Jackline Saleiyan receives the Trailblazer award from President Ruto for championing girls’ rights 

Meet Jackline Saleiyan, founder of A Pack a Month, a Community Based Organisation (CBO), supporting teen mothers and young women in Kajiado county. She was among the 10 women President William Ruto bestowed honour and recognition during the International Women’s Day. 

Saleiyan received the Trailblazer award for her role towards supporting girls and women’s economic inclusion in her community. 

Other women honoured included First Lady Rachel Ruto, Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a and Homabay Governor  Gladys Wanga. 

“The award for me means a lot since it is the first of its kind in my life. I was literally shaking on my way to the podium. It is a source of encouragement that even as a Kenyan youth, it is possible to do something to solve local problems, find local solutions by rallying the community and get recognized for it. It honestly feels good to be recognized by the Kenyan government. I am encouraged to keep going,” Saleiyan said during an interview after the award. 

Jackline Saleiyan receives the Trailblazer award from President Ruto for championing girls’ rights

Saleiyan said she didn’t anticipate the recognition as it came as surprise.

“The award came as a surprise given that when I started supporting gender based violence victims, I never knew that I would be a victim of it as well. My children have been missing for past 3 years, abducted from my home by a bitter ex who has since gone underground. The children have not been seen or heard from since they were taken and nobody knows if they are alive or dead. The incident has already been declared a criminal case by the High Court and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) ordered to take it over. I still wait on the DCI to reunite me with my children hopefully,” narrates Saleiyan. 

Her personal experience is a driving force to pushing toward gender equality and women empowerment initiative she has been actively involved in. 

She founded A Pack a Month in 2019 basing its operations in Kajiado West and North in Kajiado County. 

The primary focus of the organisation is to provide sanitary pads as well as life skills and mentorship sessions to vulnerable girls and young mothers in the area.

Jackline Saleiyan receives the Trailblazer award from President Ruto for championing girls’ rights.

“The aim of starting the organisation was to create a platform where school going girls and young mothers could easily access sanitary pads. Sex for pads narrative has continued to be a never-ending challenge affecting young girls in school. Young girls have been forced by circumstances to resolve to trading their innocence in order to afford a pack of sanitary towel. 

When Covid 19 pandemic hit globally, back at home, its effects were cutting deep. Cases of GBV skyrocketed and the number of young girls in need of urgent support was shooting up. 

Students and pupils were being forced to stay at home till school reopened further exposing them to different social evils, GBV being one of them. 

Cases of sexual harassment and assault especially directed towards women and girls rose. This in turn fueled an increase in reported cases of teenage pregnancy in the country. In 2020 Kajiado county was ranked second, accounting for 1,349 reported cases of teenage pregnancy. From 2021 to Dec of 2023 the numbers spiked up to 1,500 girls. 

“After lock down, a lot of girls dropped out of school.  Some were married off during the pandemic, while others became mothers and it was tough for them to juggle through motherhood and continuing their education. Out of the 1500 teen mothers in Kajiado county 168 of them were able to go back to school. This still left a big gap to fill as 88% of them were left clueless not knowing what do as young mothers,” Saleiyan. 

The zeal to come through for the young mothers led to the establishment of A Pack a Month, Daycare and Adolescent Mothers Empowerment Center, availing free daycare services to teen mothers to enable them continue with their education. 

“The Vision I had in establishing the daycare center was to help teen mothers and young women get the support they needed to push forward with their education.Supportive systems have been clearly lacking to aid them with that and I believe the daycare and mentorship program this space will offer ,is just a starting point for those systems to be established ,”explains Jackline. 

The center, which is located in Ngong town,  is already in use and  accommodating 20 children from the 20 teen mothers she supports through the mentorship sessions. The centre was opened in March 6, 2024. 

“At  the moment the space can only accommodate the 20 children with their mothers. But hopefully over the coming months, if I can get support  to expand the space I will enroll more young women to the center,” she sadly says. 

Saleiyan other achievements is in the world of sports where she launched an all-girl and young women annual tournament in Kajiado North in  December 2020. Apart from the girls showing off their talents in the field, the platform has served as a point of networking and sharing ideas on self-development and social support. 

“Most of the girls have really passed through a lot. Utilizing sports as a tool for helping them cope with the trauma at the same time build up their talent has been intentional on our side.  It is easy in such spaces  for them to open up more and their coaches are also able to monitor their progress as well. In a nut shell the function of sports is more therapeutical as much as it boosts their health, “she explains.  

One of the challenge she has faced in her journey include the availability of safe houses to shelter victims of sensitive cases. She stated safe spaces were not easily accessible and this sometimes may mean leaving the victim to continue living in the same places where they were assaulted. 

“People aren’t as receptive to our course as one would expect as there are still places you’ll go and not be taken serious. Another challenge is on the pursuit for justice for victims of defilement cases and other sensitive cases in a home setting as some families discourage them from reporting the perpetrators especially when it’s a relative,” adds Saleiyan. 

As she reminisces on the journey through the challenges and achievement she’s had, Saleiyan  declares that her award are not her’s alone but  for everyone who has walked with her through her journey to where she is right now.

“The award isn’t mine alone it is for Kajiado County, all beneficiaries of my work, all GBV victims and survivors, all anti GBV champions and for all Kenyans of good will who have supported my work this far. I continue to say thank you,” she says excitedly. 

Saleiyan believes the award by the president is only the beginning to more successful ventures and recognitions towards the initiatives by A Pack a Month in achieving gender equality, end period poverty and pushing toward economic empowerment for girls and young women in Kajiado county and beyond.