I CONVINCED MY CONSERVATIVE HUSBAND TO ATTEND ANTENATAL SESSIONS
Zainab Abdullahi’s husband wasn’t the open-minded type. He was not much older than Zainab, who was eighteen years old and five months pregnant. In their community, the Ringim Local Government Area, Jigawa state, teenage brides aren’t a novelty. They were not in the habit of conversing except when asking for money for medical expenses. One […]
MY HUSBAND SAW THE LIGHT
Bilki Lawan. Married at 16, pregnant at 19, and now a full-time housewife in the Ringim Local Government Area, Jigawa state, Nigeria. Her husband, like many people in the Yandutse community, doesn’t believe in Antenatal Care Services (ANC). “It’s a taboo,” her husband said. “Babies should not be tampered with.” Home births are the norm […]
FROM YOUNG MOTHER TO BUSINESSWOMAN
BIZUNESH TAYE -16 years Bizunesh’s dream is to buy a car. Nothing too extravagant; maybe something blue in colour, with a small stereo in it for music. She’s 16 years old now, a mother to a one-year- old baby. When she met someone and dropped out of school in grade seven, they moved in together […]
FROM SAVINGS TO SUCCESS IN SMALL BUSINESS
BIRTKUWAN ANULO – 18 years For Birtkuwan, it all boils down to saving. And to save you must be ready to deny yourself. At 18 years of age, she’s quickly learning that money only grows when you put it away, not when you spend it. She’s a member of the Kiemese Saving and Loans Association […]
I PLAN TO EXPAND MY BUSINESS
WUBE BELETE – 18 years Wube knows a thing or two about living with your in-laws. She, at 18, attended school but couldn’t proceed past grade 8. She met and married Gebre Mate, 20, who works as a motorbike driver. They moved into his family home. The young couple have a baby who is over […]
EMPOWERING FUTURES: TAMENECH AND AYELE’S JOURNEY TO FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
TAMENECH AYELE – 19 years Tamenech Ayele and Ayele Tusa live in a small rented house with their one-year-old baby. During the day the house is hot and the baby cries a lot. They are a young couple, scraping by. Tamenech is 19 years old, and Ayele is 28. She’s a high school graduate while […]
NAVIGATING ADOLESCENCE WITH CONFIDENCE AND CONTROL
TOLA – 17 years When she turned 17 years old, Tola’s body started behaving like it belonged to someone else. First, her menstrual cycle became unmanageable. She was always fatigued and listless during her period. She also started noticing that she was thinking of boys in a way that made her blush. She was thinking […]
9JA GIRLS REDEFINED MY STORY
IBIKUNLE OLAITAN – 15 years More than anything, she remembers the excruciating labour. The peeling blue paint of the hospital’s walls. She recalls the deadness of the rotary fan above that ignored the heat of the room. Heat and terror gathered around her. She thought to herself; Is this how I die? “I remember pushing […]