(Illustration by Ruramai Musikewa for The Fuller Project)
With the economic fallout of COVID-19 contributing to skyrocketing rates of teenage pregnancy in Zimbabwe, a new law has been ushered in to protect the education of the young women affected.
This story was published by the The Fuller Project, a global nonprofit newsroom reporting on issues that affect women.
Words by Farai Shawn Matiashe
Cassey Simbanai was set to take her final year examinations this December. The 17-year-old Zimbabwean girl, one of the more promising students in her class, still has dreams of becoming a science teacher.
But on a recent school day, Simbanai wasn’t in her classroom or playing her beloved rugby in the nearby fields. Instead, she prepared lunch for her in-laws in their kitchen in Hauna Growth Point, a small village in the mountains of eastern Zimbabwe near the border with Mozambique. Simbanai spends most of her time doing chores for her new family while waiting to give birth to h