Hope dims for Kilifi girls trapped in caregiving roles

It is 7 am, and a faint glow of morning light creeps over the makuti-thatched roof of Charo Nyambu’s modest homestead in Sokoni Ward, Kilifi County.

Charo, a weary widower and father of nine, rises slowly, bracing himself for yet another day marked by uncertainty and the overwhelming burden of raising his family alone.

“Since I lost my wife five months ago, the burden of raising this family has become too heavy,” he says. “I don’t have a stable job or any source of income.”

In the chilly dawn, 17-year-old Neema Charo, his eldest daughter, wraps a worn shawl around her shoulders as she gently rocks her seven-month-old sister.

Months ago, Neema was a Class Six pupil with dreams of becoming a teacher. Today, she is the sole carer for her eight younger siblings—her education cut short by her mother’s sudden death.

“I had to stop going to school when Mama died,” Neema says softly. “There was no one else to care for the baby, and my father couldn’t afford my school fees. All the focus shifted to feeding my siblings. I miss my classmates and my books.”

Neema’s story is a painful reflection of a broader crisis affecting many rural girls in Kilifi, where poverty, gender roles, and weak support systems continue to push girls out of school.

“We’re witnessing a growing number of girls dropping out, particularly in wards like Magarini, Ganze, parts of Malindi, and Bamba,” says Winifred Kambua, County Coordinator for the State Department for Children’s Services in Kilifi. 

“The main causes are extreme poverty and parental negligence, especially in families with low literacy levels and single parents who don’t view education as a basic right.”

Since her mother’s passing, Neema’s days have been consumed by domestic chores. She fetches water, cooks, collects firewood, and cares for the baby.

On some days, she walks for hours searching for firewood to sell, earning just enough to buy a little maize flour, rarely anything nutritious for the infant.

Charo does what he can, often looking for casual construction work, but opportunities are scarce.

“I want my children to go to school,” he says, “but it’s hard when there’s no job and no money. Neema is the one holding this home together.”

No hope

“It’s hard taking on parenting responsibilities at my age,” Neema admits. “I have no hope of going back to school, and my younger sisters’ education doesn’t seem guaranteed either.”

This unfortunate reversal of roles, where young girls are compelled to give up their education to take on adult responsibilities, is all too common in rural Kenya.

The 2023 Kenya Education Report ranks Kilifi among the counties with the highest dropout rates for girls, driven by poverty, early pregnancies, and deeply rooted cultural norms that place domestic duties on their shoulders.

In the next village, we meet Janet Safari, a widowed mother of eight, who knows this pain all too well. Four of her daughters have already dropped out of school, some married off while still in their teens.

“It breaks my heart,” Janet says, her voice heavy with emotion. “I wanted them to finish school, to have a better life than mine. But after their father died, everything changed. I couldn’t afford school fees.”

She pauses, glancing at the younger daughter still at home. “I pray they’ll get a chance. But with no steady income, I fear they may follow the same path.”

Many more girls in Kilifi risk losing their dreams, caught in a cycle of poverty and caregiving long before they reach adulthood. While the government continues to champion the 100 per cent transition policy from primary to secondary school, gaps remain. Many vulnerable girls like Neema fall through the cracks, their dreams shattered by circumstances beyond their control.

“Girls are being sacrificed to keep their families afloat,” says Eva Munga, a community child protection officer. “We need targeted programmes that support girl-child education and protect children in vulnerable households. Beyond poverty, sexual and gender-based violence, as well as child labour, are dimming the dreams of countless girls in Kilifi County.”

Kambua said many cases of school dropouts in Kilifi go unreported. The situation is becoming increasingly concerning. Unicef reports that the proportion of school-aged children (six–15 years)  out of school rose from 7.5 per cent in 2021 to 8.5 per cent in 2023.