Dropouts get second chance

A 24-year-old girl renamed Chimwemwe was a  well-mannered and intelligent head prefect at Kalowa Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Nkhata Bay, four kilometres away from her home in Chimululu Village.

But one night when going for evening studies, she was raped by a man twice her age.

“I was only 17 and in Form Four. He was in his thirties. He had been asking me out for some time, but I kept rejecting him,” narrates Chimwemwe.

The teenager did not know where to report or seek assistance.

 “I kept it to myself for a month, then realised that I was pregnant. The rapist and his parents rejected me, leaving me to raise the baby singlehandedly for five years now,” she says.

Ignoring ridicule from her peers and neighbours, Chimwemwe continued to learn till she was over six months pregnant.

She was one of only two girls who passed the Malawi School Certificate of Education Examinations at the rural school.

“I didn’t pass with flying colours because I couldn’t study with a wailing baby under my care,” Chimwemwe narrates.

Now the mother of one rallies teen mothers and child brides to return to school.

Since May 2022, she is one of the champions of the re-enrolment policy under Find Your Feet’s Child, Not Bride Programme in traditional authorities Mkumbira and Zilakoma. She mentors about 60 girls and has influenced nine girls to return to school.

“It takes a lot of convincing because most parents are reluctant to send their children back to school. Most of them exchange girls with money and other gifts with men working in South Africa,” explains Chimwemwe.

She says some parents even chased her with machetes.

Inspired by Chimwemwe, A 17-year-old girl re-enrolled in Form Two at Kalowa CDSS.

“My child is now nine months old,” she says. “Looking at Chimwemwe’s life and hearing her story, I decided to go back to school and pursue my dream of becoming a medical doctor. Fortunately, Find Your Feet is paying my school fees.”

Through the programme, Jane mwakasanga, a14-year-old Standard Six learner at Mkondezi Model School, was rescued from marriage. She is now back in school doing what children supposed to do: learning.

Mkondezi Mother Group chairperson Janet Chimalizeni blames widespread early pregnancies and marriages on poverty and parents’ appetite for money.

“Here, parents receive between K300 000 to K400 000 for marrying off a girl,” she says. “I’ve been attacked several times for following up on these girls who drop out of school.”

Nine of the 11 girls and boys who quit school have been rescued and re-enrolled.

Mkondezi Model School  headteacher Midian Kachembwe  says 10 girls and six boys aged 13 to 15 and six have  dropped out since July last year.

“Most girls marry motorcycle riders while boys drop out to assist their parents growing rice in Mkondezi Rice Scheme. But we are seeing some positive changes, thanks to the Child, Not Bride initiative,” he states.

The project also supports boys, including Alimoni Chirwa,19, from Mkwachi in T/A Zilakoma. He has re-enrolled at Kalowa CDSS after dropping out in Form Three two years ago due to financial constraints and started farming. His father, a rice farmer, could not raise K18 000 tuition every three months.

Find Your Feet has put Chirwa on a bursary and he scooped position two in a class of 22 students.

“The future looks bright because I now have hope to accomplish my dreams,” he explains.

Kalowa CDSS acting headteacher Ramadhan Zaidi says Find Your Feed pays schools fees for 15 learners under the project that has inspired 10 girls to return to school.

However, the school has no hostels, leaving girls haunted by long walks and unregulated self-boarding facilities that expose them  to risky sexual behaviour and gender-based violence which increases their risk of quitting school too young. Some children walk15 kilometres to the school.

“We are in dire need of hotels to keep these girls safe in school,” explains Zaidi.

Find Your Feet district project coordinator Robert Ndovi, says the project aims to reduce child marriages and teenage pregnancies in communities around 22 primary schools and five CDSSs.

The K342.9 million project, funded by Norwegian Broadcast Cooperation through Plan Malawi International, was rolled out in 2022 and phases out in 2025.

In total, the schools have re-enrolled 113 boys and girls.

Ndovi explains: “So far, 57 girls and 13 boys from Kalowa, Tukombo, St. Augustine, Mtetete and Chisu CDSSs have received school fees.

“In primary schools, 225 vulnerable learners were supported with school development fund and examinations fees.”

Communities have established 20 parent circles for women and 20 for men to challenge cultural practices fuelling gender-based violence, including teenage pregnancies and child marriages.

Other change agents include 80 clubs, with 40 convening school boys and girls and the remainder for their out-of-school peers.

“These champions of change clubs provide safe spaces for both boys and girls to discuss and tackle harmful social norms,” says Ndovi.