By Lameck Masina:
When Sinala Mwakapenda left school after falling pregnant at 15, she could not have imagined how difficult life would become.
She says she entered a relationship with an older man to emulate her friends who were doing the same. But when she became pregnant, she found herself facing an uncertain future with little support.
“My parents said they would not allow me to stay with them because I had brought shame to the family. I was told to leave the house and stay with the man who impregnated me,” she recalls.
The man rented a house for her in Kasuntha village; about three kilometres from her family home in Kamphenga village in Dowa District in central Malawi. But she says he neither provided food nor cared for her because he denied responsibility for the pregnancy.
Sinala survived with help from neighbours who sometimes brought her food. Her mother also occasionally sent someone to deliver food.
“That’s when I realised there are some very nice people in this world. But there were times when I felt there was no reason to continue living,” she says.
She sometimes considered taking her own life but says something inside her urged her to keep going.
After about two months, local education advocates, including members of a Mother Group, helped her return to her mother’s home. They persuaded her mother to let her stay until she gave birth.
Four months after delivering her baby, Sinala tried to return to school. But her name was missing from a list of young mothers selected for education sponsorship by a non-governmental organisation. A former female cabinet minister had also promised to support her education, she says, but the assistance never came despite several reminders.
Traditional Authority Kayembe, Hendrian Kapalamula, eventually stepped in, using her own money to meet Sinala’s school needs. She supported her from form 2 until she completed Form 4 at 21.
“I feel proud that Sinala has completed her secondary education. She has remained committed to her studies, and I want her to reach her goals and become a role model for other girls,” Kapalamula says.
However, Sinala says returning to school brought new challenges.
She recalls situations where some classmates at Kamphenga Community Day Secondary School would mock her and tell her to go home because her baby needed breast milk. Others avoided her, saying she smelled of breast milk.
“I ignored them and stayed focused. I wanted to finish my education. I found comfort in my teachers who were very supportive,” she says.
After passing form 4 exams this year, Sinala plans to improve her examination results and continue her studies, but she still needs financial support.
“I am not satisfied with the points (grades) I got in exams. I want to sit the exams again, get a degree and become a nurse. I want to show other girls that what happened to them does not mean their dreams are over,” she says.
Sally Ncube, Equality Now’s regional representative for Southern Africa, says returning to school after pregnancy requires more than simply allowing girls back into the classroom.
“It is not just about going back to school. There are hidden costs that come with childcare and self-care,” Ncube says.
She says schools also need to provide supportive environments, including breastfeeding facilities, counselling and learning support.
A problem beyond one village
Sinala’s experience reflects the challenges facing many girls in Malawi. Unicef estimates that about 38 per cent of girls in the country marry before turning 18. Poverty and limited opportunities can make girls in rural communities particularly vulnerable.
Although Malawi’s law prohibits marriage before 18, child marriage persists.
“We have seen significant progress in laws outlawing child marriage,” Ncube says. “But inadequate resources for implementation and enforcement, poverty and climate shocks such as droughts and floods continue to make girls vulnerable to child marriage.”
In June 2026, the Malawi government and Unicef launched the five-year Protecting Girls, Transforming Futures programme, supported by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The initiative targets 10 districts with high rates of child marriage, aiming to strengthen child protection and improve support for vulnerable girls.
At the community level, Kapalamula says she has helped more than 500 girls in her area resume their education through efforts aimed at protecting girls and discouraging early marriage.
She says local by-laws impose penalties on parents who allow their daughters to marry young, helping to reduce the practice in her area.
The Firelight Foundation has also reported progress. By 2025, its community-based work in five Malawian districts had helped end 428 marriages, rescued more than 770 girls before marriages could take place, returned 229 girls to school and enrolled another 216 in vocational training.
Ten years on, a regional test
The challenge extends beyond Malawi. In 2016, the Southern African Development Community adopted a Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage. Yet, a decade later, enforcement, poverty, access to education and harmful social norms remain obstacles.
Ncube says governments must ensure that institutions responsible for protecting children have the resources and accountability mechanisms to do their jobs.
“The key is to strengthen enforcement and accountability, adequately resource those responsible for implementing the law, and ensure that survivors receive social protection and support for rehabilitation, recovery and re-entry into education,” she says.
For Sinala, the struggle continues. She wants to improve her grades, return to education and fulfil her dream of becoming a nurse.
Now, the challenge for Malawi and the region is to ensure that girls like Sinala receive the support they need to rebuild their lives and pursue those ambitions.