Over 770 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 become pregnant in Kenya every day. Despite the millions of dollars, thousands of hours, and passionate teams of people across the globe who work to support positive sexual reproductive health (SRH) choices for adolescents every year, the reality of life for these girls can remain abstract concepts to donors sitting at desks behind computer screens. Nothing compares to dipping first-hand into the day-to-day lives of these young people.

We recently hosted in-person and live-streamed ecosystem visits to Mathare and Kayole, Nairobi, for the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), strategic funders of our project in Kenya. We enjoy a close partnership with the CIFF team in Nairobi and they are active champions of the work we do in promoting choice of sexual reproductive health options for adolescents across the city (and indeed, the country).

To date, since operations began in 2017, over 937,000 users have taken up more than a million services related to their health and wellbeing. In 2022 alone, more than 120,000 new users have joined the Tiko platform. Many of the CIFF and Triggerise teams are office-based, so connecting these figures with reality proved valuable for all involved, whether visiting in person or online.

One viewer from the CIFF team commented, ‘After supporting our investment over the past couple of years, this ecosystem visit has finally brought it to life for me and it is great to see the client journey from end to end.’ Another said, ‘I just wanted to thank Triggerise and congratulate them on allowing us to experience this sitting at our homes and offices. Truly a wonderful initiative and so much that other teams and sectors could learn from this.’

For Triggerise, reframing how technology can be harnessed to promote connection has always been part of our approach. These virtual events are no different. By streaming ecosystem visits for donors, we give an opportunity to see what reality looks and sounds like for the service users. Viewers ‘walk’ through the streets of the neighbourhoods and see the hustle and bustle of everyday life, accompanied by a Triggerise staff member. ‘We often get lost in our day to day work,’ shared one viewer. ‘It was great to see the impact.’

Across Kenya, Triggerise partners with healthcare providers, retailers, and community mobilisers to support youth in their SRH needs. To date, we have connected nearly two million young people globally with the products and services they need. In Nairobi county, where this ecosystem visit took place, nearly 60,000 adolescent girls who access contraceptives and other healthcare services are enrolled onto our platform. That’s 60,000 opportunities to encourage positive choices, 60,000 possibilities to spread the word about sexual and reproductive health, and 60,000 lives poised for change.