Fifteen years ago, the title of motherhood knocked at Hellen Lentukunye’s door. She was only 15. The news of her pregnancy was delivered by her school matron after a routine check-up conducted on every opening day. That day, her name appeared in the familiar black hard-cover exercise book listing girls found pregnant – a list that left its culprits with no option but to drop out of school.
In Samburu County, where Hellen lives, 50 per cent of adolescent girls aged 15–19 have already been pregnant, according to the 2022 KDHS survey. “It was in June 2010. Six of us were found pregnant. I was the only one in Standard 5. The others were in Standard 7 and 8,” she recalls.
Hellen, an orphan since the age of two, lived with her elderly maternal grandparents. When she broke the news to them, they demanded to know the man responsible. Their insistence set in motion a process that led to her marriage.
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