My name is Ann Mitu, born and raised in Mathare. However, while growing up I wanted to become a model, I adored miss world so much that I even started posing like them LOL, you cant stop a young girl from dreaming big .
Things got twisted after my high school, upon waiting for KCSE results, unknowingly to me, I was already pregnant.
If you agree with me, typically a 19 year old is expected at that time to be joining university but in my case I was expecting a child, at a point it became so obvious and i couldnt hide it any longer from my parents which really got them angry and of course that was the last thing they expected of me.
Quickly I became the talk of my neighbourhood, as a result a relative suggested an abortion. With disappointment from everyone , I had to move in with my baby daddy who was in his third year studying mass communication and public relations.
I gave birth to an adorable baby boy Gyan .1 year down the line after giving birth specifically on my birthday my entire life changed completely, my baby daddy had died. The thought of not seeing him again and that my son wont have a father ... Where will I even start ... No he cant be dead ...he promised he will never leave us... Oh my God my son ...Those thought kept me awake every day and night, just like a dream in a daylight.
Then was how a new chapter began in my life, I knew things would not be êasy at all really tough path awaiting me and my son .
I lived in denial for almost a year still I couldn't bring myself to accept the fact that he was no more.
Something has to be done quickly, we need food , cloths and shealter , so I chose to sell (bhajias) fried Irish potatoes in the street with my son, life was really hard and given up wasn't an option.
The contineous paticipation for auditions at the national theater which lead to learning of the script supervision skill was what i enjoyed most , hence my sister told me that we should go for shujaaz audition which was to be held in mathare since I had attended many auditions but lost, I wasn't really intrested in her suggestion but I agreed to go with her and ended up getting a role in Jongo Love movie .
I played a character of a girl called Shiro ,Shiro was a 16 years old girl who lives in the slum with her baby girl. The role really reflected on my real life ,it got me thinking about the whole scenario of teenage pregnancy. Its actually a big deal and that was how young mama Africa was found .
We were losing our girls to teen pregnancy and early marriage in Africa, what can we do to curb or reduce it?, this became my daily concern..
Most parents have a 15 years old at home as young mothers instead of having them in schools.we aim to create awareness around issues surrounding teenage pregnancy and how to curb it .
I have met young mothers who want to go back to school and continue with their education because life gave them a second chance and with all the stigma that comes upon them for being a young mother, our society look down on us .
My question is, what are parents and guardian doing to ensure the girls that are in school dont end up like me, becoming pregnant at an earlier age?
There is always this mentality, that parents leave their responsibility to teachers to give the children sexual education, while teachers also leave it to parents or religious leaders.
With all that I underwênt, I never gave up on my sons life and he is now 5 years .I give thanks to God for having my back in the journey .
My plan is to go back to school and study film production .
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