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Empowering Adolescent Mothers who Dropped Out of School with Digital Skills

by | Jan 16, 2024 | 0 comments

“Educated women are so difficult. They have too many opinions.”

“You won’t find a husband with all those degrees.” 

“You nova see say you di old di go. Sep ya small sister don marret born pikin dem. Ya own na ele for read book, sharp mop. You no fit find massa.”

These and many more are the words women and girls in different parts of Africa hear. 

Young girls are told to prioritize the search for a husband over their education. 

Because god forbid a girl dreams of getting multiple degrees before getting married. 

In the northern regions of Cameroon for example, it’s not uncommon for family members to pull a girl out of school and send her into marriage. 

It doesn’t matter if this girl is the smartest in her class and will very likely get a wonderful scholarship. 

All that matters is finding her a husband regardless of her age and sending her off to become a wife. 

Then she gets pregnant and the situation gets trickier.

According to Adair 2007, 75% of married women between the ages of 20-29 years in the north of Cameroon got married before they turned 16. 

 

Between 2004 and 2006, 27 percent of births recorded in the maternity wards of Maroua were to adolescent girls (Doumara and Billé 2007).

These statistics are worrying because these girls often do not have a choice. 

Imagine how many genius ideas that will never be fully realised because some girls were made to drop out. 

This is not limited to the north. 

In conflict-ridden areas, it’s not uncommon for little girls to be sold into early marriage so their families can afford their basic needs. 

The general idea is that it’s for the greater good. 

But whose greater good? We ask. 

Clearly not the girl’s.

Why? 

Because she’s carrying the burden of the entire family in a deal she did not consent to. 

In some other cases, girls have to trade sexual favours for food and other basic needs for their families. 

Again, the main idea is that it’s for the good of the majority.

But at whose expense? 

For example, women and girls fleeing the crisis in Central Africa Republic have taken refuge in the East region of Cameroon. 

Some of them have been sexually exploited in a gravely disproportionate exchange for basic needs.

Even in the southwest and northwest regions of Cameroon with strict moral codes, we have heard stories of young girls who got pregnant during the crisis. 

 

And it’s not because of a moral failing or lack of home training but because of unforeseen circumstances. 

Now, let’s move a bit to other more relatable causes of dropout. 

In communities that strongly oppose pregnancy out of wedlock, girls who look like they will bring shame to their parents are married off as soon as possible. 

These girls are usually confident, outgoing and know how to hold their own. 

In these settings, such characteristics make the elders tag you “wild” or “fast”. 

For some other girls, they got pregnant out of wedlock to experiment. 

They had not received proper sex education on contraception and how their body functions. 

Then they bring “shame” to their families. 

Parents get angry and stop paying fees.

Schools sideline them and their community reminds them of how terrible they are whenever possible. 

Mind you, many of these girls have no profitable skills and are not educated to the point where they can take up jobs.  

They cannot fend for themselves and become dependent on whoever shows the slightest interest. 

In certain cases, their situation traps them in a cycle of dependence and violence. 

FLOW CHART

Drop out due to early marriage/ early or unplanned pregnancy 

||

Lack of profitable skills/Little ability to articulate ideas or needs

||

Financial distress

||

Unhealthy dependence

||

A host of unpleasant experiences 

 

A key part of our work at EmpowerHer Tech Foundation is to transform the lives of women and children.

What better way to do this than to empower the mothers of these children? 

We can uplift women and girls who dropped out because of marriage. 

We believe that every child deserves basic needs. 

That every woman, no matter her background, deserves to learn new skills to improve her life and family. 

After all this talk, what is the way forward? 

We are glad you asked. 

Way forward 

At EmpowerHer Tech Foundation, we are doing our best to improve the lives of women and girls in various communities. 

We are especially concerned about those who dropped out of school because of marriage or pregnancy. 

It doesn’t matter if they dropped out of primary school or university. 

We want to empower them with tech skills to make them financially stable and give them control over their lives. 

Our expert tutors will teach them profitable tech skills such as coding, graphic design, cybersecurity and a host of others. 

They will also teach them how to integrate these skills into other industries such as agriculture, fashion, interior design, etc. 

From detailed training sessions to interactive seminars to one-on-one mentorship programs, trainees will have access to as much information as they need. 

There will be a host of internship and traineeship opportunities to learn from the best and practice what they have learned. 

Before the end of the training, we will:

  1. Look for job openings and internship opportunities in lucrative organizations.

It will bridge the digital divide and encourage more women to take up tech roles.

  1. Teach them how to start and manage their own businesses if they want to take the route of entrepreneurship.

The world is changing and professionals with tech skills are highly sought after.  

Our trainees can develop and pitch brilliant business ideas. 

Who knows? 

One of those ideas may be the next big thing. 

  1. Carefully explain their rights and the legal implications of certain decisions. 
  2. Work on their self-esteem and strive to correct the negative ideas they have of themselves. 
  3. Teach them how to build profitable networks and improve their interpersonal relationships.

Openings like these will broaden their worldview, give them financial freedom and free them from the bondage of shame.  

It will also prevent or greatly reduce the occurrence of gender-based violence (Amin & Andrea, 2011). 

How? 

These women will no longer stay in uncomfortable situations just so they can feed themselves and their children (if they have any). 

Conclusion

The family is the smallest and strongest unit of every society. 

To keep our society going, we ought to uphold values of compassion, kindness and mutual respect. 

Yes, it’s true that some of these girls got pregnant out of excitement. 

Others stubbornly dropped out of school and got married. 

But shall we continue to punish them for errors of the past? 

Shall we deny them growth opportunities? 

Of course not.  

It’s our duty to train, enlighten and empower these women. 

To give them hope for better tomorrows.

It’s up to us to hold their hand through the learning process and encourage them that life does get better. 

Join us as we empower 50 million women and children in tech by 2030!  

References 

  • Amin, Sajeda and Lynch, Andrea. 2011. “When Girls’ Lives Matter: Ending Forced and Early Marriage in Cameroon”. The Population Council. Issue No. 20 ISSN: 1097-8194
  • Adair, Tim. 2007. “HIV status and age at first marriage among women in Cameroon.” DHS Working Paper No. 33. Washington, DC: USAID and Macro International.
  • Doumara, Aïssa and Siké Billé. 2007. “Strate-gies de lutte contre les marriages précoces et forces dans l’extrême nord du Cameroun.” Unpublished.

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