Cape Town - Teenage girls in Zimbabwe face numerous challenges, especially when they unexpectedly fall pregnant.
Usually, when this happens, it may mean dropping out of school temporarily until they give birth and re-enrol, or it may mean the end of their education road.
As International Women’s Day was commemorated on Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) highlighted the ways in which it was overcoming taboos for women’s sexual health in Zimbabwe.
“Working with the young teenage moms, I have noted that there are borders that have been created for them due to cultural beliefs and communities they come from,” says Relative Chitungo, a MSF social worker in Mbare.
“Once they get pregnant, girls are deserted by their partners and families.
“At the same time, push factors that resulted in them getting pregnant are usually not acknowledged; people do not ask what hindered the girl child from accessing contraception, for example.
“Parents force them to drop out of school, in the end, they can’t cope, and some are forced into early marriages, but at MSF, we do not want to create such borders, the girls should be supported.”
MSF said specific groups of women face exclusion: unmarried women, adolescents and girls, sex workers, women among the LGBTIQ+ community and women living with a stigmatised condition.
To respond to the specific needs of pregnant girls, the MSF team formed the Teen Mums’ Club in Zimbabwe.
When Marvellous, 18, became pregnant just before starting a new year of school, her parents were shocked.
“I did not know what to do or who to turn to,” she said.
But discovering the club allowed her to meet other girls like her, and learn about the risks associated with early pregnancy and learn about issues such as contraception, safe sex and pregnancy.
Inspired by her experience Marvellous is now a peer educator in the club.
“In our community, it is taboo for a girl of school-going age to fall pregnant,” said Marvellous.
“It is humiliating and shameful to the girl’s family. I did not know what to do or who to turn to.”
Her mother, Jacqueline said: “My daughter was in Form 3 (when she became pregnant), and she could not go onto Form 4 (Ordinary Level) because of the pregnancy... her father was terribly angry because he had just paid school fees. We had big dreams for our daughter.”
Marvellous’s first contact with a sexual and reproductive health service came in the form of a leaflet from the MSF Mbare clinic.
“MSF held an outreach programme in our community, and they handed me a flyer as they told me how MSF could assist young girls in my situation. They referred me to Edith clinic, in Mbare. I was welcomed by aunt Relative from MSF.
“It was here that I narrated my story, before she took me through counselling.
“The following day I went back and joined the Teen Mums’ Club. Realising there were more girls in my situation gave me a sense of relief.
“When I was about to give birth, I was encouraged to come for pregnancy reviews at no cost. MSF would provide us with free counselling and testing. In the event that one is found to be HIV-positive, they would provide counselling sessions.
Those who test HIV-negative, would be told the effects of being HIV-positive.”
For the 124 adolescents that have been enrolled, the Teen Mums’ Club is providing the foundation for the girls to regain agency over their health and the health of their babies, and to make choices that work for them.
It’s a feeling Marvellous says she’s gained from finding the club.
“My life has changed for the better because I am now well informed, unlike before.”
To donate to MSF, visit www.msf. org.za/donate.
Cape Times