The Sunday Mail
Roselyne Sachiti
Assistant Editor
TARIRO Shumba (not real name) of Gudyanga area in Chimanimani — whose parents are members of the Johane Marange Apostolic Church — dropped out of school at the age of 14 years when she joined a polygamous union.
Taking up wife duties while other girls of her age went to school, Tariro fell pregnant and had her first child.
Later, she became the mother of three more kids.
For nine years, her life revolved around taking care of her husband, children and daily chores. Returning to school or attaining any form of education was her desire, yet she had no money. In addition, she had lost all hope.
In 2019, Tariro enrolled for the Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education (SAGE) project in order to have a second chance in education and skills training.
Her husband agreed and allowed her to join the two-year programme.
Now 23 years old, Tariro’s family is reaping the fruits of education.
“She was one of the first people we enrolled when we started the SAGE project at Changazi Hub. She started to learn how to read and write and later chose sewing as a livelihood option. Tariro graduated in 2021 and her family’s livelihood has improved,” said AWET district officer Mr Hartzel Gudyanga.
Tariro now also takes time to motivate other girls and women, and encourages them to return to school.
Another learner, Mary Gudo (not real name) was only in Grade 3, when her education initially ended.
An orphan, Mary stayed with her grandmother.
“At 12 years, we enrolled her for enumeration literacy. We equipped her with skills and she fell in love with baking and cooking. She is now 17 years old and selling buns and bread she bakes at the Gudyanga shopping centre,” added Mr Gudyanga.
He said they have been working with girls in areas under chiefs Mutambara and Muusha in Chimanimani.
“The total number of girls and young mothers (both Apostolic and non-Apostolic) in our Chimanimani hubs, including those who have graduated, is 2 690. Of this figure, 60 percent are from Apostolic churches. The response from the Apostolic community has been overwhelming,” he said.
In Mutasa district, AWET field officer Mr Freddy Nyapundo has come face to face with girls and women who have dropped out of school, never been to school, but with a desire to learn.
On many occasions, he has visited various Apostolic sects in the area to speak to the members about the importance of educating women and girls. Mr Nyapundo has enrolled a total of 3 272 girls and women in Mutasa.
He vividly remembers one of the women he enrolled, who had never been to school and could not read or write.
“I approached the husband who said his wife must not go to school as they were okay with their way of living. I kept pestering and told him the advantages of educating a woman. He said educating a woman would cause problems in his marriage and he was not prepared for such,” he revealed.
Eventually, the woman’s husband agreed and she enrolled for skills training.
“During the first days, she sat alone in a corner, spoke less and was not confident during lessons.
“As we imparted knowledge, she started to open up. Whenever she returned home, she did her chores and took care of her husband and kids. He figured out education had not changed her in any way,” Mr Nyapundo added.
In no time, the woman could operate a cell phone, something she never thought she could do.
Her husband, who owned the only cell phone in the house, did not allow her to use it.
“Knowing his wife could now use a cell phone, the husband immediately bought her one. The two started sending each other text messages whenever they were apart.
“The woman, who is disabled, also wanted to start a small vending business and financial literacy skills gained through our training helped her,” he added.
Today, she sells various wares in their neighbourhood and is helping her husband fend for the family.
“The husband is happy. He told us the programme is good and has been encouraging other men to allow their wives to get an education.”
Why educating girls and women matters
The SAGE project targets up to 13 200 highly marginalised, out-of-school adolescent girls in 11 districts across Zimbabwe to achieve improved learning outcomes and assist them with transition into formal education, training or employment.
This is being done through a consortium of faith-based, academic and private sector partners.
AWET programmes manager Ms Debra Mpofu said the project focuses on providing high-quality, accelerated, non-formal education from 88 accessible and girl-friendly community-based learning hubs (CBLHs).
“As a gender transformative education programme, SAGE seeks to work at multiple levels to promote and improve education for girls by tackling the root causes of gendered social and economic barriers and to create an enabling environment for transforming unequal gender norms.
“The programme is implemented under the oversight of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) and seeks to operationalise their non-formal education (NFE) policy which promotes alternative pathways to increasing access to quality education for marginalised learners,” she said.
The SAGE programme reaches its final year in July this year.
Ms Mpofu said throughout the project implementation, AWET has been working in three of the 11 SAGE districts, which are Mutasa, Chimanimani and Mutare Rural.
“AWET’s target was to ensure the project reached 20 percent of the 13 200 girls across the 11 districts, but we managed to surpass this target by reaching 60 percent in the three districts of Manicaland (Mutasa, Mutare Rural and Chimanimani), which was a milestone,” said Ms Mpofu.
She added that in the face of Covid-19, AWET, under this project, was able to put adaptative measures that ensured that highly marginalised girls from the three districts continued to get an education.
“The measures included engagements at prayer shrines to disseminate key information about the project since many Apostolic members continued to gather at prayer shrines,” she said.
The project has impacted the lives of the young girls and their communities.
With the Apostolic community, as of 2018 being estimated to be around 38 percent of the total Zimbabwean population, getting the girl children from this community to continue to get an education remains a major priority.
“AWET managed to get buy-in from the leadership of the different Apostolic communities, including those termed the ultra-conservative and conservative groups,” added Ms Mpofu.
She said under the SAGE project, several activities were carried out by the consortium.
“With the onset of Covid-19 and lockdown measures, a multi-modal delivery model enabled community volunteers to support girls via phone, at the household level and in small community groups,” she said.
Community educators were also supported to enhance their capacity to deliver inclusive, gender-responsive pedagogies, through a range of methods. These included creating mentoring linkages with the support of district-level education officials, virtual and in-person trainings and establishing reflective communities of effective practice.
Adolescent girls and boys were also supported to improve their self-esteem and life skills through Plan International’s “Champions of Change Model” and the exploration of issues such as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender rights and economic empowerment.
“There was also an improvement in access to skills training through an integrated skills outreach programme.
“Girls are mentored and trained by local master craft people in a community-based vocational training programme to increase livelihood opportunities for them and their families,” Ms Mpofu said.
The SAGE project also worked with communities — including men, boys and local leaders — to adopt more positive gender attitudes and mobilise them to support and protect girls through intergenerational dialogue and being champions of positive masculinity.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. Unicef also says girls’ education strengthens economies and reduces inequality.
“It contributes to more stable, resilient societies that give all individuals — including boys and men — the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”
According to The World Bank, better educated women tend to be more informed about nutrition and health care, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and their children are usually healthier, should they choose to become mothers.
They are more likely to participate in the formal labour market and earn higher incomes, the World Bank adds.
A recent World Bank study estimates that the “limited educational opportunities for girls, and barriers to completing 12 years of education, cost countries between US$15 trillion and $30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings.”
All these factors combined can help lift households, communities and countries out of poverty.
Twitter: @RoselyneSachiti
