The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
Instead of enjoying her mother’s love like other girls her age, she is already a mother looking after her own child at the age of 15.
She is too emotional to talk about how she became a mother at such an age. The fact that she does not know the real name of the man who impregnated her eats her up.
Linda (not her real name), together with her six siblings, grew up under the custody of their 81-year-old grandmother after the death of their parents.
Working at Inamo farm, Darwendale, the grandmother could not afford to send Linda to school, thereby forcing her as the oldest grandchild to drop out of school in Grade 6.
Trying to earn a living, Linda was employed as a housemaid in Mbizo, Kwekwe.
“My baby is eight months old but I do not know where the father is. He just disappeared when I told him that I was pregnant. By then I was a housemaid in Kwekwe and the man I only knew as Uncle Jimmy worked as a gardener in the same neighbourhood.
“We only dated for two weeks and during that time, Uncle Jimmy claimed he was the first born child at the house where he was working. I believed him, only to discover that he was a gardener after he had disappeared,” she narrated with tears rolling down her cheeks.
When Linda’s employer found out that she was pregnant, she was fired and had to go back home.
“After I lost my job, I had no choice but come back home. However, the burden is too much because my grandmother works as a part-time employee. She gets $120 a month. In order for me to be able take care of my siblings, I also have to work,” she said.
The teenage mother does laundry and cleaning piece jobs for teachers at the farm school, getting about $5 per day.
And since she cannot afford to pay a helper, she has to work with her daughter strapped on her back.
Linda usually works two days per week.
With the little she gets, she has to provide for her child and help her grandmother take care of her siblings.
Linda is one of the thousands of teenage mothers countrywide who have sad tales to tell on how they became mothers.
The Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 2016/17 revealed that a quarter of female adolescents get pregnant before they reach 18. About 70 percent of them either grew up or live in farm or mine areas.
With safe clinical abortions only authorised in Zimbabwe in rape or incest cases or when the woman’s life is in danger, most of the girls are forced to become mothers while others end up opting for backyard and unsafe abortions.
While several organisations have made strides in rescuing the teenage mothers who often end up abandoned by the men who impregnated them, more still needs to be done.
“Adolescent pregnancy severely curtails girls and young women’s opportunities. It hinders their ability to reach their full potential,” reads the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 2017 report.
Darwendale-based Tawananyasha neRudo Foundation, the brainchild of Mrs Tina Tungamirai, is on a drive to rehabilitate and empower teen mothers. Currently, the foundation houses 51 teenage mothers.
With the ever-rising statistics of school drop-outs and teen mothers at Inamo Farm, Mrs Tungamirai saw the need for a home establishment.
The foundation works closely with members of the community in sheltering displaced teen mothers and facilitating their re-integration into society.
Through the provision of self-empowering projects, the foundation also seeks to equip teen mothers with skills that will enable them to look after their children.
“Most families are struggling and children are forced to drop out of school. Therefore I felt that something needed to be done. Currently we have 51 teen mothers under the foundation in Zvimba East. We hope to expand into Mashonaland West by 2030,” said Mrs Tungamirai.
Although the programme is facing sponsorship challenges, the young mothers are making detergents, petroleum jelly and reed mats. They also have thriving horticulture projects.
Profits from the projects are shared among the mothers for the upkeep of their children.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an authority at a farm school in Zvimba said about 12 out of 20 girls at the school do not complete primary education.
The source said most of the drop-outs either become teenage mothers or venture into prostitution.
“We have a huge challenge at this school because most households are dependent on farm employees. However, their earnings are not enough to pay school fees and put food on the table.
“Most of the children here live with their grandparents and are forced to drop out of school before completing their primary education. It is sad that people go on to employ these minors, thereby fueling child labour,” said the source.
Shamwari Yemwanasikana director, Ms Ekenia Chifamba, said both the Government and private sector are making frantic efforts to protect girls.
She said there is need for more stringent laws.
“We need more stringent laws to protect these children, deterrent laws that will discourage the perpetration of crimes against children.”
Government is making efforts to formulate and enforce policies that protect children. Zimbabwe’s legal age of marriage is 18 while the age of consent is 16. These laws were put in place in a bid to curb sexual exploitation of children.
Ms Chifamba also said, “Schools should also create room and find a way of accommodating these children so that they do not drop out of school and become vulnerable.”
