So I saw this headline “Mozambique approves law to combat early marriages” through this link, https://globeafrique.com › Lifestyle and I was ecstatic. This is a new beginning for a young girl out there in Mozambique whose faith was probably to be carted away into some old man’s house to just become a mother to child somewhere. This can be the changing story for most young girls in African rural communities who have been made to believe all they can be good for is tending to the home and having children. Just think of the amount of changes that could be made if most countries could protect the girl child from such deviation. Come to think of it, how can a child raise a child? What can she offer? This is a cause we must fight against and it starts today.
For someone who was born and raised in a rural community, I can share with you the tales of the young bride who knew only one faith. That one day once she had reached puberty with little or no curves still try to protrude and she starts to see flows of blood for which she has no full know to care for, she should be expected to get ready for the next stage of her life; Marriage. This child lives with the ideology that her parents have made the best choice for her and so she soars into the home of a man who has children her age and she becomes a stepmother to her own age group. Imagine that! She is introduced to all kinds of activities in the home and before you know it she soon forgets her childhood and embraces motherhood. She is nurtured into having sexual activities without being educated or even tenderly introduced to it “even though she is underage”. She is manhandled because after all, she is a child bride, a servant, she doesn’t need to enjoy sex but to submit to her husband’s demands at anytime, “even if it hurts”. When she gets diseased with illnesses like Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) or STDs, she is quickly replaced with another child. This isn’t just sad but vicious.
I was a witness to many girls who had their dreams of becoming doctors, nurses, lawyers, Engineers… shattered because they were from poor backgrounds and all their parents saw for them was a future where they would have lots of children, serve their husbands and maintain a home. Not that this was a bad wish, but for a child with so much to look forward to in life. It was a way of saying a girl has no place in the evolving world because after all, it’s a man’s world.
But not today because the world has changed and like me, I believe we have people and organizations that are ready to champion this cause where we will fight for the right of every girl child in the world. Every girl who has been suppressed into thinking she is not good enough and has nothing to offer. Today we must stand by her to show the world that the future of any nation lies strongly in ensuring than more than half of the female population especially those coming from very poor homes are catered for. They are not forced, manhandled or treated as second class citizens but they are loved, protected and encouraged to be the best of what they can be. They must come forward, believe in themselves and never settle for less. Their backgrounds cannot be a limitation only a story for future generations. This is what Organizations must fight to ensure and this is what the sustainable development goals must stamp on for every young girl in the future.
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