MALAWI

Children Having Children, Missing Out On Their Childhood

If we can get it right for children by delivering on our commitments, we can get it right for everyone". This is a statement made by the UNICEF" Representative in Malawi, Aida Girma.

Referring to the state of the World's Children report for 2006, Grima said the theme for the report "Excluded and invisible" highlights the plight of millions of children who have not been beneficiaries of past gains. Because of cultural beliefs and practices, abuse, peer pressure, financial difficulties and other reasons, girls as young as thirteen and sadly sometimes even younger, have become pregnant. This has been instrumental in girls dropping out of school and getting married at an early age.

Becoming the wife of, oftentimes a much older man means the girls miss out on the chance of a better education and on benefiting from programmes that aim to enhance the life of the girl child. Taking on the responsibilities of a wife excludes her from accessing programmes which organisations such as UNICEF, UNFPA, government and others provide to benefit the girl child.

Loveness* is a very young mother. Her baby is about eight months.  Looking at her with the baby one would be forgiven to think that she is taking care of her sibling. It is not until she pulls out her breast to feed the crying baby that you realise the baby is her own.

Sitting and chatting with Ida* the mother of Loveness and other women close by, we marvel at the way Loveness is such an able mother at this tender age. The women agree that Ida has done a good job of teaching Loveness to be a good mother.

Ida says, where it should be a pleasure to be a grandmother; the birth of the baby has brought on added hardship for her family. "Loveness is very young and she had many problems to deliver the baby. She had the baby last year and she just turned fourteen years after the baby was born," she says.

Ida explains that the birth was very difficult and has left Loveness with other problems. A cut (that was made in order to help her deliver continues to cause problems. She is also has constant pain in the back which at time makes it difficult for her to walk.

According to Ida, her daughter went to school one morning and never came back home. Through the grapevine her mother heard that she was pregnant and living with a man. Asked if she knew the man. Ida chooses not to answer. One of the other women responds saying: "A phunzitsi a anawa opanda kalidwe ndithu," (some teachers have no respect). "The father to the baby is too busy to take care of her because he found she is constantly not so well. When she continued to be sick after the baby, he just returned her to me like she is just katundu (a chattel)," Ida explains

Loveness spends most of her time sitting outside on the khonde with the baby nearby, watching other young girls her age play games, chat amongst themselves and have fun One cannot resist the urge to wonder what Loveness truly feels about the whole thing.

"I miss going to school and the chance to be with other people my age.

My friends feel that I am now a mother and we have nothing to talk about," Loveness says. She adds that she is even excluded from games they always played together. Her wish is to return to school and continue with her education. "I wish to go back to school and learn new things, but even if my mother helped me with caring for the baby, the pain in my back and the discomfort of the wound will make it difficult for me to learn properly" she says.

The future for Loveness dose not look very bright and the expression on her face tells a story of hopelessness and despondency.

Loveness is a casualty of the dangers of early pregnancy. Her young body did not respond well to the strain of carrying a baby. If she is to get better, she will have to pay endless visits to the hospital and spend resources and finances to correct the damage done. Encouraging young girls to stay in school and delay, for as long as possible their first sexual experience and relationship is one strategy to stop young girls from becoming pregnant at such an early age.

Early pregnancies are common in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Preventable deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth continues unabated in the region and a concerted campaign to right the wrongs to the innocent girl child needs to be undertaken with some urgency. Indeed, if we can just get it right for children by delivering on our commitments made on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to children and the girl child, then we can all agree with UNICEF's Aida Girma that we can get it right for everyone - far into the future.

    * Names have been changed

Pushpa Jamieson
11 January 2006

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