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At 19, Alinafe Kenneth from Ayami village in Traditional Authority Sale, Machinga district Malawi was already married with a son. She dropped out of school while in form four and in the very last school calendar term that would have otherwise seen her writing national Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations, marking her completion of secondary education.
But as fate would have it, her dream to become a nurse was shattered. Alinafe was married, happily married she thought despite her young age.
Alinafe sharing a lighter moment with her Mother
But for Alinafe’s mother, Anne Andrew, seeing her daughter married was one of the most painful experience. But then she had no choice, as having her daughter back to school would also have meant an extra burden for her to provide for her school fees and other needs.
“Going to a health facility and seeing nurses in their uniforms used to hurt me so much. I would imagine and visualize my own daughter wearing the nurses uniform and treating patients. But then that was just a dream” she recalls.
The Power to Youth (PtY) project that CHRR is implementing in Traditional Authority Sale in Machinga since 2021 has built the capacities of Community Based Educators CBE’s, Life Skills clubs from surrounding schools, local leaders among others, using various approaches to combat harmful practices, unintended pregnancies and SGBV. T
Having introduced their role to local leaders under T/A Sale, the CBE’s got to action after getting wind of the existence of child marriages in the area and more so about Alinafe.
T/A Sale’s chief clerk Innocent Bamusi attests having recommended the CBE’s to help Alinafe withdrawn from marriage and get readmitted into school.
According to Ibrahim Maness a CBE from Sale, they took an initiative to take Alinafe through the process utilizing the knowledge gained from CHRR’s capacity building trainings. Alinafe was admitted back into school.
“It wasnt an easy decision for me, because even after getting back to school in the first days I faced bullying from my peers. But I remembered that the decision i had made was for my own good.” explains Alinafe.
Doing her form four now Alinafe says she is hopeful she will realize her dream of becoming a nurse and that she is determined to pursue it. Having learnt a lot from the CBE’s she also made a decision to become a change agent and help save other young people who are exposed to unintended pregnancies, child marriages and SGBV.
Alinafe is now a CBE.
Alinafe a CBE
Meanwhile Traditional Authority Sale says they have put in place bylaws where police, religious leaders, CBE’s and other stakeholders are working together to ensure that whenever youths are planning a marriage, birth registration certificates for the couple should be vetted to confirm the ages. A local leader who is found guilty of marrying off underage children is fined.
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