So I am back to the office after a fulfilling experience in Malindi. I had received several calls from some of my friends who sometimes consider me their " Love doctor"....I often wonder why because I too am looking for answers to some of the very questions they ask!!! Its always about this thing called love, courtship, relationships and how to keep it going.....

It is now often said that Polygamy is somewhat something of the past. I have heard many say " I cannot let my self be married as a second wife and if my hubby marries another woman I will leave him!" Long ago marriage to a second third and even forth wife was not that big of a deal. Today as I see it polygamous families are faced with law suites, public humiliation, dis-ownment but to mention a few of the common family fueds. Despite all this we still find many young women cohabiting with or married as second and third wives where they have no power and no freedom of their own.

Every time I hear this phrase I remember one of my favorite ones, “I take risks coz I’m all that”. The first time I heard it I thought it was a little on the rude side but come to think about it now, its about being bold and doing what I want to do while making a conscious decision on my body, my life,my friends and everything that is around me.I was reading an article the other day in one of the local dailies that was titled “Young women would rather contract HIV then fall pregnant”.

YWLI held our first National Young Woman's Forum and Human Rights Festival on the 28th and 29th October 2010. Both were exciting and vibant activities with lots of energy and it brought hope to a new dawn. We always hear about the young turks, well I call them young-ish...because they are often not that young! Well as young women this was a forum for us, a space for young women from all over Kenya, I felt it brought the face and the issues of young women and put them on the table for discussion. We took a stand as young women by young women!!

NATIONAL YOUNG WOMEN’S FORUM -WHY THE FORUM

I was in a matatu the other day and besides the loud head thumping music was this huge sticker saying " HATA NIKIPIMWA, HAKUNA DAWA". (EVEN IF I GET TESTED,THERE IS NO CURE/MEDICINE) I asked myself how many people get to see this sticker day in day out and what goes through their heads when they see this kind of a message. Because of the nature of the Matatu I was sure that most of the passengers are young men and women. So day in day out we have young women and men being encouraged not to bother getting tested because there is no cure for HIV/AIDS.

Reacting to the one of the blogs shared last week, I was saddened by the truth that young women and girls would rather contract HIV than fall pregnant. I was taken back by the alarming figures shared, but it is the sad truth. I remember when I was in school and the thought of falling pregnant was like a death sentence. It was a death sentence because your peers, parents and those around you had evidence that you were sexually active. This was the biggest fear and the thought of the shame and stigma that one would face led many girls in our schools to do many life threatening things.