Jemimah tells Chikondano’s Story

Jemimah Zawanda is the Child Protection Officer for Theatre for a Change, Malawi. She joined TfaC as an intern in 2011 after completing her tertiary education in Social Work.

Jemimah tells the story of Chikondano, a girl who has made considerable changes in her life since joining our Back to School Programme in 2013. Jemimah believes this story compels us to do more to reach vulnerable girls in Malawi and encourage them to trust that change is possible.

Call it determination. Some argue that it takes a little more than usual effort to succeed in life. My story of Chikondano is a true reflection of this. Chikondano is one of the children in the Back to School Programme.  She is one of the very few girls who has demonstrated herself to be very determined in bringing about the best in life. Chikondano, despite being a teen mother, was never let down by life’s adversity. Against all odds she overcame misfortune and continues to soar.

Chikondano lives with her mother and nine siblings. She was identified by one of the community leaders in one of our ‘hotspot’ areas where we work in protecting children, especially the sexually exploited. She participated in behaviour change workshops at the Social Rehabilitation Centre which run for three months. It was around this time that she discovered that she was pregnant and later gave birth to a baby boy. After realising that the friends she attended the workshop with had gone back to school, she was remorseful and filled with envy. She visited our offices for consultation. With tears running down her cheeks she lamented, “Aunt Zione, the moment I discovered that I was pregnant, I was disappointed with myself. I realised that my dreams were shattered and, upon hearing that my friends had gone back to school, it made me feel even worse. I have my child but I still want to go back to school, please give me a chance.”

In 2013, Chikondano was incorporated into the Back to School Programme. She started in Form 1 and, after passing end of year exams, she went into Form 2. Today, Chikondano’s hopes have been revived. She says she is glad to be amongst the 37 girls who have gone back to school and that, through the behaviour change workshops and Back to School Club, she has learnt ways of preventing unwanted pregnancy, being assertive and her self-esteem has improved remarkably. The increase in the level of confidence is evident through her active participation in workshops. She is able to contribute and even advise others on issues which affect them. In 2014, Chikondano sat for Malawi’s Junior Certificate of Education exams and was amongst the five out of the seven who passed. It is an undeniable fact that this girl’s dreams of becoming a nurse after finishing secondary school and college are well on track. Her conviction and experience that change is possible is an inspiration for her to set and reach her destiny.

Chikondano is only one of the many vulnerable girls in my community, district and country as a whole. I meet them in my everyday life both as a Child Protection Officer and as a member of the country community. Others have even found themselves caught up in the camera by social media agents to the detriment of their private lives, reputation and social status.

As a Child Protection Officer working for an influential organisation in Malawi, I possess a responsibility to make an effective contribution towards changing the lives of the vulnerable, especially the sexually exploited, girls.  Not only is this responsibility part of my job for which I am passionate about, it is also part of my duty as a citizen of my warm-hearted mother land, Malawi. However, my targeted milestones are not as easy to achieve as it may be perceived at first glance. This is particularly because the context in which the vulnerable young girls live in is discriminatory. Girls in Malawi continue to suffer diverse forms of discrimination and marginalisation. Just listening to their stories compels in me the passion to do more in reaching out to even more girls, their communities, and guardians in order to encourage them to believe that CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. These girls need to be loved and nurtured. As for the girls themselves, they need not resign themselves to self-discrimination but pursue actionable steps in life that will make them achieve their set goals and dreams.