Why I Struggled to Celebrate International Youth Day this Year?

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If you have interacted with me in person or through digital platforms you know I am an avid advocate of issues affecting adolescents, youth and women. 

Any efforts going into these cause I will cheer on with my heart and soul. This year I felt challenged or rather constrained to celebrate International Youth Day (IYD) a day I have celebrated for a decade now.

Life Threw Me Lemons; Lived on The Streets, Had Life Threatening Asthma and Degenerative Eye Problem But Now I am Having My Lemonade – Benson Kiragu

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“My life has been a roller coaster of unforeseen and unprecedented events, but I am proud of whom I have become.” Benson Kiragu outlines as he begins to narrate his story.

I was raised by my grandparents with my two siblings in Uasin Gishu county, Kenya. The year of my birth is unknown to me, but I settled for 1985 when I was applying for a birth certificate.

The year 1992 marked the beginning of a dark phase in my life. The tribal clashes associated with the general election rocked my life and that of my family. Despite us having a home my grandparents were squatters. When the clashes began our home was torched and we had to run for our lives. 

Vulnerability is all about being Human

Take off the mask. Put your guard down. Enough about hiding your insecurities. Today I want to talk about vulnerability. Yes! Vulnerability.

I have found that many of us look at vulnerability as a weakness and we all dread the thought of being open to people about those things we are not proud of doing or the things we are still doing that we never want people to find out about us. 

What Access to Justice Meant Growing Up as an African Child

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Today we mark the International Day of the African child. A day marked to honour ten thousand black school children who took part in the Soweto Uprising in 1976 to protest poor quality education and demanded to be taught in their own language. Hundreds were shot and hundreds killed in the protest. This day has been celebrated every year since 1991. (Wikipedia)

The theme of this year's celebration theme is Access to Child-Friendly Justice System. This theme has made me think of access to justice which starts at home; with family being the first point where children learn about justice and access justice.

Effective COVID-19 Messages For Children; Episode 2

Unhabitat.org 

Kenya’s first case of Covid-19 case was reported on 12th March 2020 and the numbers have continued to rise drastically with 607 confirmed infected persons, 127 recoveries, and 29 deaths as of 7th May 2020. Many more citizens are getting tested and the numbers are still expected to rise.

Sadly children are part of the above statistics given to us by the Ministry of Health. World statistics and facts about the exact number of children infected and survivors are not known due to child protection issues.

Effective COVID-19 Messages for Children; Episode 1

World Health Organization has assessed that COVID-19 is a pandemic that is spreading across Counties and Continents across the world. As the Virus continues to spread it is governments are working hard to put prevention and control measures to ensure that their populations are safe.

Children are Global Citizens. They are key in the fight against Covid-19. The only message we are giving our children is to stay home, wash their hands and wear a mask. This is very true, but I believe more clear information on Covid-19 given to children by Parents and Caregivers will go a long way in reducing the spread of the Virus among them.