Windfall for expecting teen mothers

Faith Tevera

BULAWAYO – The Rose Gift Foundation, a Matabeleland based organisation, hosted a baby shower for teenage expecting mothers  in celebration of the International Day of the African Child in Bulawayo last week. The baby shower was held as part of efforts to cushion the young expecting teen mothers and their unborn babies from the prevailing adverse economic conditions.

The organisation  doled out different coloured gifts  for babies consisting of the most important items for delivery  preparation amid profuse expressions of gratitude from the recipients. Baby dishes, buckets, toiletries, pampers, vests, rompers, leggings and hats were some of the items given out to the expecting teen mothers.

The Rose Gift Foundation is a Non-Governmental  Organisation heardquartered in Mississipi in the United States of America (USA), the USA branch is led by  co-founder, Dr Praise Matemavi. The foundation is committed to helping young girls and women with sanitary wear and transitioning to motherhood among other things. The focus is also to prevent the girl child from dropping out of school due to lack of basics.

The locally based cofounder of the organisation, Patience Tarumbwa told Community Podium that the foundation’s efforts are mainly concentrated on  helping the girl child. She added that The Rose Gift Foundation felt the need to help teenage mothers adjust and learn to live in a hostile society which harshly  judges them for premature indulgence which often results in the young women’s despair and reluctance to pursue their careers. 
“They (young mothers) tend to drift  from being visionary and ambitious to  being full time mothers without any ambitions  in life. This is where we come in to help,” said Tarumbwa.

Drawing inspiration from the legendary Nelson Mandela, Tarumbwa charged the young mothers to approach life bravely and pursue their dreams regardless of the challenges they face.
“The late Nelson Mandela said the joy of living is not in falling but it is in rising up every time you fall. God says he will not give you a situation bigger than you, He will give you a situation that will make you stronger than before, so do not let this kill your dream or ambition. Go beyond your wildest imagination,” she said.
 

According to Tarumbwa, the teen mothers’ ages range from 14 to 17. Some of them she said, are victims of sexual abuse. She however added that some of these girls had displayed so much potential which her organization will ensure does not go to waste.

“Our youngest expecting teen mother is 14 years old and she got pregnant at 13. Some of these girls have been sexually abused but have shown remarkable resilience and potential despite the abuse and pregnancy. Some have actually passed Ordinary Level, so we want to ensure they realise their full potential. We selected the girls from different locations and backgrounds depending on how vulnerable we thought they were,” she said.
While encouraging the teenage mothes, Tarumbwa, who also doubles up as the  Operations Officer of the organisation shared her own moving teenage motherhood story.

“I  was a teenager (17) when I  had my first son. I also went through the same challenging path just like some of you are going through. Leading a project aimed at helping other teenage mothers is a great opportunity for me and it gives me great pleasure,” said the high spirited Tarumbwa.
 

She highlighted that most of the teenage mothers cannot express their emotions fully due to the stigma infested society which judges and calls them names, hence the importance of such interventions to instill courage, hope and faith. 
 

Dr Matemavi speaking from her base in the United States also issued words of encouragement at the beautiful event. She underscored that ‘the huge giant’  blocking these teenage mothers from achieving their dreams is self judgement coupled with guilt because the African society thinks its taboo for a girl child to have a child before marriage. She further called on society to jettison this ‘wrong’ mentality.

The publication also spoke to one of the expecting young women who prefered anonymity at the event. She expressed great appreciation for the timely help.” I was in grade ten (10) in South Africa when I got pregnant and came back to Zimbabwe. My sister told me about this organisation and I made  contact withthem. They invited me to this event and i am very happy they did. This is so amazing and I thank The Rose Gift Foundation for their support and love,” said the young lady.

The organization’s girl child support program has been running for two months in Bulawayo. The next target for the organisation is to roll out a special program for daughters of incarcerated mothers.