Mfura Foundation philosophy looks on giving proper education to every child as every parent wants to raise their children at their best. For teenage mothers, this might be sort of challenging because they are still young and have a lot of responsibilities to meet.
Holding that fact Mfura Foundation is working tirelessly to provide support to these young mothers, we argue the community to understand the importance of supporting teenage mothers.
“We are committed to supporting local government and partners to further reduce the rates of teenage mothers which have been increasing for the past 10 years in Rwanda, not only because the majority of these pregnancies are unplanned, but also we know and understand the negative effects that are generally felt by the whole community.” Noted Mfurayabo Marie Clarisse, Founder and Country Director of MFURA Foundation.
Therefore these vulnerabilities can be addressed and poor outcomes avoided if early, coordinated and sustained support is put in place. This should be focused on building the skills, confidence, and aspirations of young parents.
For most teenage mothers, we are joining our hands to dedicate our support in a coordinated manner whereby we bring qualified professionals to equip 21st-century skills that will build resilience and trusted relationships between themselves and give them hope for the future.
We found an amazing experience in equipping practical skills different cohorts of teenage mothers because they can literally practice them and earn a living on a daily basis. This helps them to achieve their lifetime goals.
One of the things we do at the center is about providing safe spaces for teenage mothers so that they can open up and share experiences. Getting together with other teen mothers provides a way for adolescent parents to find support from peers faced with a similar situation. Typically, these support groups feature meetings that focus on discussing issues, challenges, problems, and triumphs that teen moms experience on a daily basis.
Young parents face the challenge of meeting not only their own developmental needs at a time of significant growth but also the needs of their children. This is why we call upon everyone in the community, practitioners and policymakers are to create a range of supports that respond to the needs of both teenage mothers and their children. If this is achieved, then teenage parenthood need not be a negative experience; rather, it can become a catalyst for growth and positive life outcomes for those who were hopeless.
For all organizations and policymakers, we can finally say that Working with teenage mothers requires sensitivity to a number of unique factors that may influence their ability or willingness to participate in programs, hence the need to be very vigilant in designing the kind of support to this group, we encourage you to support us in the journey we have started.
