Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
EARLY child marriages, dependence, and increasing levels of juvenile delinquency remain persistent challenges in many communities, quietly shaping the futures of thousands of girls long before they become adults.
Families continue to lose young daughters to marriages disguised as opportunities, while others drift into survival behaviours that erode their confidence and narrow their choices.
The effects ripple far beyond individual households, feeding cycles of poverty, broken education pathways and limited economic mobility.
Manicaland carries a substantial burden of early/teenage marriage.
According to the ZimStat–UNICEF 2022 provincial profile for Manicaland, the female teenage marriage rate (females 15–19 who are married) was 19,2 percent, and the province’s share of women 20–24 who were married before age 15 was 1,7 percent.
For national context, ZimStat’s 2022 census analysis reports that 16,2 percent of women aged 20–24 were married before the age of 18 (national figure), illustrating that Manicaland’s teenage marriage rate (19,2 percent) is above the national average for teen marriage.
Across the country, teachers, parents and community leaders agree that many girls are, not only vulnerable, but are entering adolescence without the skills or support systems needed to navigate an increasingly complex world. As traditional safety nets weaken and modern pressures rise, girls often find themselves economically dependent on older partners, unable to assert themselves, and easily pushed towards risky decisions.
Without practical guidance, mentorship and exposure, many remain trapped in circumstances that compromise their futures before they begin.
Child development experts warn that the roots of many of these challenges lie in early childhood, long before girls reach the age where decisions about marriage or survival strategies appear. A lack of stimulation, unstructured environments, and limited practical involvement in everyday responsibilities contribute to a generation of children who grow up disengaged and unprepared for real-world challenges.
When girls reach adolescence without confidence, skills or self-awareness, they become particularly vulnerable to exploitation, manipulation and dependency.
It is within this national landscape that the work of individuals who promote early empowerment has become increasingly significant.
And it is this backdrop of social realities that gives meaning to the recognition of Mutare educationist, Dr Chido Matyatya Sango, who has been quietly working to give girls tools that transcend academics, gender expectations and economic uncertainty.
Her recognition came last weekend in Harare during the Third Global Business Achievers Network awards, where she received the Legacy of Excellence, Leadership, Innovation and Advocacy for Women and Girls Award. But while the honour placed her name among the country’s national achievers for 2025, she insisted in an interview that the spotlight is not what matters.
“I started this work not for recognition. I did it for my own self-satisfaction, to know that I am here for a reason. I always ask myself, if I wake up dead, what have I empowered my children with? What impact have I left in the world?” she said in an interview.
She said she was surprised when her name was announced.
“I was humbled. This award came amidst very respectable people. Sometimes you feel you are not worthy to be part of that. But it reminded me that whatever we do, even in secret, people see. The world sees.
“I believe that Zimbabwean girls should not be raised to rely on others for survival and that their confidence must come from internal foundations, skills, exposure, competence and a sense of personal direction,” she said.
Her initiative, Mukundi, is a pro-bono girls’ empowerment project she founded to respond to early marriages, dependence and the growing concern over juvenile delinquency.
Dr Sango argued that without skills, mentorship and real-world exposure, many girls are left to navigate life without tools that would otherwise keep them grounded.
“I have always believed that when you empower a woman, you empower the whole world. We were born with the ability to nurture. So when a girl child becomes independent, confident and skilled, that empowerment transforms families and communities,” she said.
Central to her advocacy is a critique of the current education system, which she said places too much emphasis on theory, while neglecting practical capacity-building.
“Gen Z individuals lack practical skills because they were born to a silver spoon. They grew up in towns where there was no exposure to agriculture or practical work, yet we have so much land. We have resources. Why cannot our children learn from an early age?” she said.
To bridge this gap, she is launching Mutare’s first agriculture-based Early Childhood Development centre which will expose children to hands-on activities from a young age, not to make them farmers, but to cultivate discipline, curiosity, creativity and confidence.
“I am not trying to make these children farmers. Agriculture is just the entry point because it is accessible, familiar and available. It exposes children to the real world,” she explained.
She believes such grounding can reduce unemployment in the long run and encourage entrepreneurial mind-sets.
“If you grew up eating traditional foods, you do not abandon them because they are part of you. Likewise, if children grow up doing practical work, they will not shun it later. They will embrace it because it becomes an acquired taste,” she said.
Dr Sango connects juvenile delinquency to idleness and lack of purpose.
