Mothers at 13 – a tale of Brenda & Patuma

Malawi: Dr Mireille Twaigira is one of the recipients of the Zodiak Best Girl Award; she narrated her story of being taken from the Rwandan genocide by her parents when she was five years old, coming to Malawi as a refugee, and overcoming numerous obstacles to further her education until she received a scholarship to study medicine in China, writes Owen Nyaka.

Dr Twaigira, a Rwandan, says her story is proof that the sky is the limit with determination during one of the Best Girl Award ceremonies at Saint Mary Catholic secondary school in Zomba.

She encouraged all girls in the country, urban or rural, to work hard in school in order to achieve their goals.

While recognising Zodiak as a key player in promoting girl child education in Malawi, the paralysis of the education system in some typical rural areas is a barrier for the majority of girls to compete in the Best Girl Award initiative.

Communities such as Traditional Authority Bibi Kuulunda of Salima, which has a population of over 21, 515 people, are excluded from the Best Girl Award initiative because there are no secondary schools, either government or private.

Education paralysis

Brenda Kennedy Kabundule Banda, 21, is from the village of Lundu, T/A Kuulunda. She began having children at the age of 13 and is now a mother of three children with eight years of marriage experience. 'Dr. Mireille Twaigira's story is so inspiring,' Brenda says, "but I am too scared to compete."

"I believe it is a wise decision for me to consider returning to school at this age, but the lack of secondary schools in this area is a barrier. I was excited about getting married at first, but Lifuwu youth club made me realise that it was outrageous. I've discovered that the majority of child brides work as slaves," Brenda says.

She first dropped out of school in 2005 at Lifuwu primary school when she got her first pregnancy whilst in standard five when she was cheated on by a man of the same village who later went to South Africa when Brenda was expecting her child.

Brenda went back to school but she was impregnated by the same man when he return from South Africa. Later she return to school and study up to form two but she dropped out of school again because her parent who is a retired civil servant could not afford to send her to an open learning distance centre at Parachute Battalion Community Day Secondary School which is 30kilometres away from Lifuwu.

She stated that very few girls who attend Parachute CDSS face a number of challenges, such as soldiers pursuing them. Some walk a round-trip of 60 kilometres, passing through the Chandamale training base, where every Malawi Defense Force soldier learns how to shoot a gun.

Brenda claims that some people are afraid of military training because the road is so close to the firing base where the soldiers parade. The road is in the middle of the jungle-covered mountains.

Early marriage struggles

Although those who marry early face a number of difficulties, it has become a tradition for most communities to send their children into marriage once they reach puberty.

"The father of my two children was not assisting my children; my parents are not working due to their age." On a daily basis, I struggled to get food. "I had to drop out of school again because no one could support my education," Brenda says, adding that "aside from tuition fees, the only mode of transportation from his village to a community day secondary school is a motorbike, which costs about K1, 500 one way."

This meant that she was only expected to spend MK45, 000 per month on transportation.

Young people are more vulnerable to coercion or making ill-informed choices when they lack knowledge about puberty, reproduction, safe sex, sexual pleasure, and emotional needs. This resulted in low self-esteem or psychological harm, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, unwanted pregnancy, and infections such as HIV.

She says: "I believe it was a wise decision for me to consider returning to school twice. I was very excited about getting married at first, but the youth club convinced me that it was outrageous.

"Although I learned through the youth club that most child brides work as slaves, this time I have no choice because secondary education is not available in our area."

Brenda says, "Former Youth Friendly Health Service Provider for Lifuwu Health Centre, Mercy Mkata has greatly assisted her in providing counselling as well as encouraging her to return to school."

Unfortunately, Brenda has remarried, this time to a fisherman, and she now has a third child from that marriage.

The fisherman is twice her age and half her height.

According to Brenda, the lack of secondary school has fueled a lot of early marriages, making it the only option in life after primary school.

Dissolving child marriages

Teenage pregnancies are on the rise, with some women in the Kuulunda area having children as young as 13 years old.

Patuma Sadiki, a standard 4 dropout from Mangwere Village, Traditional Authority Kuulunda, lives in close proximity to the former Chief's Mashion. Iyibu Adam, who was 15 at the time, impregnated her when she was 13 years old.

Patuma says she plans to return to school because she has realised that education is the key to all success; however, a lack of secondary school is a hindrance.

The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), a local organisation, has been conducting community awareness campaigns on the evils of early marriages, taking into account the human rights implications the vice has on children's rights, particularly the right to education, the right to health, and the right to life.

CHRR has been highlighting key aspects of the newly enacted Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Act, which raised the minimum marriage age from 15 to 18.

According to CHRR executive director Mike Kaiyatsa, his organisation has also been directly involved in the abolition of some child marriages in most parts of Malawi, including the Salima district.

"In the Kuulunda area alone, we have dissolved more than 16 early marriages." CHRR has counselled parents who have forced their children into early marriages through our free paralegal sessions. You must understand, however, that cultural and social factors such as poverty in the district are driving factors for early marriage. As a result, CHRR urges the government and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that social protection initiatives target genuinely poor families in order to reduce the risk of early marriages," says Kaiyatsa.

According to Kaiyatsa, there is also a need to popularise child-related laws in communities in order to inform anti-child marriage interventions by key players such as councillors, chiefs, and ADC structures.

A concerned parent in Kambodya village, Traditional Authority Kuulunda, Salima, says that addressing factors that contribute to school dropout and gender disparities in education can only be accomplished if authorities consider the need for a government secondary school in the area as soon as possible.

"This area has never had a secondary school since God created the earth." "It has been a mockery to our children, especially the girl child, to hear messages advocating for girls' education while they are denied their constitutional right to education," a concerned parent says.

Dr Mireille Twaigira's words of encouragement to girls in Malawi, whether urban or rural, to work hard in school so that they can achieve their goals can only work if these young people, such as Brenda and Patuma, have access to quality basic primary and secondary education, and everyone reading this article, as well as Salima district council officials, should work together to improve girls' education.