What has changed? Parents and community members’ perceptions with an education intervention in the slums of Nairobi

• In Event: Stepping up the game: What has changed for girls a year after the onset of an education intervention

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to examine reflections of parents and community members with a community based intervention for girls aged 12-19 years in the slums of Nairobi. This paper is motivated by the need to identify from the perspective of parents and community members, what has changed in regard to the education and social lives of the girls, both at school and within the households as a result of this intervention. This paper seeks to follow up on the parental perceptions at baseline, in which they identified the challenges that was ailing the education of girls at baseline. Data comes from a qualitative component of the Midterm survey conducted in Korogocho and Viwandani, in Nairobi, Kenya. Data was collected in the months of May 2014 using in-depth Interviews and focus group discussions. Results show that that parents and community gatekeepers’ generally have a positive experience with the outcomes of the intervention one year after the onset of the intervention. Particularly, they identifies six ways that the intervention has shown positive impact after one year. These include: improvement in the general performance of girls; improved communication between parents and their daughters; increased knowledge, motivation, positive attitude and behavior change among girls and parents; and trickling effect of life-skills into the households. In conclusion, the community leaders and parental narratives show that one year after the onset of the intervention they observe a general improvement in girls’ lives, which has a positive influence on their education.

Authors

• Benta A Abuya, African Population and Health Research Center

• Moses Ngware, African Population and Health Research Center

• Milka Perez Nyariro, African Population and Health Research Center

• Maurice Mutisya, African Population and Health Research Center