Youth fear HIV, pregnancy and police

By GATONYE GATHURA

NAIROBI, KENYA: Fear of the police, HIV and pregnancies are the top biggest worries for young men and women living in the poor estates of Nairobi.

Slums and slum-ike estates in Nairobi hold almost 70 per cent of the city population, majority of them under 22 years.

For girls aged about 18, the biggest worry is getting pregnant, HIV or being harassed by the police in that order. Boys of the same age are constantly worried about getting HIV, insecurity and police harassment in that order.

In a survey released last week by the Nairobi-based African Population and Health Research Centre, the universities of Colorado at Boulder and North Carolina of the US were worried that while the high rate of police harassment indicated a strong presence of security agents in these areas, crime remains a major challenge for the young.

“When people are mugged in the area, innocent youth suffer for those mistakes. Police will ask you whether you are part of the gang but they never listen to pleas of innocence,” a 22 year resident of Viwandani slums told the investigators in the study.

Among boys aged between 12 and 14, the biggest worry is insecurity while 29 per cent said police harassment was their biggest fear.

The researchers, led by Dr Caroline W Kabiru of the African Population and Health Research Centre, say while the youth from these poor setups, who are the majority in Nairobi, face the challenges of unemployment, they have also to contend with life at the margin.

Join crime

The researchers say their work is concentrated in Korogocho and Viwadani slums, which carry majority youth in Nairobi, who die early or are forced to join crime early.

“Despite the concerns and challenges highlighted, over 75 per cent of youth between 12 to 22 years had high aspirations,” says the study.

The team sampled more than 4,000 young men and women from the poor city settlements and said all age groups, irrespective of gender, aspire to one day own homes, be able to take care of parents in old age and have good jobs.

The most optimistic about a better future are the youngest, but the dreams seem to fade fast as they grow up and realise the magnitude of the challenges against their advancement.

“For example, among males about 59 per cent and 47 per cent of the 12–14-year-olds and 15–17-year-olds, respectively, as compared to 33 per cent of the 18–22-year-olds thought they had high chances of getting a well-paying job,” says Dr Kabiru.

This shows the youngest group has the highest expectations, whereas the middle age group had higher expectations than the oldest group.

Job opportunities

In other words, for both males and females turning a new age may lead to a reassessment of their expectations based on actual realities on the ground. In more endowed families, such 18-22-year-olds are most likely pursuing higher education and possibly adjusting their goals upwards.

By the time most of the youth in slums are 18 and above, they find few job opportunities.

Participants who had reached this gridlock have realistically changed their dreams to fit the realities of their situations. Such youngsters are now thinking about becoming artisans, mechanics, hairstylists or owning small trades instead of doctors or engineers.

“The interest in trade, artisan, or craft-oriented careers underscores the importance of government initiatives such as Kazi kwa Vijana and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund in reaching such marginalised youth,” says Dr Kabiru.

The study also faults the current overemphasis of turning middle-level colleges into universities advocating investment in youth polytechnics, which would provide the disadvantaged youth appropriate vocational and training opportunities.

If the society does not put in place remedial measures, the report intimates there could be consequences. Dr Kabiru says those youth who do not adjust their aspirations downwards when confronted with challenges most likely turn to crime and delinquency.

“We found indications that the greater the disparity between the youngsters’ aspirations and what they eventually achieved to be significant of whether the individuals turned in to delinquency or crime, which is prevalent in the area.

The high rate of crime in the area, says the researchers, is a direct result of unemployment and poverty. “If all of us were able, no one would steal from the other. Young boys get into mugging people and stealing?…, young girls enter into prostitution and so many bad things that harm the households,” says a 19-year-old unemployed mother.

The researchers say even children born in poor families have high aspirations and expectations and this should be nurtured early through the right policies and interventions.