How does a new nonprofit measure success? How about saving lives? Connecting kids to education, food and healthcare? To that end, it’s difficult to imagine a more successful first-year effort than that of the flourishing Boda Girls program.
The program, shepherded by the Tiba Foundation and led by Boise-based surgeon Dr. Rhiana Mennen, provides healthcare and sexual education to women, living in near-poverty in rural Kenya. Most women, with an average of three to five children, work in farming and make about $ 1 a day.
But the Boda Girls program has also allowed many of the women to operate and own their own Boda Bike taxi service, providing safe, efficient transportation to other women.
“Where we've come in one year… these women now make between $38 and $52 a week, which means their kids are now in middle-class,” said Mennen. “They have access to schools, they have access to food. Their mothers are heroes in the community.
And success has bred success. In her most recent visit to Kenya, Mennen saw more Kenyan women stepping up to be part of the solution.
“Each and every one of them said, ‘I wanted to do this because these women are powerful. Their kids are in school. Their kids have clothing, their kids are eating. I want to be like that.’’
Mennen visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the program, which is mostly funded by supporters in Boise and the Treasure Valley.
Read the full transcript below:
GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. It’s been about a year since we first told you about something called Boda Girls. We know that boda boda scooters are not uncommon in some parts of the world, Kenya in particular… East Africa. And we know that too many young girls, to get from point A to point B, sometimes get on the back of these boda boda scooters. But soon thereafter, many of those same girls could well become victims of sexual assault or worse. But then came the Tiba Foundation and Dr. Rihana Mennen. She's a surgeon at Saint Luke's here in Boise. And much of her professional and personal passions have led her to other parts of the world, Africa in particular…bringing much-needed sexual education to these young women and communities in need, things like menstrual kits. So there's much more to catch up on. But first, let's say good morning again to Dr. Rihana Mennen. Hi, Dr. Mennen.
DR. RHIANA MENNEN: Good morning, George. Thank you for having me.
PRENTICE: So I want to see if my memory serves me right. You told me about a then-pilot program to create a boda driver program so that some of these young women could become boda drivers….and then they would help the process of giving reproductive health lessons to other young women. But they would also give safe, free rides to some other young women. And then, before you know it, they have possibly built a business, a boda taxi service that is healthy and flourishing. But I want to hear about your most recent travels back to Kenya.
MENNEN: Well, you put it so succinctly. The problem really was how do we connect young girls and women with safe rides both to school and because we are focused out of hospital… how could we really have transportation be the key that connects services that are already offered, like cervical cancer screening with women's health, mother baby care to the women and girls who need them in this very rural community? And could we have an opportunity to make real entrepreneurship and a real livelihood for women? And that's what's happened. So over the last year there were initially 12 we call them “boda boda,girls” but they really are women between 18 and 35. And they did not graduate high school, most of them. They are nearly all the heads of their households. All of them have between 3 and 4 children. So, among the 12 boda girls, there are 43 children and nearly all of them have experienced some sort of significant trauma. Yet these women signed up to do something that had never been done in the community. So as you said, boda, boda drivers are very common. Kenya is about 70% rural, so it's the most common form of transportation. And there are just not women drivers. And why this is so significant is because that's a pretty good job. The boda boda men make about $10 a day, whereas most women make about $1 a day or $6 a week with subsistence farming. So, where we've come in one year, these 12 women now make between 38 and $52 a week, which means those 43 kids are now just in middle class.: They have access to schools, they have access to food. Their mothers are heroes in the community.It's really amazing to watch them, whether you're in the town or around the hospital, drive by on these bright pink motorcycles and little girls. Scream, “Boda, girl! Boda, girl!” And they have this code where they have three beeps where they go, “beep, beep, beep,” and it means “I love you.” And they really have just been embraced by the community and are really integrated. And so, the numbers are really exciting. In the year about 5000 free rides to the hospital have happened, which means that we tripled cervical cancer screening in this region. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of preventable death in this area. As far as medically maternal, child death rates are very high and the boda girls have helped take in-hospital deliveries from 30 a month to 100 a month. And why that's so significant is that this is the only area, the only location where they can get access to a C-section if they need it. So, if they have gynecologic or obstetric emergencies and then, as you said, with the menstrual supplies, the boda girls have visited 84 primary schools and distributed over 2000 of these sustainable menstrual hygiene kits. So, there are girls who otherwise were not able to stay in school and are literally sent home from school because they're on their periods. So, they were missing about 25% of their. And then this program…is allowing them to stay in school and finish their education. So, it's been very exciting. And that's just in a year.
PRENTICE: It's jaw dropping. And before we get any further, I also want to direct our listeners who I'm certain by now want to know more and engage. And is it TibaFoundation.org?
MENNEN: TibaFoundation.org And or you can go specifically to the Boda Girls program, which is centered out of the Tiba Foundation and that's bodagirls.org, bodagirls.org.
PRENTICE: I want to talk about success; and I guess my first reaction would have been, my gosh, what a cultural uphill battle this is. But can I also assume that positivity feeds off of itself? And when girls see other young women succeeding, it can only get better.
MENNEN: Yeah, it's so exciting. So that first cohort were 12 women who this job didn't exist. They didn't even know what they were signing up for. But the second cohort, which just launched when I was there in April, we had 15 women sign up for actually only 12 spots. And these 15 women at this Boda Girls launch stood up and said each one of them… it was an introduction. They were introduced by an existing boda girl who is now a mentor. And that's an important certification and life skill that she also has, in addition to so many other things that she learned in this program. And each of the new Boda girls stood up and said why they believe in the program and why they wanted to be a boda girl. And some said, “I think that violence against women is unacceptable. I'm excited about girls staying in school. I'm excited about entrepreneurship”. But each and every one of them said, “I wanted to do this because these women are powerful. These are symbols of progress, of what I want to be like. Their kids are in school. Their kids have clothing, their kids are eating. I want to be like that.”
PRENTICE: I'm always curious about when you tell this story and share this message. In other words, when you come home, back here to Idaho, how do you engage and how do people plug in and say, “I want to be a part of this?”
MENNEN: You know, what's really exciting about this Boda Girls program is that now this is our third year of funding…we're currently funding for our next third cohort. And nearly all of the money for this program over three years has come from Boise and the Treasure Valley. And so I just direct them to our website Boda girls.org.And it's a really amazing foundation because the Tiba Foundation is covered. All of its expenses are covered by its board members, which means that all of the donations go to this in-country program. And really one of the most important things is that this is only funded by us, but it's entirely Kenyan run. So, we're never in the position of telling a community which, you know, we are involved in, but certainly not a part of from the inside. We're never telling them how to do it. It's all community based.
PRENTICE: And is there, for lack of a better phrase, ownership with the Kenyan government as far as. “Yeah, this is who we are now. And this if this succeeds, we succeed.”
MENNEN: You know, George, that's what I really would love to see in the next 3 or 5 years, because the girls are so deeply enmeshed in health. What we'd love to see is have instead of our donors being paying for these free rides, having this be part of the national health insurance, Kenya has a very robust national health insurance, and the boda girls are really part of making our hospitals sustainable by bringing covered services like cervical cancer care and in-hospital deliveries to the hospital and really making them sustainable. So, the goal would be that these become mobile health workers that are recognized by the Kenyan government.
PRENTICE: How is this changing… or at least through your eyes… how do you think this is changing the men in this village and in that culture in particular?
MENNEN: It's a really important question. We recognize that we didn't want to have any opportunities where there was a lot of animosity or jealousy that these women are taking jobs from men. So, with every one of the boat of girls, we also select a boat, a male ally. They go through training like menstrual hygiene training through a program called Men Who Know. They get substance abuse training, gender-based violence training, and in exchange, the foundation pays for their motorcycle driver's license, which can be quite expensive, and their national health insurance for themselves and their families. So, this is really making a positive impact for men and women in this community.
PRENTICE: Worth repeating again, it's TibaFoundation.org and BodaGirls.org and she is Dr. Rhiana Mennen and her day job is… a surgeon no less, here in Boise… saving lives every day… and then reaching out…and goodness knows the lives that you are changing half a world away. So, for all of that to you and your colleagues, thank you. And I can't wait to talk to you again. But for now, thanks for giving us some time this morning.
MENNEN: Thank you so much, George.
Find reporter George Prentice on Twitter @georgepren
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