Our Stories

In many corners of Tanzania, the voices of young girls are often drowned out by tradition. Child marriage, cultural rites of passage like Unyago, and limited access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) information continue to shape the destinies of countless girls, stripping them of their choices before they even understand them. Yet, amid the silence and stigma surrounding these girls, one powerful force is driving awareness, shifting mindsets, and pushing for change: Media has long been a powerful tool in influencing public opinion and policy, adding a human face to the problems. And its role in addressing child marriage and cultural

In many communities along the southern coast of Tanzania, parenting is often seen as a mother’s duty. Fathers, particularly in such households, are expected to provide financially, while the responsibility of raising children from nurturing, guiding, and ensuring their education falls on the mother. For generations, this belief has shaped the fate of many young girls, whose futures are often left vulnerable when their fathers take a hands-off approach. But in the small village of Matogoro, Tandahimba, one father is rewriting the script. Shafi, a father to a young girl, quickly realized that ensuring his daughter’s well-being and education would require more than just

The choice of partner and the time at which he or she will spend his or her entire life is an individual’s right to utilize his or her freedom of expression. This should be no different for a young girl from Kishapu district, Tanzania. Here child marriage is not just a practice, it is a deeply ingrained tradition. As a pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), Pastor Patrick Zengo had witnessed countless young girls pulled out of school and married off before they even understood what their futures could hold. The girls he once saw sitting in church pews, dressed in