Mined Dreams: Young Girls Fighting for a Future in Kakamega’s Gold Pits

At 6 a.m., Edith Khayesi walks past the gold mines on her way to school. Miners are already washing stones in muddy water, hoping to find gold. Edith does not stop. She is 17 years old, a mother of one, and still a student in Bushiangala, Ikolomani Sub-County in Kakamega County.

Her voice is soft, almost swallowed by the rush of the nearby stream where miners wash stones in search of gold specks, as she slows down for a moment before continuing her journey to school.

“I had just finished my KCPE. I thought my life was just beginning,” she begins, her eyes scanning the landscape as if trying to reclaim something stolen from her youth.

Instead, her plans collapsed quietly.

“He was much older than me and well-known in the mining area. He promised me a better life. He used to buy me small things and tell me he would support me. I had never heard anyone speak to me like that before, so I believed him. Before I could even collect my exam results, I was already pregnant.

I told him I was pregnant and he said he would stand by me. But the next day, he disappeared. No one has seen him since.”

What followed was a storm of shame. At home, her parents were crushed. Neighbours whispered about her. Friends distanced themselves.

But from the ashes of judgment rose quiet strength. Her parents, after weeks of struggle, chose love. Her teachers rallied behind her. Edith carried her pregnancy while returning to class, her stomach growing alongside her dream of becoming a teacher.

Now in Form Three, with a two-year-old child under her care, Edith walks to school each morning with her books in hand and a future she refuses to let go of.

“I want to be a teacher. I want to help other girls not make the mistakes I made. Some men in the mining sector lie to us. They exploit young girls. Someone needs to stop them,” she says.

Linet Keya, now 25, is another victim. She breaks rocks with worn-out hands and a haunted gaze. Her journey began with ambition and ended in near collapse.

“I came here when I was 17. I had just finished Class Eight. I wanted to raise money so that I could join a technical college. My parents couldn’t afford school fees,” she says.

She met a man who promised to fund her education if she became his partner. With no options and a mind clouded by desperation, she agreed. She fell pregnant before ever joining college.

After giving birth, Linet tried again. She enrolled in a local polytechnic to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. But life struck again, another pregnancy, and once more the man disappeared.

Left with two children and no stable income, her dream unravelled.   

Now, she wakes before dawn to toil in the mines, sometimes earning as little as Ksh 100 after an entire day of washing gravel.

“It’s hard. I have one child in school that I can barely support, and another I carry on my back every day as I work. I still dream of becoming a beauty expert. Maybe one day, someone will help me,” she says.

Not all hope is lost.

Amid the clamour of hardship stands Josephine Mukhobi, one of the few women who owns a mining shaft in Bushiangala. Her skin is weathered by sun and sweat, but her spirit burns with determination.

“I’ve seen too many girls lose their futures here. Some men come with lies and leave broken lives behind them,” she says.

Beyond mining, Josephine offers counselling to teenage mothers and mobilises women to support one another. She urges the government and community leaders to invest in education and alternatives to the pits that swallow young dreams.

“Mining makes you old before your time. But if we invest in our girls, they can grow with grace, not grief,” she says.

Clinicians Raise Alarm

Clinician Tadeus Toile, who works at Hope Health Centre and coordinates gender-based violence (GBV) interventions in the area, says young girls are being lured by miners with false promises of money or education support.

“Some are raped, others are victims of incest, and many are exposed to what we call ‘gold for sex’,” Toile explains.

He notes that stigma and fear often delay girls from seeking antenatal care, and many arrive at clinics already carrying deep emotional and physical trauma.

To address this, his team has introduced mental health support alongside medical services. Teenage mothers receive trauma counselling, depression screening, and skills training to help them become self-reliant.

“Policies alone are not enough. We must take the message to the villages and the mines, where girls are being exploited,” he adds.

Yustine Ooko, Project Coordinator at Rising to Greatness Organization 

Yustine Ooko, project coordinator at Rising to Greatness Organization says poverty remains the main driver behind exploitation in mining zones.

“Girls are lured by gold buyers and end up sexually exploited. Many regret it, but by then, their lives are already changed,” she says.

The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2022 indicates that although teenage pregnancy rates have reduced nationally, large disparities remain.

Teenage pregnancy in Kakamega County 

However, despite the decline, certain counties continued to register high proportions of teen pregnancies.

Nairobi county topped with 6.1 per cent of all teenage pregnancies reported in 2024.

It was followed by Kakamega 4.8 per cent, Narok 4.4 per cent and Bungoma 4.4 per cent

Schools and Leaders Step In

Racheal Okaro, principal at Kilimo Girls High School in Kakamega, says parents have neglected conversations around sexual and reproductive health.

“Some parents think teaching children about sexuality encourages early sex. The opposite is true, knowledge protects them,” she explains.

She adds that schools now offer psychosocial support to reduce stigma.

“We encourage girls to deliver at home before resuming school, and when they return, we remind them their future is not over.”

The First Lady of Kakamega County, Professor Kasily Barasa, says advocacy has reduced teenage pregnancies from 14,000 to 9,000 cases since 2022.

First Lady of Kakamega County, Profesor Kasili Barasa

“At the Lake Region Economic Bloc, First Ladies are working together to rehabilitate teenage mothers and take them back to school,” she says.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has allocated Ksh10 million under the Social Health Authority (SHA) to support teenage mothers.

“Any teenage mother registered with SHA using her birth certificate will receive free healthcare until the age of 18,” said Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.

For girls like Edith and Linet, such policies may be the difference between survival and a second chance.