A Save the Children project in Manica has already rescued 153 girls between 15 and 17 years of age from premature marriages. The girls are given tools to support themselves financially.
At least 17 out of 153 girls rescued from premature marriages in Manica province, Mozambique, received “business kits” enabling them to take their first professional steps and reduce their dependence on others. The Save the Children project involves local authorities and civil society organisations in rescuing the girls.
Hirondina da Conceição, one of the beneficiaries, got married at 14 and has a 20-month-old son. “I was in Grade 8 when I got pregnant. It was during the coronavirus, and my mother was very angry. The boy [the father] was also a student,” she says.
With the help of Save the Children, Hirondina has managed to go back to school and now works on a project to raise and sell chickens. “The business is helping, it gives me money to buy diapers for the child, as well as yoghourt and curry. The business is growing – I started with 220 chickens, and now I have 290,” she says.
The main objective, Save the Children program director Ana Dulce Guisado says, is for children to go back to school but, at the same time, also have a source of income.
“During the rescue process, we found that many of these girls are unable to support themselves economically. That’s why we started an economic support program, so that these girls – who often already have children – can support their families and continue their studies,” she explains.
Success stories
Biute Felisberto, a Grade 9 student in Nhamagua, was not prepared to take a family when she got married at the age of 14. Today, with a five-month-old baby, she studies and also works on a chicken-raising project, with the support of Save the Children. “We started with 440 chickens. With the profit, I bought clothes for the baby, plus notebooks and a uniform for me to go to school. I would like to become a nurse,” she says.
To has some advice for other girls: “Don’t get married early. If you get married early, you’ll be harmed and will stop studying.”
Fifteen-year-old Melita Deniasse was also rescued from early marriage. She is going to start selling capulanas and second-hand clothing, and has recently returned to school, in Grade 6.
“I was taken from home to continue my studies, until the opportunity came to get financing support via a business kit. I had a kit of capulanas, slippers and basic necessities. They told me not to get married as a child. The business is evolving, and I’m already developing. My studies are also going well. My dream is to be a teacher and tell girls not to get married early,” she says.
Community leader Tendai Madriza, from Malimanau, in Nhamagua, Macossa district, says the number of premature marriages is falling, thanks to initiatives like Save The Children’s. “There were many cases here in the district, but the situation is returning to normal,” she says.
