Maureen's Story

Maureen is 17 years old and attends Huruma Girls school. She is shyer than some of the other girls here but was still very happy to talk about her experiences. “I have been here for three years”, she starts, “I joined Girl Power this year, since I was in form three.  I wanted to join so that it could change my life.  Girl Power changes girls’ lives and I wanted to know more about myself.  I now have the power to change my life.  I thought my life would be miserable and I thought that I could not exist, I was really down”

“I live with my uncle.  I don’t live with my parents because they died.  My father died in 2011 and my mum died in 2006. I miss them but my uncle is nice.  He has five children who I like. I have one brother.  We were five in my family but three of them died, and it left just me and my brother. One of my sisters died because she had a problem of bleeding but I do not know what happened to the others”.

“I have learnt that girls are more respected than I thought.  Many people respect girls and they have opportunities.  If a girl gets good marks at schools, she can go to university. I want to be a journalist and I want to work in Kenya, and go to university here.  I want to help make a difference here and keep working with orgnisations like Girl Power”

Written by Hannah Collins, volunteer at Girl Power
Approved by Dr Liz Odera, Director at Sadili Oval Sports Academy