Sixteen-year-old Rose lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in May 2018 after her family was unable to pay her fees – roughly $150 per term including transport. Rose had hoped to graduate and one day become a mining engineer, because her father told her this was a stable job that made good money.

“When I stopped going to school I was so pained. I was so affected because I’m good at school,” Rose told WAP. “I visit my friends who are still in school and ask them what they are learning.” Rose now fills her time reading novels. She loves “The Hardy Boys” series.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls marry before 18 in Zimbabwe. Many girls decide to marry once they leave school, but this is not an option Rose is considering. “My mother taught me about child marriage,” she says. “There are a lot of challenges when you marry at a tender age. There is a lot of suffering in early marriage. You will always be disadvantaged because you won’t be educated, and people will look down on you.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

School fees bills for the Easter and Autumn terms in respect of Wallace Jones. The bills are addressed to Mrs Jones, RG Oliver being apparently the boy's ward and responsible for paying his fees.

From a collection of documents my brother had amassed, mainly connected to R Gordon Oliver, a Newport draper who died in 1934, and for the most part, concerned with the buying and selling, and recovery of debts. This one this refers to a Wallace Jones' education, described as a ward of RG Oliver. Amongst the documents is a copy of a Mr Frederick Leonard Jones of Llantarnam, Wallace's address. It is assumed that Mrs Jones had become a widow and Oliver assumed responsibility for the boy.

Fifteen-year-old Penelope lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school last year when she was in Grade 7 because her family was unable to pay her fees. “Now I just sit. I want to go back to school,” Penelope told WAP.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Blessing lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school after Form 3 because her family was unable to pay her school fees. Blessing married at age 20 and has a baby daughter.

Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is currently over 80%. Like so many in the communities where WAP works, Blessing and her husband are not working. Blessing does piece work when she can and would love to have a job selling firewood. “I hope my daughter can at least be able to go to school, that way she will be able to sustain herself,” Blessing told WAP.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Ruth lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She got married at age 16 after discovering she was pregnant. She now has three children—a daughter and two sons. Ruth’s husband has a job molding bricks, but money is tight and they are having trouble paying their children’s school fees.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls marry before 18 in Zimbabwe. Ruth’s daughter is now 16-years-old, the same age Ruth was when she married. “My wish is that my daughter completes school,” Ruth told WAP. “I would want her to get married at the age of 20, when she knows what life is all about.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Neneris lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school last year because her family could not afford her fees. They still owe the school $150.

“I was in Form 4, I would like to go back to school,” Neneris told WAP. Her favorite subjects were commerce and math and she had hoped to one-day become a bank teller. “It would have been a good job,” she said wistfully. Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is currently over 80% and like many of the women WAP works with, Neneris is not working. She now spends her time learning to plait hair.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Twenty-eight-year-old Chiyhedza lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She and her husband have three daughters – an eight-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 2-month-old baby. Although Chiyhedza’s husband owns a vegetable stall in the market, they are having trouble raising the $30 necessary each month to pay for their two eldest children’s school fees.

Chiyhedza says she loved school but had to leave in Form 3 after her father died, and her mother was unable to afford the fees. She recalls that her favorite subject was science. “My wish for my children is for them to go to school,” Chiyhedza told WAP. “My wish for myself is to one day return to school and complete my ordinary level.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Twenty-one-year-old Rufaro lives in Epworth, a neighborhood in Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She married and left school at age 18 after discovering she was pregnant. “It just happened because I had no one to encourage me – no one to take care of me or help me with school fees,” Rufaro says when asked if she felt ready to marry at that age.

Her husband works part-time jobs in construction and they have a three-year-old daughter. Rufaro says she would want her daughter to marry at the age of 25. “By that time, she’ll be learned and will be able to get a good and sustainable job. She’ll never have to beg her husband for money because she’ll be able to work for herself. Her husband will value her, and she will be a respected member of the family. When you have nothing, people regard you as nothing. I don’t want her to live like that.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 26, 2018 – Epworth, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Twenty-three-year-old Memory lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She was in her first year at Bindura University studying banking and finance when she got pregnant. “I did not intend to have a baby,” she told WAP. “I’m not married, I don’t know where the father is.”

Memory dropped out of university because she could not afford the fees, which including housing were about $900 per semester. She now sells frozen popsicles to support herself and lives with her mother. Given the opportunity, Memory would like to finish her four-year university program. Her ambition was to become a financial manager and start her own business.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 14, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Portia lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in 2016 after her father passed away and her family could no longer afford to pay her school fees. She now supports herself by selling vegetables in the market.

“I’m not yet ready for marriage,” Portia told WAP. This opinion has been shaped by the experiences of several of her friends who married young. “They get married early because of harassment and bad treatment from their families. But there are many challenges for women who marry and give birth at a tender age, their muscles are not ready.”

Indeed, early marriage can cause serious harm to both girls and their children. The vast majority of child marriages are unions between girls and adult men and this dynamic creates a power imbalance in which girls have limited ability to negotiate safe sex and make decisions about pregnancy and healthy birth spacing.

According to Human Rights Watch, complications from pregnancy and birth are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19 in developing countries. Girls who marry before age 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties are. The younger a girl is when she gives birth, the more likely it is that her pelvis and birth canal are not fully developed, which places her at high risk for maternal mortality.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Marion lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She completed her Ordinary Level Exam last year but did not collect the results because she could not afford the $295 fee. Marion was studying Shona, Literature, and History and hopes to one day study Sociology at University. “I am interested in studying society and how we can help people in the community,” she told WAP.

Marion has attended WAP’s “Stand Up, Speak Out” anti-child marriage trainings and also participated in WAP’s recent “Give Us Books, Not Husbands” march. “WAP’s programs are important because of the knowledge you have gained. When I talk to 15-year-olds who are pregnant, I feel bad, because I know they will face challenges,” Marion says. She has taken WAP’s call for girls to be ambassadors for change in their own communities to heart and says that she now talks to her friends about the dangers associated with early marriage. “We need to be educated as girls. We need to know that early child marriage causes poverty because of a lack of education.”

Marion also has a strong vision for her own future, “I’ll only get married when I have completed university and I have worked. I want to be independent first.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Eighteen-year-old Joy lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She married at age 15 after her father died. “I was living with my grandmother in difficult conditions,” Joy told WAP. “Sometimes I would sleep without food, I would sleep outside. My solution was to get married. I thought to myself: if I get married I can at least help my mother.”

Joy’s husband works as a shop keeper at a small truck shop and they now have a one-year old son. Joy isn’t working and misses school. She recalls that her favorite subjects were math and science. “I had hoped to be a medical doctor, I wanted to help people,” she says. “If I’m given an opportunity to go back to school, I know I would do better than all the others. I know I am smart.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Sixteen-year-old Rose lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in May 2018 after her family was unable to pay her fees – roughly $150 per term including transport. Rose had hoped to graduate and one day become a mining engineer, because her father told her this was a stable job that made good money.

“When I stopped going to school I was so pained. I was so affected because I’m good at school,” Rose told WAP. “I visit my friends who are still in school and ask them what they are learning.” Rose now fills her time reading novels. She loves “The Hardy Boys” series.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls marry before 18 in Zimbabwe. Many girls decide to marry once they leave school, but this is not an option Rose is considering. “My mother taught me about child marriage,” she says. “There are a lot of challenges when you marry at a tender age. There is a lot of suffering in early marriage. You will always be disadvantaged because you won’t be educated, and people will look down on you.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Anodiwa, age 19, lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She was 16 and in Form 4 when she had her first baby. Anodiwa left school because she got pregnant and could not afford to pay her fees, which were $80 per term for seven subjects. “My favorite classes were history and English. I had wanted to be a human rights lawyer,” she told WAP.

Anodiwa cannot find work and she and her children are currently being supported by her mother. She hopes to find an employment opportunity, so that her children can finish school.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 13, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Twenty-three-year-old Memory lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She was in her first year at Bindura University studying banking and finance when she got pregnant. “I did not intend to have a baby,” she told WAP. “I’m not married, I don’t know where the father is.”

Memory dropped out of university because she could not afford the fees, which including housing were about $900 per semester. She now sells frozen popsicles to support herself and lives with her mother. Given the opportunity, Memory would like to finish her four-year university program. Her ambition was to become a financial manager and start her own business.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 14, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Grace lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She is in Form 4 at school and her favorite subject is science. “We learn a lot about our health and the functions of our body, it’s very interesting,” Grace told WAP.

Grace hopes to become a primary school teacher after she graduates – but this dream is in jeopardy. Her parents are divorced and Grace lives with her 25-year-old brother who works as a carpenter and supports her education. “I face a limitation due to lack of finances,” she says. “My brother is having challenges with money, so I’m only registered for four subjects this term.”

Each of Grace’s subjects costs $50 and she explains that it has been very hard to find the money. When asked if she has considered marriage Grace says, “I don’t want to get married. My desire is to finish my education.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Shorai lives in Chitungwiza, a town outside Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She married at age 16 and was pregnant by age 17. “My parents died. I was staying with my grandfather, but there were too many grandchildren. We had no money for school, no money for food,” she told WAP. “This situation caused me to get married.”

Shorai and her first husband divorced, and she is now married to another man. She faces challenges at home because her husband “comes and goes” and most of the time she is alone with her two children. Shorai washes clothes and does part-time work, but it is not enough to cover school fees. “I would love my children to go to school. I don’t want them to be like me,” she says. “I hope they wait to marry until they are 25.”

In Zimbabwe 32% of girls marry by age 18 and 4% of girls marry by age 15. According to Girls Not Brides, rates of child marriage are highest in impoverished communities and girls from the poorest 20% of households are 4 times more likely to marry than girls in the wealthiest 20% of households.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Shorai lives in Chitungwiza, a town outside Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She married at age 16 and was pregnant by age 17. “My parents died. I was staying with my grandfather, but there were too many grandchildren. We had no money for school, no money for food,” she told WAP. “This situation caused me to get married.”

Shorai and her first husband divorced, and she is now married to another man. She faces challenges at home because her husband “comes and goes” and most of the time she is alone with her two children. Shorai washes clothes and does part-time work, but it is not enough to cover school fees. “I would love my children to go to school. I don’t want them to be like me,” she says. “I hope they wait to marry until they are 25.”

In Zimbabwe 32% of girls marry by age 18 and 4% of girls marry by age 15. According to Girls Not Brides, rates of child marriage are highest in impoverished communities and girls from the poorest 20% of households are 4 times more likely to marry than girls in the wealthiest 20% of households.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Immaculate lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She is 15 years old and not in school. “I loved school, I used to go to school,” Immaculate told WAP. “I did up until Grade 6, but there are nine in my family and my parents could not afford the fees.”

When asked what she knows about child marriage Immaculate is resolute, “I’m not interested in anything called marriage, I want to go back to school.” Her opinion has been shaped by the experiences of friends who married young and who Immaculate says now face many challenges. “Last month, one of my friends was forced to marry at age 15 because her mother heard that she had been seen out with a boyfriend.” Unfortunately, this situation is all too common in the areas where WAP works.

32% of girls in Zimbabwe marry before the age of 18, despite a 2016 legal reform which makes the practice illegal. According to Human Rights Watch, family pressure is a major driver of child marriage in Zimbabwe. If a girl is seen with a boyfriend or she returns home late, she can be forced to marry in order to preserve her family’s honor.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Sixteen-year-old Rose lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in May 2018 after her family was unable to pay her fees – roughly $150 per term including transport. Rose had hoped to graduate and one day become a mining engineer, because her father told her this was a stable job that made good money.

“When I stopped going to school I was so pained. I was so affected because I’m good at school,” Rose told WAP. “I visit my friends who are still in school and ask them what they are learning.” Rose now fills her time reading novels. She loves “The Hardy Boys” series.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls marry before 18 in Zimbabwe. Many girls decide to marry once they leave school, but this is not an option Rose is considering. “My mother taught me about child marriage,” she says. “There are a lot of challenges when you marry at a tender age. There is a lot of suffering in early marriage. You will always be disadvantaged because you won’t be educated, and people will look down on you.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Faith lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in 2016, shortly after her father died because her mother was unable to pay her school fees (roughly $100 per term.) “When I was young, my dream was to sew things. My favorite class was fashion,” Faith told WAP. She had hoped to be a professional designer making jeans and long dresses.

Like many of the woman WAP works with, Faith married as a child because her parents were unable to support her. “I got married in 2016, right after my daddy died,” she explained. Faith now has a one-and-a-half-year-old son.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls in Zimbabwe marry before they turn 18. Poverty is a major driver of child marriage across the country and girls from the poorest 20% of households are 4 times more likely to marry as children than girls from the wealthiest 20% of households.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 14, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Auyanerudo lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She completed her Ordinary Level exam last year but has not been able to collect her results because she owes the school $450 in overdue fees. Auyanerudo’s favorite subjects were History and Shona. One day, she hopes to attend university. She now spends her time taking care of her niece while her sister sells second-hand clothes in the market.

Auyanerudo has attended WAP’s “Stand Up, Speak Out” anti-child marriage trainings and also participated in WAP’s recent “Give Us Books, Not Husbands” march. “Girls think marriage will fix their problems, but it makes more. Marriage isn’t the solution,” she told WAP. Auyanerudo says she helps educate other girls in her community about the dangers associated with child marriage. “In the area where I stay, they don’t go for training. So, I explain to them what I learned and show them the handouts.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Thirty-four-year-old Constance lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She married at nineteen and has three children. Like many of the women WAP works with, Constance married early because of difficult financial circumstances. “My father passed on, so no one could pay for my school fees. The only alternative was marriage,” she explained.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Seventeen-year-old Mazvita lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school after Grade 7 because her family could not afford the fees.

Now she does part-time work washing clothes. “I liked school” Mazvita told WAP. “If I get an opportunity, I’d like to go back because I want to be a teacher.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Fifteen-year-old Anashe lives in Epworth, a neighborhood in Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in June – a week before this photograph was taken – because her family was unable to pay her fees. “My favorite subject was science and I had hoped to become a doctor when I graduated,” Anashe told WAP.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 26, 2018 – Epworth, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Sixteen-year-old Rejoice lives in Epworth, a neighborhood in Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She dropped out of school during Form 2. “My mother and father divorced. My father is now in South Africa and my mother can’t pay the fees on her own.” Rejoice’s favorite subject was commerce and she had hoped to one day become a nurse.

Now she spends her time at home while her mother buys and sells goods in the market. Rejoice has five siblings and none of them are currently in school.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 26, 2018 – Epworth, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Auyanerudo lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She completed her Ordinary Level exam last year but has not been able to collect her results because she owes the school $450 in overdue fees. Auyanerudo’s favorite subjects were History and Shona. One day, she hopes to attend university. She now spends her time taking care of her niece while her sister sells second-hand clothes in the market.

Auyanerudo has attended WAP’s “Stand Up, Speak Out” anti-child marriage trainings and also participated in WAP’s recent “Give Us Books, Not Husbands” march. “Girls think marriage will fix their problems, but it makes more. Marriage isn’t the solution,” she told WAP. Auyanerudo says she helps educate other girls in her community about the dangers associated with child marriage. “In the area where I stay, they don’t go for training. So, I explain to them what I learned and show them the handouts.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth lives in Epworth, a neighborhood in Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She is currently in Form 2, but says her family is having trouble paying her school fees. When she grows up she hopes to become a flight attendant.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 26, 2018 – Epworth, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Thirty-two-year-old Edith lives in St. Mary’s township in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works.

Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is currently over 80% and like many of the women WAP works with, Edith is not working. As a single mother she is having difficulty supporting her two sons and paying their school fees. “We owe money to the school,” Edith told WAP. “My13-year-old owes $120 and my 7-year-old owes $160. I just want to work, I would do anything.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Chido does chores at her home in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare. Chido is in Form 6 and studying geography, economics, and business. She hopes to do a program in banking and finance after she graduates. “My biggest challenge is paying the fees,” Chido says. “My father passed in 2015 and my mother does buying and selling in the market to help me.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Dorcas, age 17, lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. Dorcas completed her ordinary level in school but failed to sit for the final exam because she was unable to pay her school fees. She begins to cry when she talks about how she wants to return to school and finish her studies. Her favorite subjects were food and nutrition and she had once hoped to be a journalist. Dorcas now owes the school over $1,000 in overdue fees.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 14, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Grace lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She is in Form 4 at school and her favorite subject is science. “We learn a lot about our health and the functions of our body, it’s very interesting,” Grace told WAP.

Grace hopes to become a primary school teacher after she graduates – but this dream is in jeopardy. Her parents are divorced and Grace lives with her 25-year-old brother who works as a carpenter and supports her education. “I face a limitation due to lack of finances,” she says. “My brother is having challenges with money, so I’m only registered for four subjects this term.”

Each of Grace’s subjects costs $50 and she explains that it has been very hard to find the money. When asked if she has considered marriage Grace says, “I don’t want to get married. My desire is to finish my education.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Neneris lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school last year because her family could not afford her fees. They still owe the school $150.

“I was in Form 4, I would like to go back to school,” Neneris told WAP. Her favorite subjects were commerce and math and she had hoped to one-day become a bank teller. “It would have been a good job,” she said wistfully. Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is currently over 80% and like many of the women WAP works with, Neneris is not working. She now spends her time learning to plait hair.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Fifteen-year-old Penelope lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school last year when she was in Grade 7 because her family was unable to pay her fees. “Now I just sit. I want to go back to school,” Penelope told WAP.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Fifteen-year-old Fadzai lives in Hopley, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school in Form 2 after her father died and her mother went to work in South Africa. Fadzai now lives with her grandmother and they support themselves by selling “Freeze-its” (frozen popsicles) in the market.

Fadzai’s favorite subject was science and she had once hoped to become a doctor. “What is most difficult for me is the issue of my education,” she told WAP. “I want to go back to school like the other children, when I see them going to school I feel such pain.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 18, 2018 – Hopley, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Anodiwa, age 19, lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She was 16 and in Form 4 when she had her first baby. Anodiwa left school because she got pregnant and could not afford to pay her fees, which were $80 per term for seven subjects. “My favorite classes were history and English. I had wanted to be a human rights lawyer,” she told WAP.

Anodiwa cannot find work and she and her children are currently being supported by her mother. She hopes to find an employment opportunity, so that her children can finish school.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 13, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

When all the colors (Issac chose pink, green, and yellow for this particular cloth) of thread are stretched between the posts they look like this.

Twenty-year-old Nyarayi lives in Mbare, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She married at age 15 and had two children by the time she was 18.

When asked why she married so young, Nyarayi explains that her parents had passed away and she was living with relatives who had their own children and did not love her. “I was a stranger to them, so I fell in love with somebody,” she told WAP. Her boyfriend helped her pay for stationary and school fees. One day Nyarayi came home late and her relatives cast her out of the house, telling her to “go back where she had come from.”

Shortly afterwards, she got married and left school. Nyarayi says that her favorite subject was mathematics, and that she had once dreamed of becoming an accountant. She hopes her daughter finishes school before getting married.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls in Zimbabwe marry before they turn 18. Poverty is a major driver of child marriage across the country and girls from the poorest 20% of households are 4 times more likely to marry as children than girls from the wealthiest 20% of households.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 13, 2018 – Mbare, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Nineteen-year-old Chido lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She is in Form 6 and studying geography, economics, and business. Chido hopes to do a program in banking and finance after she graduates. “My biggest challenge is paying the fees,” she told WAP. “My father passed in 2015 and my mother does buying and selling in the market to help me.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Adanleté had two children, but both have passed away. His wife is still with him.

“I like this job and have been doing this for many years. My father taught me this job when I was in school. I used this job to pay for my schoolfees and have some income. Sometimes I don’t sell, but I am okay. If you make a good work and many people like it, I feel so happy.”

Arnold Mwesigwa is one of the many children that have been left vulnerable by HIV/AIDS and poverty in Uganda. He really has nothing and is desperately in need of basics including education, food, and healthcare. Arnold is 13 years old, in High School 1 but currently not attending school due to lack of resources. Please sponsor Arnold now and give him a bright future.

Many Children dont get an education in Nepal. The remote villages in the hills are many days walk from the nearest school and boarding school costs £200 pounds a year.Even though this includes food, uniform books and pens, few can afford it. This little boy goes to a local school but he still has to pay. Many kids dont go to school because there is not enough money for a school shirt and a school pen. This is a lucky one.

chombomission.de

Helping abandoned and orphaned children in Blantyre.

A STABLE HOME

The children's foster home in Chirimba, Blantyre aims to help Malawian orphans and destitutes on a long-term basis. The aim is to provide a permanent home, a stable environment, as well as a basic health care and food security.

Danai lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school before she wrote her Form 4 exams because her parents could not raise the $75 necessary for the fee.

Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is over 80% and like so many of the women WAP works with, Danai isn’t working. She lives with her aunt and hopes to one day start a small business raising chickens.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

chombomission.de

Helping abandoned and orphaned children in Blantyre.

A STABLE HOME

The children's foster home in Chirimba, Blantyre aims to help Malawian orphans and destitutes on a long-term basis. The aim is to provide a permanent home, a stable environment, as well as a basic health care and food security.

Nineteen-year-old Neneris lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school last year because her family could not afford her fees. They still owe the school $150.

“I was in Form 4, I would like to go back to school,” Neneris told WAP. Her favorite subjects were commerce and math and she had hoped to one-day become a bank teller. “It would have been a good job,” she said wistfully. Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is currently over 80% and like many of the women WAP works with, Neneris is not working. She now spends her time learning to plait hair.

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 19, 2018 – Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

Fifteen-year-old Aneni lives in Epworth, a neighborhood in Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She left school four years ago when she was in Grade 7.

According to UNICEF, 32% of girls marry by age 18 in Zimbabwe – many of these marriages occur after girls leave school. When asked what she knows about child marriage Aneni says, “I think it’s not a good thing, people who marry young have a lot of challenges. My older sister got married at 15, she’s been married for 5 years now. Sometimes her husband will leave the house for long periods without telling her. That’s why I dislike the idea of getting married at a tender age.”

Photo by Alex Kotowski, 2018 Peace Fellow, The Advocacy Project

June 26, 2018 – Epworth, Zimbabwe

Names have been changed

chombomission.de

Helping abandoned and orphaned children in Blantyre.

A STABLE HOME

The children's foster home in Chirimba, Blantyre aims to help Malawian orphans and destitutes on a long-term basis. The aim is to provide a permanent home, a stable environment, as well as a basic health care and food security.

chombomission.de

Helping abandoned and orphaned children in Blantyre.

A STABLE HOME

The children's foster home in Chirimba, Blantyre aims to help Malawian orphans and destitutes on a long-term basis. The aim is to provide a permanent home, a stable environment, as well as a basic health care and food security.