When a Mother Has No One to Leave Her Child With

For many women, the road towards independence begins with a very simple question:

Who will take care of my child while I work or learn?

It may sound like an ordinary problem.

For a mother trying to rebuild her life, it can become an enormous barrier.

Training opportunities, employment and small business activities can offer women a path towards economic independence. But these opportunities mean very little if a mother cannot attend because she has nowhere safe to leave her children.

The invisible barrier

When we talk about women’s empowerment, we often talk about jobs, education and professional skills.

We talk less about what makes it possible for a woman to access those opportunities. A training course may last several hours.

A job may require travelling every day.

Starting a small business requires time, concentration and consistency.

For a woman responsible for young children, every opportunity comes with another question:

What happens to my children while I am away?

When there is no affordable and reliable childcare, many mothers have little choice but to stay home, bring their children to work or give up opportunities altogether.

This is not a lack of ambition.

It is a lack of practical alternatives.

Supporting a woman means understanding her reality

A mother does not stop being a mother when she enters a classroom.

She does not stop worrying about her children when she starts a job.

If we want women to participate fully in training and employment, programmes must be designed around the realities of their lives.

This means looking beyond the course itself.

Can she reach the training centre?

Can she afford the journey?

Is the timetable compatible with her responsibilities?

And, crucially, is there a safe place for her children?

These questions can determine whether an opportunity exists only on paper or can actually change someone’s life.

A space for children is also a space for women

This is why the vision of Scarpetta Rossa Kenya includes a dedicated space for children within its activities in Ukunda, Kwale County.

It is not an additional service disconnected from women’s empowerment.

It is part of it.

When a mother knows that her child is in a safe environment, she can concentrate on learning.

She can complete her training.

She can participate consistently.

She can begin preparing for employment or developing an income-generating activity.

A safe space for a child can therefore become something else at the same time:

a doorway to independence for a mother.

Breaking the cycle

Supporting mothers can also have an impact that extends beyond one generation.

When a woman becomes economically stronger, the benefits can reach her children through greater stability, education, nutrition and security.

Children also grow up seeing something powerful: a mother who learns, works, makes decisions and builds her own future.

That example matters.

Because empowerment is not only about changing a woman’s circumstances today.

It is also about creating different possibilities for the generation that follows..

No woman should have to choose

A woman should not have to choose between being a mother and building her independence.

She should not have to abandon a training opportunity because she has nowhere to leave her child.

And motherhood should never become another reason why a woman remains economically dependent on someone else.

At Scarpetta Rossa Kenya, we believe that effective empowerment begins by looking at the whole woman and the reality surrounding her.

Her safety.

Her skills.

Her work.

Her mobility.

Her children.

Her future.

Because sometimes helping a woman take one step forward begins with making sure that her child has a safe place to stay while she takes it.

From Safety to Independence.

Scarpetta Rossa Kenya – Sofia Castelli Project

Ukunda, Kwale County, Kenya