Zimbabwe News Update
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2 min read
*Sithulisile Dube (19), from Filabusi in Matabeleland South, did not write her Ordinary Level (O’ Level) examinations three years ago, she became pregnant at the beginning of the year and dropped out of school. Although Zimbabwe’s laws have been relaxed to allow teenage mothers back in school, she has not returned.
“I know I could be living a better life if I had finished school and had progressed even to university but the stigma is a lot for a teenage mother,” she said. “I could not bear the pain of being ill-treated by other students at school and decided to stay at home. I could not even go to church because I was afraid that people would say I brought shame to my Catholic family.”
Her story mirrors that of countless other girls who, despite growing awareness about teenage pregnancy, find themselves leaving school and trading the dream of an education for the realities of early motherhood.
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