged 15 to 19 have either given birth or are pregnant with their first child. An initiative that is giving teen mothers a second chance to complete their educations.

Early morning in Nyeri, 100 kilometers from Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Today, 17-year-old Cynthia Wairimu makes her way to class. She is in her final year of primary school (8th grade) and will take her final exams in December.

涅里又迎来了清晨，这里距肯尼亚首都内罗毕有100公里。今天，17岁的辛西娅·瓦伊里姆像往常一样去学校上课。这是她所在小学的最后一个学年,12月带她将迎来期末考试。上个月她刚生下了女儿尤妮斯。

She gave birth to her daughter Eunice last month. “My hopes are to determine my future and to achieve my goals so that I can be a better person and be more serious in my studies and improve so that I can be respectable later,” she said.

“我的希望是自己掌控未来,实现自己的目标,这样我就可以成为一个更好的人,我的学习更为认真，而且得到改善，这样以后我就可以受人尊敬。”

Pick Me Up

Cynthia is part of the Pick Me Up program that has helped more than 100 teen mothers finish school since it started in Kenya two years ago.

辛西娅是接受“帮助我一下”项目援助的其中一人，这个项目2年前在肯尼亚实施以来已经帮助了100多名青少年母亲完成学业。

The government and the United Nations say that every year, 13,000 girls leave school early in Kenya due to pregnancy.

政府及联合国表示每年肯尼亚有13000名女孩由于怀孕早早离开学校。

Lack of education and little or no access to contraception drive the high rate of teen pregnancy.

缺乏教育及不具备相关知识或避孕措施的不及时使得青少年怀孕率居高不下。

Hawa Wangech mentors 20 teen mothers, many of whom face stigma and poverty. “Getting the teen mothers is the biggest challenge since they are afraid to come out and seek help and counsel to go back to school,” she explained. “Secondly, they are poor and getting resources to get back into school is difficult.”

哈瓦·温格克是20名青年母亲的导师,她的这些学生当中许多人曾经受过耻辱并且饱受贫穷困扰。“让孩子母亲去上学是最大的难题,因为她们害怕抛头露面接受帮助回到学校。其次,她们很穷,而且返回学校在经济方面对她们而言非常困难。”

Pick Me Up is funded by members who contribute $10 a month.

“帮助我一下”项目的成员每个月贡献10美金进行资助。

 “The government has not yet introduced sex education in schools, so this initiative is meant to empower the girl child, the school-going girl child, so that we can be able to fill in the gaps and make this world a better place to live in,” said Pick Me Up founder, Waithera Chege.

“政府尚未就将性教育课程带进学校,所以这一举措是为了赋予女孩子，入学女孩子权利,这样我们就可以能够填补空白,使这个世界成为更好生活的地方。”

Finishing school increases a girl's future earning potential, which can mean a better life for both her and her child.

完成学业增加一个女孩的未来潜在收入,对她和她的孩子而言这可能意味着一个更好的生活。