 Kasma Zune. I'm a student at Zitec currently doing conflict ecology and the reason behind that is I saw the safari and you know a lot of people say I saw the safari but I felt it So Bright Stay Initiative is an initiative for young mothers in Kibera and Mazaru Why this came up was because I had a friend who got pregnant at I think 13 And there's a time I was working around and I thought to myself you know I started university I went to University of Nairobi and then school fees was not there So for a long time I was like you know it's God's will I'm okay just think around But then there's a day somebody asked me what you want to do with your life And looking at everything I couldn't tell you what I wanted to do with my life because I don't have anything I don't have school fees I did my best I passed but I could not be able to Afford anything after that so when I was working home I started thinking to myself What can I do and I want to do something that can help people And then I remember the friend of mine who got pregnant when she was young I just gave her a call I was like how are you doing And she told me I'm actually doing okay right now but I was not at the beginning And then I questioned her more I was like when you were going through what you were going through What made you feel alone or what were you going through She told me I felt alone people insulted me because I was pregnant People said a lot of things against me not knowing how I got to that point So that is something that kept bugging me I was like I was not available for you when you needed the help Because one I did not know what you were going through I did not know the pain that you were going through But now that I know what can I do about it yes I don't have the finances Yes I don't have anything to say I start helping So I had a conversation with Esther and I was like I have talked to It was a mutual friend I told her I have talked to her friend and she says she went through a lot And I asked her what did you want when all that was happening When people were insulting me and when people said all these things not knowing how you got pregnant And they were singing some ridicule songs to you She said I needed somebody to be there for me I told myself it won't cost me a dime to be there for somebody else So when I gave Esther the idea she was like oh wow you're dreaming big here And I was like no I just want to be there for somebody We are privileged to meet these beautiful young ladies Lonati Kolo and Esther Ngiri Both beneficiaries are the breast organization And they open up to us about the experiences in this family So I went to Winslet at Tieno Uma I went to Sillanga I told myself I was fine I went through Kupitiam and I went to Lorin And I told my mum that I was pregnant So my mum said I was pregnant But I was not sure So I told my mum that I was pregnant And I decided to go to Kondani and I told her I was pregnant And she said she was something like I was pregnant But I told her I was pregnant I decided to go to Kukunao I was there for her I came to Lorin I told her mum that I was pregnant I was active at the time I was pregnant I went to Pampas Food was available and it was canceled Biko pia, but tumizia doorkas na ista kwa sana. Na itwa lonati kolo, Nikonam totoa miedi saba, Na itwa denzel, nikijana. Nili joku piti yams chana na itwa polin, ali niyambia kuna penyepa na itwa braista wana chukoma young mother. My name is Estan Jerry. I am a volunteer at International Mental Health Association. Biko was working at International Mental Health Association and this day miraculously done, the executive director asked to have a meeting with me and so you know I don't have the qualifications, I don't have anything and he asked me what would you want to do and I said I want to help young mothers. And it was like okay because a lot of people have these ideas and then he was like okay you do this, I don't have the funds, you go see what you can do. Go look for young mothers, start helping. So at this moment I don't have any funds, I don't have anything. I just took Esther and we went and we started looking for people. So we went to Madari at first because there's a program on going in Madari where old people are giving help. So I used to go there every Friday. Now this time round I was like no I'm not going to old people, I want to look for young moms. But the first person I asked about young moms was like why are you trying to help them? They messed up and I'm like no they didn't because if you sit down with a young mom now that I have the knowledge and you sit down with them, not all of them, it didn't happen the same way. One mentioned that she got pregnant because she was hungry. This guy gave her food, there was no food at home. So how do you start criticizing this young mom who, the reason of why she got pregnant was food because of the situation. Others it's rape. So how do you start criticizing people like that? But then I gave up at first because when I was asking around for young moms, they were telling me no, you can't help people who have already decided to do this. Then the next thing I did I was like okay you're not helping me, I'll keep on pushing. So I went to the first young mom, I had a conversation with her, I was like I don't have anything. I'm just going to be here for you. If you want to talk, if you need someone, I'll just be here. So I started by you know, and when you talk to them you notice what's the biggest stress you have? I don't have pampas. So I started going out of pocket getting one like a packet of pampas which is like for 130. Sometimes you don't have the cash because 130, yeah you don't have it. But then I was like okay. I'll try as much as possible and because we built a friendship with them they know I, she doesn't bring anything, it's okay. So they tell me oh at home my mom was yelling she called me a prostitute but then you're like ah don't worry, it's going to be okay. So they're talking about how this kid is giving birth to a kid and all those insults. You know, the young moms take it in and they don't have anyone to talk to this about because you will go tell somebody and they tell you you got pregnant on your own. Who told you to keep the baby? So constantly when we we used to actually sit outside and just have a conversation then one or twice when I get something because I was also an employee. I don't have any cash. I don't have anything. So when I get something small I buy pampas and then it went from then Daniel Mango saw that oh wait, this girl is actually serious about this because you can just help somebody out and you don't know if they want to do it. There were days I just wake up and I'm like I don't have anything. I don't have any mental health training but what I know I know these young moms they need somebody to talk to and looking at the background that I from where I'm coming from we don't have a lot but I knew despite what I'm going through the people who are going through way worse. So that is also the motivation behind everything. I'm like yeah I didn't have anybody when I needed somebody to be there for me and somebody to tell me it's going to be okay. But I want to be there for somebody else and tell them you know what, wipe your tears it's going to be fine because people don't understand when a young mom works around with their kid and then you give them a look that hurts them. It sticks with them and some of them build a shield and you know if you sit with them you'll notice some of them are very vulgar it's because they're building a shield you've already insulted them so much and they're trying to give you a piece so that's what I'm trying to show them no you have a community you have me sometimes there are parents let me tell you there are girls here who've been told you need to move out and then somebody does not have anything they don't know where to go and if I was to dream that's what I'd probably dream of getting like a safe house for them where in case you're told you have three days to be out of this house I can tell them you know stay here for a while it will be fine and then you figure something else out. Another challenge this young moms are facing is you go look for a job and people are telling you we can't employ you you have a kid imagine it's not like it's not like a pass you can leave home and then go look for a job and the reason behind me trying to help them out is because of that one girl who told me how or what she was going through and the fact that I was not there for her I hope that I can be there for so many other girls she ended up having to prostitute herself to help the baby now she's at a point whereby she is positive you see if we helped her at the beginning would have skipped a lot of this and that's the reason for bright star initiative and I really am grateful for Daniel Mango believing that I had passion for this and I wanted I really wanted to help you don't need much to help you just need to be available Dokas herself being born and raised in Kawanguare knows better what the situation of luck means after all she lacked the most of the basics you can ever imagine this shaped her personality to this date I have lived in Kawanguare my whole life went to schools in Kawanguare I can't say I've been raised in your house the only time I got a chance to get out of Nairobi was in Kawanguare and I went to high school I went to the final I actually did my class 8 at a children's home because it was slightly affordable for the school fees I was still I was not able to finally clear the debt but because I passed my exam that's why they were okay you can take your clearance growing up was tricky it was very tricky and the fact that being a 10 year old and thinking the only solution you have is death you know that it's not it's not it's not simple and that is what motivates me the fact that you wake up and you know you don't know what you're going to eat you don't know and I'm thinking to myself some of these young mums probably go through that a lot of times that's why when I get a call and some of them I've given them a code if in case you need any help or you're about to sleep hungry send me a please call me you don't need to have credit and I'd rather be the one who sleeps hungry than them because right now I have people who are supporting me I have my husband I have Esther and I can talk to them and some of these young mums don't have that so I went to several primary schools and you know changing schools having you know eventually people get to know and they're like wait uniform is sort on why do you wear tone uniform and you can't start telling them my parents can't afford and that's that's why I'm currently a very good storing person I do that very well and it's when I went to high school and I was able to do that with so much position they're asking me how are you able to do this and you're not taught I'm like I had a lot of uniform to mend I went to a high school called Kisao Gaos it's in Makueni so I did from one and from two and eventually the school fees was too difficult so I went to a day school called Elion and at some point miraculously somebody paid my school fees until this moment I don't know who did that so I am very happy for that but I don't know who they are I don't know what happened but then after that I was able to go back to Kisao I did my form 4 despite the fact that half of the school time I was not in school people got to a point thinking I actually enjoy going home for school fees because what can you do like every time you hear the roaster people are going home for school fees you start packing your stuff because you know you've not done anything and then yeah I was in debate I did great debaters I loved talking and that sort of is my channel of escaping everything I talk a lot I did that's when I did my exam I got a B minor I was called at a university Iigaton University but the school fees I could not be able to go to Iigaton so I was like what if I try UN so I went and joined UN to do English and Literature did the first semester then school fees again so I was like okay you know what I've tried I've done everything I can do to try pay school fees my parents can't be able to so you can't put that burden on them I tried working I did several jobs but then I couldn't be able to support my school fees then that's when I took a step back and God did miracles that's how once I started Brightstand then Daniel Mango was like okay you can't be helping people and you yourself you need help so he asked me what would you want to do and I was like wait this young mums because you need certification sort of to be able to help them with their mental health heart alone is not enough my background has shaped me a lot because if I didn't go what I went through I would not understand what people are going through when somebody tells me I've slept hungry I feel their pain and that makes me work immediately that makes me know if somebody ever gives me funds and tells me you know what we want to sponsor Brightstyle we want to help I know that these people I was in a position whereby you hear somebody is quote unquote helping you and it's not even you don't even know about it but the things that I went through the moments of suicidality the moments of depression the moments of wanting to give up they help me know and understand that when somebody comes to me and tells me you know what I'm about to give it up I know what they're feeling and I will not ignore them I'll not tell them you know what stop it's okay you have a lot to live for no what I went through growing up and the situations that I was in helped me a lot to understand and care better about Brightstar we mainly deal with young mothers the ones that got pregnant at an early age so basically the idea was bathed by Dorcas it was from an experience that we had with a friend of ours who got pregnant at an early age so she had a lot of a lot of things that were happening in her life when she was pregnant and basically life had been unfair to her while she was pregnant so that challenge that she faced made Dorcas want to help young mothers who get pregnant at the same age that she had Brightstar is fun Brightstar is everything I know it's my baby I love Brightstar so much so what we do here we have several small projects within the whole project because most when you want to help don't just think linear think of things that you can do because when I mentioned before my life I look at the things that I would have wanted to happen to me I try to channel those things to these young moms so one of the things you do is here day here day we come together we wash each other's hair we put on face masks I pump at the girls we do our feet we do our hair we go all out because some of these young moms they don't get the time to start making themselves feel beautiful making themselves feel confident and comfortable in their own skin so the main agenda and the reason for here day is to be able to help these young moms feel good, look good and build your confidence some of them don't get the financial support to be able to go to the salon do your hair, do your nails, do your face so what I do is I buy all those products because it would be very expensive to take them to the salon and as per day so it's sort of as per day for us we do have a lot of fun the other thing we do is shop making shop making is where I teach them a skill to be able to use that skill and are living out of it the other thing we did here was making samosas because that's also a skill that somebody can start their own small business once I am not there or once Brightstar they graduate out of Brightstar they can be able to fully self sustain themselves because when you the whole idea is somebody can fully hand their mental health place their mental health in check to have a source of income because most of them don't have that so those are the two main things your mental health and a source of income and also have fun every hero's journey comes with challenges in this 24 year old has had her share but tells us why she is best positioned to deal with young mothers the biggest challenge is finance because we don't have currently we don't have a sponsor program so it's out of pocket or executive director sometimes is the one who helps a lot with the project because he sees the impact and you will tell them about the project but we can't quantify how these young moms are feeling at the end of the day I think Biko has mentioned the mad side glad afraid and you can't quantify how you make the girls feel so it's quite difficult to quantify everything that we do but that is the biggest challenge finance and then the pompas sanitary towers and panties for the young moms so those are the things that that is a main challenge but I'm grateful that I have people who are there for me but in case something is too overwhelming I can share and I can be like this is I don't know what to do and then situations where by somebody tells you they are being kicked out you don't know where to take them you can't invite somebody in your home and they have a kid and you know all that so that is the biggest challenge the warm hearted young lady refers to us what her spirit is to do charity to her neighbor being able to have a room where by I can be like in case of anything in case somebody is just out in the middle of the night they can sleep here like the other day we had an incident where one of the young moms their house was burnt down so I don't have anything I can do I don't have the capacity when you see them laugh when you see them relax when I see when I see them do I'm at bright start that's the motivation that keeps me going also my husband he's the one who's always there and you know sometimes you feel like gipping up but you know what you're doing what you're doing Esther Njeri she's always there she's like let's keep on keeping on because sometimes you can have your own mental health stuff bugging you but then when I see the young moms I see them make fun I see them laugh I'm like oh wow I'm doing what I was sent to this earth to do so also my father he's always there sometimes you know you have some very tough decisions to do and I'm not that I'm actually 24 I'm 24 and there are some decisions that I don't know what to do about them so I ask my father for help he tells me you know with the wisdom with age comes wisdom he helps me making some decisions here and there and also International Mental Health Association if not for Imha I don't think the project would still be here Imha the Black Mental Health Liz Damelia and Dan Mango those are the people I give the most shout out to my future plan is to have like four homes for the young moms in case of any situation have a mental health space for them like have a chill spot a house whereby we can put a babysitter a sport for the kids to see you know the moms can come in watch TV talk to a therapist have a very fun house you know being able to have have this project in other parts of Nairobi other parts of Kenya other parts of Africa so that this is going on here we have another like 20 right now we have 22 young moms currently here so having another 25 somewhere else I love honest if you ask the young moms what rule does Doshka stand by just say the truth because I believe the truth will set you free I'm not afraid of making you feel bad because I've said the truth that's my main kovali my mission and vision is let's help everybody they say behind every successful man there is a woman and what about a successful woman my name is Babu Biko I'm the Creative Visionary at the International Mental Health Association I support the communication strategy of all the programs that we have that is the Black Mental Health Program which the Bright State Initiative is under I support the South Asian Mental Health Initiative I support the Afghan Empowerment Program as well as the overall Imha brand so I support them with videos, photography, editing and all that but at Brightstar now I bring the knowledge that I have gained in mental health when the Brightstar Initiative began Dorkas gave the idea and Dorkas used to come and meet the young moms they used to talk and as the program developed we actually started creating pillars with which the program could stand so I tabled the idea I was like okay you're already supporting them you're already giving them diapers you're already giving them this but can I be given an opportunity maybe like an hour or an hour and a half to be able to talk to the young moms teach them about mental health give them some of the knowledge that I've learnt coping strategies teach them that they do not have to be victims but they can be resources for their own community they can be resources to not only build themselves but build their family and build their communities so when we were doing the analysis initially we saw there was a lot of stigmatization when the girls came if you saw the initial photos that we actually took of them the very first they were meeting them they were very closed up very worried now they're very vibrant they've learnt that they are powerful on their own and so that's what I brought to Brightster just to support the work that Dorcas and Esther already doing on the ground I supported her because once she's my wife but too I believed I believed in her dream I saw the compassion that she has and she does this it's not even here in Kibera she does this in Madare as well she basically always wants to help people a united family well needs together by love and selfless attitude to work their neighbor determined to bring change through this common denominator love the because are sharing their love with the world are creating a city a city of love hospitable to everyone a resident and strangers this is the world of heroes that we are looking forward to a world of selflessness there are a lot of organizations that are helping but unfortunately all of them are not really interested in solving the girls problem they're interested in enriching themselves I really want to commend Dorcas because if there are any funds that are channeled through her every single cent and she can account for this from every M-Pesa message to every purchase it buys diapers it goes to helping the girls it doesn't matter even to the tiniest cent infact she goes into her pocket sometimes to cover some of the cost that the girls will reach out to and this is why I think it's now a safe space I want to thank Dorcas for sharing her dream with us because it is now a reality I'm grateful for each and every young mum who has ever been to Bright Star I'm grateful for them I'm grateful for them to allow me be there for them because it's a privilege for somebody to let you be there for them so I'm grateful for each and every young mum who has ever opened up their hatch for me to be there for them