For causes worth fighting for

A couple of months ago I had the amazing experience of bringing forth life. To say it was anything close to easy would be a huge understastement. The things that a person goes through in preparation of this bundle of joy can take a huge toll on someone, physically, mentally, socially...and so many other things...lly.Having experienced that, I am grateful to have had the knowledge I had prior to making the decision to have a child.
Unfortunately, unlike me, many young girls are neither equipped with information nor the choice on when to have their first child. They find themselves becoming mothers before they have fully had a chance to be children. UBOS 2011 reported that 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 was either a mother or was pregnant with her first child. In a nation whose bigger percentage is below the age of 18, 1 in 4 girls is a very big ratio. It's one that we cannot simply shrug away and hope it disappears; not like any case of teenage pregnancy should ever be shrugged away. Even if we had 1 in 100, it would be worth fighting against.
It is with this background that I dedicate my next couple of blogs to creating a voice for a cause so close to my heart. So many young girls' lives are affected by this issue; some going as far as losing their lives during delivery or due to abortions in attempt to remove a child they were obviously not ready for. If you sat down with a young girl in this day and age you would realise that there is a huge knowledge gap when it comes to matters of getting pregnant.
'Can I get pregnant if I have sex only once?'
'Is it true you won't get pregnant the first time you have sex?'
'Will I get pregnant if I have sex before I see my menstrual periods?'
All valid questions. All questions most of them have never had the chance to have answered. Because of this lack of information, our nation's future, whose blueprints are strongly embedded in our young girls, is being tainted. What can we do as a nation? What can we do as individuals? I think the first step to answering these questions is first and foremost equipping ourselves with CORRECT information. I capitalize the word correct because in this day and age, there is an outpouring of  information but not all of it is necessarily correct. In fact, giving ear to wrong information is also a cause of teenage pregnancy in our country today. Double check your information with more trusted sources. Use the internet for your benefit; make it your friend.
Here's another friendly way to use the internet, follow this blog and join me and so many others as we continue to add our voice to those who've gone before and scream in written prose ; END TEENAGE PREGNANCY.