Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
AT the age of 15 the life of Alice Moyo* from Mafuko Village in Gwanda has taken a grim turn as she braces for motherhood.
She is now nine months pregnant and is due any day from now. The father of her unborn child has not made the situation any better for her as he has denied responsibility of the pregnancy. Without any means to prepare for the birth of her unborn baby, she had to beg for old clothes from her neighbours.
That is the least of her worries though as she is terrified at the thought of being a mother at such a tender age and is uncertain whether she will cope.
She is not the only one in that predicament. The Chronicle news crew visited Manama Mission Hospital waiting mother’s shelter where Alice is waiting for her delivery day.
During the visit, the news crew found five other teenagers below the age of 18 who were waiting for their delivery dates.
A quick survey of all the females that were at the shelter showed that out of a total of 17, only two were above the age of 20. Nine were aged between 18 and 19-years-old. Most of the girls had to drop out of school after falling pregnant.
The news crew spoke to teenagers aged 15 and below who all felt that this new journey into motherhood will be a burden for them. Some of them have been traditionally married off by their families after falling pregnant. Being married at such a tender age has turned out to be a huge burden for them.
The duties they have to perform at their matrimonial homes are overwhelming and if given the chance they would turn back the hands of time to become “children” once again.
The teenagers feel their futures have been destroyed as they are now missing out on an opportunity to get education.
Given an opportunity they wish to go back to school. Alice said she dropped out of school this year after she fell pregnant while doing her Form Three at a local school.
She said the father of her child, who is aged 22, works in Botswana but she does not know what he does.
“I met the father of my child and he proposed love to me and I accepted. Soon after we had sexual intercourse and I fell pregnant. He works in Botswana so I hardly saw him.
When I told him that I was pregnant he denied responsibility and said he wanted nothing to do with me or the pregnancy,” she said.
Alice added: “I’m staying with my mother but she doesn’t have the money to buy clothes for my unborn child so I had to ask around for some donations.
It pains me that the father of my unborn child has ditched me and he is leaving the responsibility of fending for this child to me.
This experience is so scary for me. I’m just 15 and I don’t have the know-how of being a mother and I’m not working.”
Orphaned while still an infant, 17-year-old Thelma Moyo* from Mashaba area fell pregnant at the age of 16. She is now staying with her husband and his family. She dropped out of school in 1999 when she was in Form Two.
After the death of her parents, she grew under the care of different relatives. Thelma dropped out of school after her aunt that she was staying with could no longer pay for her education. She said it was not her desire to fall pregnant.
“I now stay with my husband, his grandmother and my husband’s cousins. The chores are overwhelming as I sometimes have to cook and do the washing for everyone at home.
It really pains me when I see my peers in their uniforms going to school while I’m at home now getting into motherhood. If I can get someone to pay my school fees
I would love to go back to school. I don’t want my child to grow in poverty as I have,” she said.
A 16-year-old girl from Pelele area who was also at the waiting mother’s shelter said she dropped out from school this year after falling pregnant.
She said she was still living at home but the process of her being married off was underway.
The teenager said she got pregnant in February, two months after meeting her boyfriend.
“This experience has left me really scared. I hear child delivery is painful and some people die in the process and I wonder whether I will make it through. I’m also generally scared of being a mother at such a young age. I don’t know whether I will manage.
I wish I could just go back to be a child again and continue staying with my grandmother. Soon I will have to move in with my in-laws and that scares me,” she said.
Mnyabezi senior village head, Mr Dalani Nyathi said many children were now falling pregnant before they reach the age of 15, which was concerning. He said it was difficult to intervene in some of cases of early marriages as they were being pursued by some apostolic sects.
Mr Nyathi said a lot of children in his area did not go back to school after falling pregnant during the prolonged holidays because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR), co-ordinator Mr Khumbulani Maphosa said cases of teenage and child pregnancies were increasing in both rural and urban areas across the country.
He said in Matabeleland South Province teenage pregnancies could be traced back to a number of socio-economic factors such as poverty, influx of people especially to carry out mining activities into the province has resulted in the exploitation of children.
“Some of these children indulge in sexual activities because of poverty and they do it in exchange for certain benefits.
Another challenge is that of socialisation where teenagers are now getting into relationships for sex. Another factor is broken families. In Matabeleland Region we have a lot of people migrating to South Africa and Botswana leaving children without strict supervision,” he said.
Mr Maphosa said some children were now dropping out of school as they were not motivated to pursue their studies.
He said even through children were falling pregnant at an early stage it did not mean that parents had to marry them off. Mr Maphosa said families were doing this out of ignorance of the law while others will be trying to run away from the shame of staying with a child who has been impregnated.
“Early pregnancy and marriages are detrimental to the rights of children. Studies have shown that teenagers that become sexually active early are at high risk of getting cervical cancer, they have high chances of being in abusive relationships or marriages.
They also lose educational opportunities which in turn deprives them of opportunities to be empowered. Technically their lives stop in a manner,” said Mr Maphosa.
He said there was need for this matter to be addressed from family level where guardians have to protect their children who fall pregnant instead of marrying them off.
He said there is also need to device reporting mechanisms where relatives and communities can raise alarm.
“We also need more vocational training centres in communities where teenage mothers can pursue technical skills.
The boy child also has to be educated as they are major contributors in these cases,” he said.
The number of pregnant girls who drop out of school is still high across the country despite the existence of a law allowing them to remain in school even after being impregnated.
The Education Act which was amended last year makes it illegal to expel pupils who fall pregnant.
Teenage pregnancies or child marriages have been identified as some of the reasons contributing to pupils dropping out of school.
Prolonged school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, worsened the situation. According to a joint thematic report in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the provision of quality education the pandemic has affected the effective delivery of education to learners.
Prolonged school closures have increased teenage pregnancies. *names changed to protect the identities of the minors. – @DubeMatutu.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter