Jubilee Mahlamvana
MBERENGWA – A Mrongwe Primary School pupil who made headlines recently for giving birth during her grade seven exams has vowed to continue with her education.
The 14-year old girl finished the rest of her exam at Mrongwe Clinic where she had been rushed after she had experienced labour pains in the middle of her English Paper 2 exam.
She gave birth to a healthy baby after she went into labour during the exams and was allowed to continue writing her exam at the clinic in the presence of two invigilators assigned to her.
A victim of sexual abuse, she fell pregnant earlier this year but has resolved to forge ahead with her education despite the severe hardship she faces.
Speaking to TellZim News, the girl (name withheld) said she got abused in February this year when she was herding cattle with her cousin brother.
“It was in February when we were herding cattle with my cousin brother (name supplied) when he lured me to have sex with him,” she said, adding that the sex was consensual.
Asked if she will strike a balance between school work and motherhood, the seemingly intelligent girl said she was not going to let her past rule her future, promising to handle circumstances as they come.
“To me this is not the end of my life, but rather I have learnt a life lesson the hard way and this won’t happen again,” the girl said.
Her mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, said she was startled to learn that her child was pregnant only three hours before she gave birth.
“It was around 5 o’clock am on the 12th of October this year when my daughter awakened me, requesting me to do a prayer for her before she went to school for her exams. She complained that she was not feeling well.
“I then asked her what the problem was but her description of the pains as an elder gave me the light. I took her inside the house and quizzed her before she revealed the ordeal.
“She gave birth at around 8 o’clock that morning when arrangements to ferry her to the clinic were underway,” said the mother.
The girl’s father saluted her daughter’s strength saying at that tender age, other girls would not survive the ordeal.
“I am happy that my daughter and her kid are alive and as you know, problems are part of life. As parents, we will make sure that these kids are safe and get what they want and we are going to liaise with the headmaster so that she will come back home and breastfeed the child at break and lunch times,” said the father.
A police report had reportedly been made when this publication visited the girl but the boy was yet to report to the police.
The parents of the girl have pleaded with the well-wishers and the donor community to assist them to bring up the child as they do not work and are advanced in age.news
