‘I have a dream’ says Christina Assima

Fifteen-year-old mother, Christina Assima, dreams of being a nurse. But there is a long tortuous journey ahead of Christina, especially as a student with a two-year-old son living virtually by herself. Christina is a beneficiary of the AWDF funded project that was implemented by Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) in Malawi. GENET was funded to support young women develop their business skills and build their leadership capacities. As part of the project, GENET set up girls and young women’s networks in project communities. It was through the girls’ network that Christina came into contract with the project.

After Christina’s parents broke up, Christina’s mother and four children relocated to the Saenda village in the Chitela Traditional Authority. This is an area with high levels of child marriages and child mothers. Not long after they relocated, her mother eloped with a man and left Christina and her three siblings by themselves. Christina, at twelve-years-old, automatically became a mother to her siblings, the oldest of which was about seven and the youngest less than two years. Christina had to look after her siblings and attend school at the same time. Even though they lived in a family house they were virtually on their own. As fate would have it, a heavy rainfall pushed down their family house and Christina and her siblings were left with nowhere to sleep. A relative offered them a dilapidated room that could collapse at any moment. It was a harsh lifestyle. Christina had to do menial jobs to cater for herself and her family. Then her peers and older friends started pressuring her to enter into a relationship. When she was thirteen-years-old, she got pregnant and then the man disappeared. A thirteen-year-old pregnant girl, caring for three younger siblings with no source of income.

Around this time, the AWDF supported project had commenced in her village, which is on the Chitera traditional authority, Malawi. Some of her former school mates had already joined the Girls Network. This group of girls who could recruit members, visited Christine and encouraged her to join their meetings. With the group’s encouragement, Christina started attending their weekly Sunday meetings where she learned about family planning, her right to education and good health among others. With the education at the meetings Christina grew more confident and resolute. The group members specifically singled Christina out to be supported to go back to school. This is how she came to benefit from the AWDF supported project. After she gave birth, Christina wanted to return to school, but she had a baby and three siblings to cater to. With the help of GENET, the Social Welfare and family members went out in search of Christina’s mother and forced her to come for Christina’s siblings, thus freeing Christina to pursue her dream. GENET negotiated with a family member to help look after the baby and Christina was re-enrolled in school. The family member cares for the baby while Christina is in school and she takes over when she returns from school, studying while her baby sleeps. The project also provided her with school materials and food items to sustain her.

GENET has sourced for support from Kids Right, a funder to put up a house for Christina because the room in which she lives is extremely hazardous. Christina is proud to be a house owner now. Christina’s mother did not care about her well-being until she heard that GENET was building a house for Christina. Then, she came to visit pretending to have an interest in Christina’s life even though she left her without any support when Christina was pregnant.

Christina says because she is in school and she also has a baby to look after, she was unable to farm a large area of land. Consequently, at the end of maize season she had just a small harvest which would not last her until the next farming season. Thus her greatest need is food for herself and her son.

Since joining the girls club Christina says she feels uplifted because of the skills that are taught and the issues discussed at the meeting. She says: “The project has helped to build my self-confidence and I have learned a lot of things and am better able to avoid the temptations of life.” She continued to say that the project has, “opened up my mind-set and I now have a better outlook on life.” Christina has already been in school for one academic year with GENET support, and she will proceed to Secondary form 2 in the upcoming academic year.

Christina says, “My dream is to become a nurse and look after my son and to help my community to learn and understand the importance of education and the ills of encouraging children into early marriage.”

As a result of the work being done by GENET and other civil society organisations, the Chitera traditional authority, which commonly had marriages of people under fifteen-years-old, has banned marriages of subjects less than 21 years.