The inspiring women of the Tufune WORTH group have begun to use their collective power to fight promiscuous behavior and early pregnancies among young girls. The women of this group live in Kabulongo village where there exists a noticeable problem of girls being wild and drinking. The WORTH women explain that many of the community parents fail to meet the basic needs of their children such as food and clothes. At their impressionable age, the girls want to look good and own new clothes, so they often go to bars to gain money from men. The Tufune women want their children to be brought up in a good way; they are scared of HIV/AIDS and don’t want their youth to make themselves susceptible to it. The women tackle the issue by first approaching the girl’s parents in hopes of gaining their permission to talk to the young girl. Once the parents give their blessings, the elder women of the group sit with the girl and try to teach her lessons to make her realize that what she’s doing is wrong. So far, the women have successfully approached three girls. The first is Violet Chilubano, an 18 year old girl who dropped out of school when she was 15 because she was pregnant. Violet had lost both of her parents at a young age. She explains that she was simply bored and attracted by the dancing in bars. Before she knew it, she was in too deep. Thankfully, Violet’s aunt, Agnes Zambu, is a member of the Tufune group, so the women were able to convince Violet to change her ways. Violet expresses genuine gratitude for what the Tufune women have done for her- they have given her hope. Violet now plans to return to school soon. Violet’s friend Harriet has also benefited from the intervention of the Tufune group. Harriet happens to be the daughter of the Tufune WORTH group’s chairlady, Emelda Nyangu. Harriet’s father passed away when she was in grade 4, and Emelda could not manage to buy anything more than food for her family. Harriet could not accept the fact that her mother would not buy her new shoes, so she ran away. Emelda asked the group to look for her, and they soon discovered that she was working as a barmaid. The group was able to convince her to come back home, and she is now receiving treatment for TB. Katherine T. Phiri, another Tufune WORTH group member, was also able to save her daughter with the help of her WORTH peers. Her daughter Louisa became pregnant at the age of 15, and the man wanted to marry her. The Tufune women encouraged her to refuse the man and to return to school. Louisa agreed and is now a member of the WORTH group. She is back at school and has taken out a loan from the group to start a business of selling candles, and dried fish. She proudly says, “ I want to learn so I can keep my child”. The women of Tufune WORTH group hope to touch even more girls. Undoubtedly, they will.
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Posted by: Renjith | October 14, 2008 at 02:11 AM
Approaching girls?
Posted by: Michael | April 17, 2009 at 06:47 AM