[00:00:01] Madeline: Hello and welcome to SHE SOARS. Her Voice. Her Rights.

[00:00:05] Amal: We are CARE Canada’s Youth Champions, a group of young people across Canada who are passionate advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

[00:00:13] Lauren: We’re excited to discuss and raise awareness about young women’s rights and choices in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

[00:00:20] Amal: Together, we will explore how these global issues connect to our lives as Canadian youth and discover ways in which we can all take action.

[00:00:27] Lauren: We will also talk about the SHE SOARS* project, which improves access to health and education, which are areas we want to see change in.

[00:00:34] Everyone: Join us!

[00:00:35] Madeline: Hi everyone. Welcome back to the SHE SOARS podcast. My name is Madeline. I’m one of the Youth Champions. You might remember me from some of our season one episodes. And today I’m joined by Amal and Gloria, our guest for today. We’re going to be talking about our experiences as young women advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights in honour of International Day of the Girl. I’m excited to get into this. 

[00:01:04] Madeline: International Day of the Girl, October 11th, is an annual day to increase awareness of the different challenges that girls around the world face as a result of gender discrimination and an opportunity to celebrate what we accomplish when we overcome those challenges. International Day of the Girl honours girls’ rights around the world and amplifies their voices. So in that spirit, we’re getting together to discuss what it means to us personally, and highlighting girls’ leadership in the SHE SOARS project.

[00:01:32] Amal: Awesome. Thank you so much, Madeline, for introducing International Day of the Girl. I want to remind listeners that I’m Amal, one of the other Youth Champions with CARE Canada. In the last episode, you would have heard from Amanda and Jeremiah, Youth Advisory Board members from Uganda and Zambia.

[00:01:50] Amal: Now, you’ll be hearing from another Youth Advisory Board member in Kenya, the other country where the project is improving access to youth-friendly health services and information with a focus on young women and girls who are out of school. So today we’re joined with Gloria. I’m going to hand it over to Gloria to talk a bit more about herself and introduce what she does with the project and her other incredible work. 

[00:02:13] Gloria: Thank you, Amal. I’m so glad to be part of this podcast. My name is Gloria Mogoi Kimani. I’m from Kenya. I was born and raised here. I’m part of the Youth Advisory Board that is representing the SHE SOARS project. And I’m glad to be part of the International Day of the Girl podcast.

[00:02:32] Gloria: Professionally, I’m a doctor and I deal with mental health and sexual and reproductive health and rights. I’m part of the Youth Advisory Board. I’m also another leader. We have a community-based organization that I founded last year. It’s called Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS. It’s a group of young medics who are passionate and committed to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights and others about creating positive change in their communities.

[00:03:03] Gloria:It was founded last year in January 2022. And since then we have been able to work with communities and vulnerable girls and boys in the community. And our vision is a world where every individual is empowered to exercise their sexual and productive health rights equally, free from stigma and discrimination from anyone. What we do mostly is we provide menstrual health knowledge. We educate women and girls on matters such as family planning, contraceptives, breastfeeding, access to antenatal care and access to safe abortion. We also create awareness on sexuality, gender identity and gender-based violence.

[00:03:47] Gloria:We educate the community on HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, and we also provide cervical and breast cancer knowledge. 

[00:03:58] Gloria: I’m also part of a medical school association that does sexual and reproductive health and rights. So I guess I’m everywhere. And I’m glad to be part of this podcast.

[00:04:10] Madeline: Thanks, Gloria. It’s really interesting to hear about all the different organizations and initiatives you’re involved with. Do you mind telling us a little bit more about your journey to taking on those roles and becoming a youth leader?

[00:04:23] Gloria: Yes, okay. So where do I start from? I started being a leader when I was in secondary school. That’s where I developed those leadership skills. Then when I got to university campus, I was able to join this organization where my friend helped me get in there.

[00:04:40] Gloria: After I joined, he told me everything about sexual and reproductive health and as he was mentoring me, I just decided to vie for that chance. They voted for me, and I was a leader for two years. 

[00:04:55] Gloria: Another thing that led me to become a leader for sexual and reproductive health is kind of personal. As I was in medical school, there was this time when I usually had issues with my menstruation. So many issues. When I decided to go to the hospital, I was diagnosed with fibroids. So, after that I was thinking, if I have fibroids, I’m sure there are so many young people or young women who have fibroids, but they don’t know what that is.

[00:05:24] Gloria: So I just said, why not let me be that leader so that I can educate them on everything that includes sexual and reproductive health? Because most of our young women don’t know anything about that. They will just think it is normal. So that is what motivated me to become a sexual and reproductive health and rights leader. The thing that made me come up with a community-based organization that I founded is because when I was back in campus, I was a leader of another organization. We had a similar program where we could go out and do cervical cancer and breast cancer screenings, go to schools and teach everything to do with sexual and reproductive health and rights.

[00:06:08] Gloria: So through that program in school, I was motivated. I was thinking, now that I’m done with school, why not come up with another organization that is similar so that we can continue with the work that we were doing? The thing that made me go ahead with this is because I had this network of people back in campus.

[00:06:31] Gloria: So it was easier for me to go out there and reach out to the people who used to donate things like menstrual cups and sanitary towels. When I was telling them that I have another organization, they were like, oh, that’s a good idea. And because we know you already, we can continue helping you continue with your work. That’s why I was motivated. 

[00:06:55] Amal: Thank you, Gloria, for sharing a bit about your journey as a youth leader and sharing your personal story as well on how you were inspired in this space. On that note, in your opinion, what is it like to be a young woman or a girl speaking up for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya? For example, in leadership positions, why is it important to have women and girls’ voices represented equally or more?

[00:07:19] Gloria: So, as a young sexual and reproductive health and rights leader in Kenya, it is actually a difficult thing because most of our leaders here are men. Most of the positions are taken by men. So when you are a young woman out there and your voice is being heard by other people it’s an inspiring thing. But you need to have someone higher up in power who can back you up.

[00:07:44] Gloria: Because if you’re alone, you’re just down here in society and community. You need to have someone who can help you get to the government level, to those big leaders. Also, being a young woman in Kenya who has founded a community-based organization, it is usually very difficult. Someone will need resources.

[00:08:06] Gloria: You go to the government offices and all that. But I did not give up. I just went and I was thinking, let me go because I want to help girls from the community who are not able to access menstrual products. They’re not able to access knowledge relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Also, I wanted to help those girls who are survivors of gender-based violence because it’s usually a hard thing since most girls keep quiet. Through our organization, we go out there.

[00:08:38] Gloria: We talk to them, we teach them, and we tell them there is a place where you can go and report if you experience that kind of thing. And so far, it is helping a lot of girls out here. And we will continue doing that with the support from friends, hospitals and other organizations. We are very thankful and we will continue helping the girls out here. 

[00:09:03] Madeline: Thanks, Gloria. Those are some really good points. And I really agree about the importance there. Now, I thought we could open it up to the group, and we can talk a bit about what the International Day of the Girl means to each of us, and why it is such an important day on a local level but also on a broader, global level.

[00:09:26] Madeline: I can start us off. For me, on a large scale, it seems so important because I think often there is really a lack of awareness about the challenges that girls and women still face today. I know for me, on a personal level, I remember when I first started university and I was meeting all these people who came from different educational backgrounds, different family backgrounds and everything. 

[00:09:53] Madeline: I remember talking to a girl who lived on the same floor as me and saying something about how I considered myself a feminist. And she was so confused because in her mind, feminism was like something of the past that we didn’t need anymore. So she asked me why it was so important to me and everything, and I didn’t even know how to explain myself. I didn’t know how to articulate it because I had never been confronted with that sort of lack of awareness before. It was a wake-up call. Even though I came from a background where people in my life were very conscious of social issues, that is not the case for everyone, and I think that sort of awareness raising is really important. I don’t know if either of you have other insights or ideas about that.

[00:10:35] Gloria: Personally, I think the importance of having the celebration of International Day of the Girl for a country like ours is you find there is a lot of gender inequality. I know people here and there who experience things such as sexual and gender-based violence.

[00:10:51] Gloria:  They experience that but there is no one out here who is going to help them, you know? So I feel like if we have this celebration and we create this awareness, someone in the community will be able to know, oh okay, so if someone harasses me or someone violates my sexual and reproductive health and rights, I can go somewhere and report it to the police instead of just staying at home quietly and waiting for the worst.

[00:11:16] Gloria: Also, it helps most of the girls here to be empowered and go to school because if a young lady sees you and she thinks, she can empower me, you know, and I can be like her. Why not? I think it’s a good thing.

[00:11:30] Gloria: And another thing about leadership – They feel like men are the ones who are supposed to be in power. It is not the women, you know? I feel like if we have that celebration, we can empower so many girls and women out here to become leaders.

[00:11:46] Amal: Yeah, thank you for sharing your insights. I think you both touched on really important issues and why it matters. International Day of the Girl is so important when it comes to gender equality and hearing girls’ voices in issues that concerned them. For example, Gloria, you mentioned how mainly in political spaces when it comes to issues that concern girls and women like sexual and reproductive health, it is often led by men, which I feel like should include more women in these spaces.

[00:12:13] Amal: I think having an international day is really a step forward in having women’s and girls’ voices heard. So, I wanted to ask the group who has been a role model to you on your own journey as a leader or advocate when it comes to sexual and reproductive health or any other ways in your life?

[00:12:31] Madeline: If I think about the first role models who really made an impact on me, I know this is a little cliche, but I would have to say my mom and my grandma. They were both such formative figures for me growing up as women who stand up for themselves and really take action on the things they care about. They showed me that it’s okay to be myself and it’s okay to be interested in whatever academic or professional pursuits I might have.

[00:13:00] Madeline: They never made me feel like the fact that I’m a woman would have to hold me back in any way. I am so grateful to both of them for giving me that sort of leadership and role model growing up. I can’t express enough how important that was to me when I was younger. And still is.

[00:13:21] Gloria: My role model is a friend of mine. She is called Barbara. She is also a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights. She is the one who inspires me and mentors me. Through her I have learned a lot and I have been able to become a leader like her. Yeah.

[00:13:39] Amal: For me, I have a similar answer of my mother and my grandmother. I think growing up they have also been role models for me. And then more recently when I got into university, I did an internship with an organization that is advocacy based and my mentor there, named Robin, was really instrumental in helping me become an advocate for many different issues. I think those are the kind of the role models that I have had throughout my life.

[00:14:07] Madeline: Thanks, Amal and thanks, Gloria, for your answers. I also just want to add that a more recent role model for me is all the other Youth Champions and members of the Youth Advisory Board. I find everyone so inspiring and it has been such a great experience getting to work with and learn from all of you.

[00:14:24] Madeline: Thank you everyone for listening and thank you so much, Gloria, for joining us today. Make sure to tune in for part two of this episode where we’re going to be hearing from an incredible young woman who is leading in the SHE SOARS project, Maryner, who is 19 years old, and she is a youth researcher and a girls’ group leader in Chadiza, Zambia.

[00:14:45] Madeline: We’re also going to be joined by Jeremiah, who you might remember from our episode on youth friendly language, since he actually had the chance to meet Maryner personally and interviewed her. You’re definitely not going to want to miss that. I think it’s going to be a really great episode. Thank you again everyone for listening and we’ll see you next time!

[00:15:03] Madeline: Celebrate Day of the Girl with CARE Canada tonight! The CN Tower, Kingston City Hall, Lethbridge City Hall, Vancouver City Hall, and Burrard Street Bridge will be lit up in orange and pink. If you’re near one of these landmarks, we would love it if you would snap a cool picture, tag @carecanada, and share your message with girls everywhere. 

[00:15:21] Thanks again for listening. Until next time!

[00:15:06] Amal: Thanks for listening to SHE SOARS. If you liked this episode, please share it on social media, connect with us in the comments or give us a like.

[00:15:28] Lauren: Make sure to catch our next episode by subscribing to our channel and following us wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:15:33] Madeline: Follow @carecanada on Instagram for updates on our show and the project.

[00:15:39] Lauren: SHE SOARS stands for Sexual and reproductive Health and Economic empowerment supporting Out-of-school Adolescent girls’ Rights and Skills in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

[00:15:49] Madeline: The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada. Check out our global partner organizations:

[00:15:55] Amal: Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Restless Development for even more project updates.

[00:16:04] Lauren: Thanks again for listening. Until next time!