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| Katete-based alangizi Dorothy Mwale teaching teenage mothers in Mnyamadzi area of Katete. - Pictures by Paul Shalala |
If you live in town, issues of early or forced
marriages may not matter much to you.
This is because in urban areas, it is rare to hear
a child of 13 or 15 years being forced into marriage by her parents.
But in rural areas, it is very common to see
juveniles falling pregnant and being forced into marriage.
As a child, growing up in rural Mumbwa, I saw
these things and it was normal at the time.
By the time I was going to Mumbwa High School for
Grade 10 in the year 2000, most of my Primary School classmates at Kasalu Basic
School were already in marriage.
These are friends who were below the age of 18 and
today when I go back to the village, I find them with 3 to 5 children each.
This was normal to me because it was part of the
community I grew up in.
Seeing what early marriage and teenage pregnancy does to children in rural areas, i teamed up with friends to help fight this vice
Early last year, we sent a grant proposal to the United States government under its Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund to start a project to help bring back girls to school.
Lucky enough, the proposal was accepted and we embarked on implementing it in November 2017.
Seeing what early marriage and teenage pregnancy does to children in rural areas, i teamed up with friends to help fight this vice
Early last year, we sent a grant proposal to the United States government under its Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund to start a project to help bring back girls to school.
Lucky enough, the proposal was accepted and we embarked on implementing it in November 2017.
Last month, I embarked on a marathon five
day tour of Pemba District in Southern Province and Katete District in Eastern
Province where my fellow Mandela Washington Fellows and I are running the US-funded Nileleni Project.
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| Teenage mothers in Pemba show off the reusable sanitary pads after being trained how to make them |
The $22,000 initiative
is being implemented by Evans Nsooka
(in Katete), Nangamba Chintu (in Pemba) and myself to help bring back 10,000
girls back to school.
In this one year project, we are working with traditional leaders, religious leaders,
traditional counselors (alangizi) and schools to bring back girls who have been married off.
For those girls who are currently in school, we
are encouraging them to continue with school even if they fall pregnant.
Using the Ministry of General Education’s Re-Entry
Policy, we want girls to finish school despite them being pregnant,
married off or lacking sponsorship.
Pemba
Pemba is a newly created district which was
initially part of Choma.
The district is predominantly rural with most
people involved in agriculture.
Here, early marriages and pregnancies among
teenagers are common.
The Nileleni Project set base in the area late
last year and started the process of engaging the girls.
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| Nangamba Chintu interviewing Headwoman Kalyengu (left) of Muzoka area |
2016 Mandela Washington Fellow Nangamba Chintu is
the implementer of the project in Pemba.
Ms Chintu, who is also Zambia News and Information
Services (ZANIS) Pemba District Information Officer, has gone an extra mile in
bringing various stakeholders together to bring back girls to school.
“We have made a lot of progress here in Pemba.
Many people have bought the idea of the girl child going back to school. This
is so encouraging. We have so far reached 359 girls and brought back eight girls to school and retrieved one from forced marriage,” said Ms Chintu.
One of the traditional leaders who has been co-opted in the campaign is Mary Kalyengu,
the Headwoman for Kalyengu Village in Muzoka area of Pemba District.
Headwoman Kalyengu says as traditional leaders,
they have been encouraging parents to take back their children to school in
order for them to upgrade their education.
“In my village, we have many girls who are
dropping out of school due to pregnancies. But under the Nileleni Project, we
are now working with parents to ensure that these girls go back to school,”
said Headwoman Kalyengu in an interview.
At Pemba Primary School, a number of girls have go
back to school.
One who delivered a baby eleven months ago is back in Grade eight while another who dropped out of school two years ago is also back in Grade nine.
But 17 year old Jane Moono (not real names) has an interesting
story of what courage can do to a girl who is determined to make it in life.
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| The Nileleni Team meeting alangizi in Muzoka area of Pemba District |
Jane narrates that after passing her Grade nine
examinations last year in Namwala District, her parents
organized a forced marriage for her after failing to find school fees for her to proceed to Grade 10.
“My parents brought this man to our house. It was
my first time to see him. They told me he is my husband and they asked me to
pack all my belongings and follow him to his house,” she said while sobbing.
Jane says she walked with the man to his house
and he took her to the kitchen.
“He told me that since I was the second wife, I
would be sleeping in the kitchen. He then left me and walked to his father’s
village where he invited his relatives to come and see me. But before he could
come back, I ran away and found my way to Pemba.”
The girl now lives at an orphanage in Pemba and
she is one of a dozen girls under the Nileleni Project who are scheduled to
return to school in the second term, somewhere in May.
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| Braison Mweemba escorting his wife Charity to school |
“I’m still young and I love school. I can’t get
married at my age,” insisted Jane.
But 22 year old Charity Chimbwali, a mother of two, is a shining example of a married young lady who can defy village norms and go back to school.
Charity is married but when alangizi visited her,
she decided to seek permission from her husband to continue with school.
“I dropped out of school a long time ago. But
recently, my husband allowed me to go back to school and today am in Grade 10
at Muzoka Secondary School,” she said.
Her husband Braison Mweemba, also of Muzoka area
in Pemba, says his friends laugh at him for allowing his wife to go back to
school.
Mr Mweemba says people have been teasing him that
once she gets educated, his wife will desert him.
“As you can see, am not educated, I stopped school
at Primary School level but I want my wife to finish secondary school and get a
degree. Maybe she will take care of me and our children,” said Mr Mweemba in an
interview.
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| Nyuma Mahachi demonstrating how a reusable sanitary pad is made |
This is because pads are inaccessible in rural
areas.
“We have taught these girls to make reusable
sanitary pads. They make enough of these pads for themselves and sale others to
raise money for school fees,” said Nyuma Mahachi, the senior alangizi in Muzoka area.
On average, girls miss school for 2 to 4 days a
month due to lack of sanitary pads but with the coming of the reusable pads
which they are being taught to make, schools are recording a reduction in
absenteeism among girls.
Muzoka Primary School has seen a number of its
female pupils take part in the making of reusable sanitary pads.
Authorities there say the use of these pads has
made a significant change in school girls coming for class.
“We have noticed in the recent past that very few
girls stay home because of menstruation. These pads have really reduced
absenteeism here,” said Muzoka Primary School Headteacher Sebastian Chifwala.
All this work is done by a group of women whose
passion for a brighter future for the girls burns every day in their hearts.
The alangizi walk on foot from one village to
another to talk to parents whose children have dropped out of school.
Sometimes they cover as much as 30 kilometers a
day to do this voluntary job.
“We owe the success of this project to the
alangizi and the traditional leaders here in Pemba. These people are so
dedicated, they do not get paid but they have sacrificed a lot to ensure that
girls go back to school,” said Ms Chintu.
Katete
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| Malita Banda at home with her one year old son |
18 year old Malita Banda of Keni Village in Katete
District has a very disturbing story.
She says her parents withdrew her from
school and forced her to get married to a man who paid them a pair of blankets popularly
known as Puma.
“I lived in an abusive marriage. My husband used
to beat me all
the time. When I ask him for money to grind mealie meal, he used to beat me. When I tell him that soap for the baby is finished, he used to beat me. I used to get beaten every day,” said Malita.
the time. When I ask him for money to grind mealie meal, he used to beat me. When I tell him that soap for the baby is finished, he used to beat me. I used to get beaten every day,” said Malita.
Malita says on two occasions, she ran away from
the matrimonial home and went back to her parents’ house but they forced her to
return.
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| Malita Banda in class at Kanjeza Primary School |
Malita has a one year old baby boy with her former
husband.
“Aunt Dorothy told me about the Nileleni Project
and I got interested. She guided me, took me back to Kanjeza Primary School
where I enrolled. And now, am back in Grade 8,” she said while smiling.
This blogger visited Malita in class.
“I want to finish school and become a doctor. I
want to help people who are sick.”
Malita is not the only one who has come back to
school this year at Kanjeza Primary School.
“Every year we have girls who drop out. Last year, six girls dropped out of school due to
marriages and pregnancies. But the good news this year is that so far, 10 girls
are back in class and we are happy,” said Bernard Phiri the Headteacher at
Kanjeza Primary School.
Across Katete District, more girls have gone back
to school with the help of the Nileleni Project.
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| Chieftainess Kawaza during the interview at her palace in Kagoro area of Katete |
The traditional leader has been ensuring that girls who are forced into married are sent back home to continue
with school.
“So far, we have 306 girls who are now back in
class. Further, we have another 54 girls who were married and with the help of
World Vision and the Nileleni Project, they are now in school,” said Chieftainess Kawaza when this
blogger and the Nileleni Project team visited her palace in Kagoro area of Katete.
World Vision is a partner in the implementation of
the Nileleni Project in Katete.
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| The Nileleni Team poses with the Mphangwe FM Station Manager in Katete after securing airtime for radio programmes |
“The project is moving on well here. We have the
support of many traditional leaders, alangizi and teachers who are helping us
identify girls who need to go back to school,” said Mr Nsooka.
He also revealed that from time to time, the
Nileleni Project sends teams of alangizi and health workers to far flung areas
to teach young mothers and girls how to safeguard their lives as well as knowing the challenges that are associated with teenage pregnancies.
The Nileleni Project is in the process of rolling
out the production of reusable sanitary pads in Katete.
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