Verity M

22/12/2019

" I WAS A TEEN MUM" Raising kids was my choice...I gave up things and went without them..I REGRET NOTHING....they didn't ruin my life..they gave me a whole new view of the meaning of life.."UBUKULU BWANKOKO MASAKO"

25/08/2019

This is an apology to the following girls we grew up with:

All the girls who had babies when we were teenagers that we shamed. All the girls we called easy. This is for all the girls whose lives we just never made breezy.

This apology is for all the girls who came back to school after nursing a child. All those girls who were mothers before their time but their school experiences were not mild. All the girls we mocked and rebuked and made to feel inferior. This is for all the girls whose lack of h***n made us feel superior

To all the girls whose circumstances we never understood , too all the girls who grew up on our block and in our hoods. To all the girls who walked with big bellys but head bent down, to all the girls who never smiled when people were around.

This is to all the girls we called damaged, to all the girls who got kicked out of homes cause their parents were outraged. To all the girls whose missed periods equated missed friends and missed boyfriends.

To all the girls who we laughed at being mothers, to all the girls whose only crime was giving life to another, this is for all the girls whose parents abandoned them and kicked them out. This is for the girls who got chased from classes with a ruler and a shout

To all the girls who were too scared to be life givers around us, who where too embarassed to say they were mothers around us. Our maturity was lacking them and it is now more clearer. Having a child you love should not make you a sinner.

To all the girls who were sent to the village because you brought shame, whose families were to embarassed to hold the blame. We knew so little and we found comfort in our own stupidity. We are sorry, so sorry a thousand times to infinity.

To you the church kicked out because of impurity. To you the church accused of promiscuity. We are sorry that they did not cocoon you in love, or give you blessings and help like the big man above.

This is for all the girls who we laughed at back in the day. We are sorry, so sorry and hope life finally turned your way.

22/08/2019

We endorse.

This is how we got uninvited to all social events that include women..but waleva. Admin has personally met Obama. She held on to his hands till she got a side eye from the secret service and embarrassed her entire clan of ancestors😂😂 but anyways.

So many events are made that use the same recycled women in the 'industry'. Over and over and over again, the same women are honored, invited, identified and made to speak at countless events.

What of the grassroots women? What of those women making a change in things that are not popularist or cool? What of those women that just grind and work hard but have no elite door for them to open?

We have reached a stage where we have more social cliques than ever, where Women do not bring other women to the table unless the other woman brings a lunch box.

You will see pictures of these events, pictures with the same faces at each and every event. It reaches a stage where you feel every empowerment event is something recycled.

What about searching for new faces and stop making events that are just popularity contests. How about we stop inviting women who are allegedly on the top of their game but also look for new faces and voices?

How do you charge k400 for an empowerment event targeting students? How does-shots fired- someone in public office charge an exorbitant amount of money just to show her face to speak to women? Key word exorbitant.

Baane, the problem is that some of our social justice female heroes end up becoming brands who in a million years will never speak up on issues that you hold dear because they want their brands to be intact. That is the problem of the single story. That us what happens when a society does not diversify- we start taking the words of the few individuals as law.

We need to start creating spaces for new people, we need new voices and faces to carry on legacy. Oh look at kenya and Ghana! So many women to point and choose from.

Instead of us putting people on a pedestal, how about we lift each other up and share the lime light? We become a chain of strong support systems and when they attack one of us, we have many more to speak for us?

To hell with all elitist events with the same faces being monopolies of social change. Yes we support women, but more than that, we need empowerment.

12/08/2019

Happy International Day of the Youth to every Young Person, and Particularly, to every Young Mother.

May you live out your youth fearlessly, without holding back.
May you fulfill your every dream, for your sake and that of the little one who looks on.
May you look at your reflection and see a fighter and not a failure as many may deem you as.
May you find it within yourself to love yourself, to be kind to yourself, to be gentle with yourself and to forgive yourself for your short comings.
May you be phenomenally you, phenomenally youthful.

30/07/2019

What is the Importance of Teaching Young Mothers Skills?

Increasing their earning potential is without a doubt the most important reason, as early motherhood grossly diminishes a young woman's ability to earn, as she has limited opportunities and options.

What is just as important as financial capital is human capital, internal resourcefulness and skills that guarantee they can earn regardless of their circumstances.

Skills that will foster independence, see them cater to their children and ultimately prevent poverty.

At Verity, we utilise the power of skills to empower young mothers, to see that they are able to take care of themselves and their children's needs.

To see that they are not destitute, but empowered women who contribute to the economy.

28/07/2019

As World Skills Week Approaches, We Kicked off Fashion and Design Classes.

Saturday was rigged with thread, measuring tape and a whole lot of Chitenge material as we kicked off fashion and design classes for world skills week.

Headed by Diana Muyawala, fashion designer and founder of Umuntu Designs, who is also our Programme's Coordinator, the girls learnt to make headbands out of chitenge material from scratch. With key take aways such as resourcefulness, creativity, enterprising and sales.

During the course of the week the girls divided into two groups are going to make more headbands out of the material provided to the teams, and make sales as an exercise in business management.

23/07/2019

Empowering young mothers begins at home.

The role of family for a young mother, we can not stress enough, is extremely vital.

Family can make the difference between a destitute young woman and a woman who lives out her unfiltered potential. Unfiltered in the manner that it is uncompromised. Not to say that this is the list of what you can achieve because you are a mother, but to say you needn’t not a list.

To say to her, that she can be anything, regardless of having experienced early motherhood. This is what every family should strive for, to foster young women who believe in themselves, that even when society isn’t receptive or inclusive, they fight for their basic rights to opportunity, to education and self expression.

13/07/2019

Our Site is Up and Running, Delve into the Uncut Truths of Early Motherhood with us One Heartfelt Post at a Time.

Is Mindset the Biggest Barrier to the Success of Young Mothers?

When a girl becomes pregnant, her world changes drastically and rarely for the better. She is subject to lack in opportunity. Her education suffers and her positive sense of self is lost, so much so that she believes she can never amount to much.

Is Mindset the Biggest Barrier to the Success of Young Mothers? February 3, 2018 Verity No Comments slider, Undersranding Young Mothers. When a girl becomes pregnant, her world changes drastically and rarely for the better. She is subject to lack in opportunity. Her education suffers and her positiv...

24/06/2019

When Young People Come Together to Complete Each Other Instead of Compete, Change Happens.

On Saturday morning, Verity young mothers in partnership with You-Nik Children’s Intiative. and other youth-led organisations, came together to give alms in form of warm clothing to homeless young mothers and children.

This event was above everything else, a learning experience. It allowed for each and everyone of us to put ourselves in the shoes of the disadvantaged by sitting next to them and listening to their stories and cries for help. Children, young mothers and their babies; less than 1 year old, all living on the streets in absolute poverty.

They need our understanding. They need our help.