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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
MIGHTY Warriors and Chapungu Queens defender Edline Mutumbami would rather avoid the question.
Two times, she ducks it.
But she can’t do that for the third time.
She slowly drops her head. Recollecting.
With the same pace, she brings her head up, again.
Everything has changed.
The cheer in her face has gone, paving the way for something close to sorrow.
It is an episode in her life that she would rather forget.
“Phew,” she begins.
“I can’t really tell what it could have been for me had a combination of factors not come to my rescue.
“I went to school barefooted most of the time. Tuition was another problem. The distance to and from school (Takwirira Secondary) was punishing.
“It’s a miracle I managed to see off my Ordinary Level.”
Mutumbami, the fourth and last born in her family, lost her father when she was hardly two-years-old.
“It was hard, very hard growing up under the custody of a widowed mother.
“All my siblings were still in school when my father passed on. My mother would do menial jobs and we had to mature early so we could help her out where we could.
“We were hawkers, selling different items in villages to make things work at our home. We would complete close to 10 kilometres at every turn in the hustle…”
But that was not the only difficulty she faced.
Ndazwa Village in Chipinge, where she was born and bred, is at the heart of a society that believes girls should marry even if they are still too young for that. And they indeed get married mostly before they attain the legal age of 18.
According to statistics, one in every three women between the age of 20-48 in Zimbabwe get married before they are 18 years old.
And the problem is especially prevalent in the area where Mutumbami was raised.
Girls with an impoverished background like her are even married off without their consent.
But her mother Evelyn (nee Njanji) didn’t see things that way.
Of course, the mother’s effort alone wouldn’t have obviously been enough.
“When I look at Edline (Mutumbami), I see the hand of God. Most young girls fall pregnant when they are still in school. As a widow, I always told my children, including Edline, to always remember to behave and avoid indulgence,” said her mother, Evelyn.
“Seeing most of her (Edline) friends falling pregnant at a tender age made me sick. I always prayed she would grow up without any disturbances…”
While she appeared to toe her mother’s line in this respect, she engaged in activities that her mother despised.
Football.
“She was always in the company of boys, playing football in the village. It ailed me and I would sometimes beat her up.
“A girl child playing football?
“That was a no, not only for me but for the whole society. I tried in vain to stop her.”
It wasn’t until a football enthusiast, Sailas Chawira, who, together with his wife, runs Chawira Academy in Checheche saw Edline juggling a plastic ball when he had visited the family.
“It struck me. I was surprised and excited at the same time. The technique she exhibited was unique,” said Chawira.
“I then decided to take her to my academy…”
And Mutumbami’s football journey set off. Eventually she would be identified by Blue Swallows Queens (now Chapungu Queens) who signed her right away.
And she has grown to become a key member of their title-chasing side.
Mutumbami is now also a national team regular.
She hasn’t forgotten where she came from too.
“One of my best friends got married when we were still in Form 2. She was denied an opportunity to pursue her dreams.
“I regularly visit and support her as she already has three children. I count myself lucky. And I have taken it upon myself to teach young girls about the importance of avoiding early indulgence. I am happy my efforts are starting to bear fruits …” said Edline.
Mutumbami has joined hands with other sports personalities like Aston Villa star Marvelous Nakamba and Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira in denouncing child marriages at a time UNICEF is celebrating the Day of the African Child.
Online Reporter