One of the organizations we visited on our first full day at Lewa was the local clinic. We learned that it is very popular, taking 60-70 patients everyday because of the variety of different services they offer. Of these services, I found contraception to be the most interesting.
The contraception is introduced to the women in the form of family planning. The family planning comes in the form of a shot, several different types of arm implants, and birth control. The family planning is often kept a secret from the husbands, and the clinic plays a crucial part in doing so by keeping the business of the women confidential.
Dr. Lydia informed us that because of the women’s subordinate position in the marriage due to the culture of the tribes, the women do not have as much influence in the decision on how many children they would like as the husbands generally do. As a result, the population continues to grow exponentially.
Traditionally, it is perceived that the more children you have the greater your wealth, and in the tribes, the role of the women is to look after the children. As the caretakers of the children that they give birth to, often times the women are not as concerned in having large families exhibit wealth. In recent years, the option of contraception and family planning has given the women of the tribe leverage in their decision to have children, and therefore allows them to gain more of a role of power.
- Elle, 2019 Young Conservationists Alumni