Chikombedzi's child brides

Sunday, 27 March 2011 00:15 Features

Catch them young . . . Primary schoolchildren in class at Alpha Mphapha Primary School in Chikombedzi.

By Phyllis Kachere in Malipati, Chiredzi
POVERTY and the Shangaan cultural practice of “kudzanira”, which initiates girls into womanhood, is driving parents in areas around Hlengwe, Gezani and Chikombedzi that border Mozambique and South Africa, to marry off girls as young as 13.
Chiredzi district, situated in the southeastern part of Zimbabwe, is home to the majority of the Shangaan people in Zimbabwe.
So severe are the school dropouts that also coincide with the Shangaan girls’ graduation from the “chikomba” (woman initiation) in July or August that some schools are left with a few or no girls in their Grade Seven classes when they open for the third term.
Although lobola is not fixed, the brides fetch as much as    20 000 rand and six head of cattle.
Mr Benedict Mawire, headmaster of Phahlela Primary School in Matibi, had astonishing figures of girls who drop out of school to get married.
“In 2007, the Grade Seven class had 13 girls but by the third term only one girl was attending school. In 2008 we had 26 girls doing Grade Seven but after the initiation ceremony only two came back to school.
The year 2009 was no different. We had 23 girls before kudzanira and only three girls came back to school after the graduation,” he said.
Headman Hanyani Zava Mphapha explained that according to the Shangaan tradition, the initiation process for the girls is done at the onset of puberty, which usually starts around 12 years old.
“Shangaan girls have to be initiated at the onset of puberty. This is usually done during June/July. I cannot go into details about the curriculum but I can confirm that it involves sex education and the duties and responsibilities that come with womanhood. This is where they are prepared for marriage,” said Headman Mphapha.
Although school heads at Muhlekwani and Makhanani primary schools in Matibi II could not provide statistics, they confirmed that they had also suffered similar haemorrhages with regard to Grade Seven girls soon after “they became women”.
“The pattern is the same every year. Soon after kudzanira, we expect to lose Grade Seven girls as most get married soon after the ceremony. Most of them get married to majonijoni, a term used to describe local Shangaan men who work in nearby South Africa and Mozambique.
“Because of the proximity of both Mozambique and South Africa to our school some men from these countries also come and marry these young girls. We have watched painfully as the girls leave school for marriage,” said Mr Felex Ndlovu, who heads Muhlekweni School.
Makhanani and other schools in the area have also not been spared as confirmed by school head Mr Wilson Dheimani.
“It is difficult to separate the girls’ flight from school from kudzanira. Soon after the initiation of girls, classes are emptied of girls,” said Mr Dheimani. 
The situation at Chiumburu Primary School near Triangle is dire, forcing the school head to appeal to both the police and education authorities to conduct joint awareness campaigns.
“I had to appeal to the police and senior education authorities to conduct joint awareness campaigns to force parents to allow their children to come to school. The girls have just stopped coming to school,” said the school head who declined to be named. 
According to the Shangaan tradition, the headman said, soon after graduation, the girls are required to tie red bandanas around their heads to make them recognisable as the “new women”.
The red bandanas distinguish and show they are ready for womanhood and marriage but it is this “advertisement” that has become the girls’ curse for they become easy targets for early marriage.
“After graduation the girls are eager to find suitors and the red bandanas provide easy identification. And once on the market, there is stiff competition, resulting in the youngsters marrying off at those early ages.
“Within a year after graduation, a traditional Shangaan girl should be able to find a suitor and get married. Because of competition, one cannot afford to stay for too long on the market. That’s our tradition,” said 76-year-old Mrs Ketsiya Randalani from Chief Chilonga’s area.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director Mrs Clara Dube confirmed that Chiredzi district, home to the majority of the Shangaan people, has suffered worrying school dropouts during the transition from primary to secondary school.
“There are worrying trends of school dropouts of both boys and girls during the transition from primary to secondary in Chiredzi district. For example, in 2009 there were                  2 660 girls who sat for Grade Seven examinations but only 1 440 proceeded to secondary school the following year.
“Of the 2 455 boys doing Grade Seven in 2009, only 1 252 proceeded to Form One. We are not sure where the dropouts have gone to,” said Mrs Dube in an interview with The Sunday Mail.
Some educationists have suggested engaging the traditional leadership in the hope of delaying the initiation of schoolgirls until at least they reach 18 years.-The Sunday Mail