Empowering teenage mothers and nurturing resilience through mental health support
Sexual abuse and early motherhood inflict lasting trauma on children and young girls, impacting their mental health
At the age of 16, Laëtitia Iradukunda from Kirehe District, Eastern Province of Rwanda, faced a reality no child should endure. Raped and impregnated by a man she considered a friend, she gave birth to a baby boy, Aldo, who is now four years old.
Teenage pregnancy is an unacceptable norm, so when the news reached home, it sparked a wave of disappointment and relentless blame from her parents and siblings which compounded the ill effects of her trauma, causing emotional distress, social isolation, and low self-esteem issues. She was left utterly distraught and dropped out of school, enduring chronic headaches and stomach pain, and battling mental health issues amidst the turmoil.
Most of Rwanda's teenage girls confront a challenging reality. According to the Violence Against Children and Youth National Survey, 2015-16, Ministry of Health, Rwanda, two out of every 10 young women are exposed to sexual violence before the age of 18, 13 per cent of whom have experienced sexual abuse at the age of 13 or younger. This traumatic experience may result in school dropouts and mental health issues.
Despite this, there's hope. Supported by the Government of Japan, UNICEF, along with Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) and local civil society organizations, through an innovative and integrated community-based programme, is helping these teenagers and young people.
This programme, operating in four districts (Kirehe, Nyamagabe, Karongi, and Gisagara), provides crucial education and support to vulnerable adolescents, including those in refugee camps. Young people trained as Peer Support Volunteers (PSVs) facilitate discussions with their peers on mental health struggles and related areas such as sexual and reproductive health, HIV, nutrition, abuse, poverty, and conflict.
After enduring a prolonged sense of isolation in her tough journey, Laëtitia found healing, support, valuable learning experiences, and an improved livelihood through this initiative. She recalls how her journey with the programme began, "My parents eventually let me go back to school. I finished high school and learned about a programme that helps teenage mothers and adolescents, so I decided to join.”
"I joined a small group of teenage mothers like me in our district. PSVs helped us learn about mental health and sexual and reproductive health consistently. They counseled us on our mental health and provided information, including orientation on available adolescent-friendly health services,” she narrates.
The PSVs hold regular meetings to guide and offer comprehensive support to adolescents, providing timely and accurate information about available adolescent-friendly health services. Additionally, they raise awareness about mental health among parents and the wider community, aiming to fight against stigma.
Chantal Cyuzuzo Irebeho, a peer support volunteer in Nyamagabe District, shares, “We strive to create safe environments that support adolescents' mental well-being. We visit their families to discuss and teach them about mental health. We emphasize the importance of counseling for their children and encourage them to seek professional help.”
As days went by, Laëtitia also began to raise awareness about mental health with her parents. “I would come home and teach my parents, explaining how being in the group was helping me learn and grow so much," she shares.
Laëtitia also learned to take care of herself and her child. One of the programme's goals is to help teenagers improve their lives by teaching them about money, job skills, and how to start a business.
Grace Marie Ishimwe, a peer support volunteer in Kirehe District, explains, "We save money and give loans in groups, discussing and exploring different job opportunities and businesses to improve our economic and social well-being."
With the support of her group, Laëtitia regained her confidence and improved her financial situation as a young mother. She now sells avocados from her parents' field and puts the profits into her group savings.
Today, at 20 years old, she has finished school, and although she can't attend college for now, she is happy to give her son a good life while dreaming of an even brighter future.
Like Laëtitia, many more have benefitted from the knowledge and support they gained from this programme. Jeannine Tuyishime, a young woman who also became pregnant as a teenager, explains how the program's focus on nutrition helped her provide a healthy diet for herself and her baby.
“Using savings from the group, I started small-scale livestock farming, which enabled me to buy nutritious food and other necessities for myself and my child,” says Jeannine with a bright, hopeful smile.
This small business supports her family's nutrition and empowers Jeannine to build a sustainable future for herself and her child.
However, just like Laëtitia and Jeanine, many adolescents remain at risk of serious mental health issues that arise from sexual exploitation and violence.
Through the programme, 680 peer support volunteers, comprising 390 females and 290 males, were trained in crucial soft skills, such as interpersonal communication, SRH, HIV awareness, nutrition, abuse, livelihood, community and social mobilization, as well as linking individual adolescents with health facilities and providing follow-up support. By the end of the programme, 99,842 adolescents (52,257 females, 47,585 male) young people had accessed mental health and psychosocial support services.
Thanks to the support of the Government of Japan and local partners, young people are finding hope and an opportunity to build a brighter future for themselves and their families.
Read more on how this programme has empowered teachers to respond to their students’ mental health needs and orient them to adolescent-friendly health services.
