LocationsBeatrice’s Return: Escaping Child Marriage and Reclaiming the Classroom
July 14, 2026
Beatrice looks ahead to a future filled with hope, determined to continue her education and rebuild her life.
In some communities, a girl’s pregnancy is still treated as the end of her childhood and the beginning of marriage. Instead of being supported to return to school, she may be sent to live with the man responsible for the pregnancy, even when she is still a child herself.
For 17-year-old Beatrice Chibwe from Thembani area under Traditional Authority Zilakoma in Nkhata Bay, Malawi, this became her reality.
Beatrice became pregnant at 15 years. After the pregnancy, her parents sent her to live with the man responsible. She did not want to go, but felt she had no choice. Her education was interrupted, and the life she had known was suddenly replaced by the demands of motherhood and marriage. But marriage did not bring protection. It brought violence, poverty and fear.
The man she lived with was abusive and did not provide for her or the baby. While her friends continued walking to school each morning, Beatrice remained at home, watching the life she wanted move on without her.
“I used to see my friends going to school, and I would cry because I wished I could be with them,” she says. “At that time, I felt as if my life was over.”
Her turning point came through the Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence through the Social Analysis and Action Approach project, implemented by the Foundation for Children’s Rights in Nkhata Bay District, with financial support from the Governments of Iceland and Norway through UNDP Malawi.
The project trained government and community actors and established community gender dialogue fora, local platforms that bring together traditional leaders, service providers and community members to lead change. Through these structures, communities are supported to examine harmful beliefs and practices, including the idea that pregnancy should not end a girl’s education or force her into marriage.
Through strengthened community protection structures, including Community Gender Dialogue Fora, Victim Support Units and traditional leadership, the project ensures that harmful situations are not just discussed, but acted upon. These structures help identify and respond to cases affecting vulnerable girls.
When members of the community and the Victim Support Unit learned about Beatrice’s situation, they visited the home, engaged her parents and the man she had been sent to live with, and helped remove her from the abusive marriage.
They explained to her family that Beatrice was too young to be a wife and that her place was in school. With her mother’s support, she returned home and went back to class.
Today, Beatrice is back in school. She is now in Standard 7, continuing from where she left.
“I want to finish my education and build a better life.” Says Beatrice.
Samuel Phiri highlights the importance of supporting girls to return to school and helping communities challenge child marriage.
For Samuel Phiri, Assistant Center Coordinator for Tukombo zone, Beatrice’s story reflects a wider challenge facing many girls. Early marriage, poverty and family pressure continue to push girls out of school, particularly after pregnancy.
“In many cases, there is cultural and family pressure,” Samuel says. “When a girl becomes pregnant, some families believe she now belongs to the man’s family.”
He says the project is helping communities confront and change that belief.
“This project is helping to change that mindset by showing communities that pregnancy should not end a girl’s education,” he says. “She still belongs in school and deserves a chance to continue learning.”
Samuel adds that girls who return to school need more than permission to sit in class. Many require psychosocial support, as well as help with basic needs such as uniforms, soap and school supplies, so that they can continue learning with dignity
Group Village Headman Jacob Phiri is helping communities understand the harmful effects of child marriage and encouraging parents to keep girls in school.
Traditional leaders are also playing an important role in changing community attitudes. Group Village Headman Jacob Phiri says that the project has helped people understand the harm caused by child marriage and domestic violence.
Before the project, he says, child marriages were common. Many girls left school early because some families did not value education or could not afford to keep them in class.
“Before the project started, we had many challenges in the community,” the chief says. “Child marriages were common. Many young girls left school early to get married.”
Now, he says, the community is beginning to take a stronger stand against child marriage.
“People are now afraid to marry off their children because they understand that it is wrong, and they know the community will stand against it,” he says.
His message to parents is direct: “Let us not destroy the future of our children for the sake of a quick marriage. Let us keep them in school so they can help our community in the future.”
Protection that reaches the home
Beatrice’s return to school shows that protection must reach the places where decisions about girls are made: homes, villages, schools and local justice structures. Community dialogue helped open the door, but it was the combined action of protection structures, traditional leaders and her family that helped move her from an abusive marriage back into the classroom.
For Beatrice, protection became real when the people around her chose not to look away. It became real when community members intervened, when her family was reminded that she was too young to be a wife, and when the classroom once again became a place where she could imagine a future.
Beatrice’s story shows the danger of treating child marriage as a solution to teenage pregnancy. It can expose girls to violence, poverty, isolation and lifelong dependence.
It also shows what is possible when communities are supported to protect girls. By raising awareness, strengthening local protection structures, engaging families, involving traditional leaders and connecting girls to support services, the Strengthening Human Rights for Vulnerable Populations Project helped Beatrice leave an abusive marriage and return to school.
Today, she is learning again. She is rebuilding her confidence. And she is beginning to imagine a future that once felt lost.
For Beatrice, returning to the classroom is not only about education. It is about safety, dignity and hope.
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