Author: Emelia Naa Ayeley Aryee
To many teenagers who find themselves pregnant while in school, it is impossible to go back to the classroom once they realise that they are pregnant. No, they just cannot sit in the same classroom with their peers with a baby bump.
Just a few, however, are able to rise above the storm to go back to school after delivery, and 18-year-old Beatrice is privileged to be one of them.
The mother of a 5-month-old baby lives in Abenta, a village in Adawso, in the Eastern Region, with her mother and 4 siblings.
While in junior high school (JHS) two, Beatrice found out that she was pregnant, and just like any other young girl, her world came crushing.
Teenage pregnancy, child bride – way of life
Information gathered by this journalist, Emelia Naa Ayeley Aryee, has it that teenage pregnancy is a norm in the village where Beatrice lives. It is very common and has become widespread that the community has accepted it as a way of life of a young girl.
Once they get pregnant, the young girls drop of out of school, and after delivery, the majority of them are married off to the young boys who put them in that situation, thus, they end up becoming brides instead of school girls.
According to a teacher at the Abenta Methodist School, Mr. Lord Addo Yobo, more girls have fallen victim to this canker, and the number one cause is poverty.
He ruled out defilement, explaining that the cases result from consensual sex because that is the only way the girls could get money from their boyfriends to augment the little given to them by their families.
“In fact, some of these girls have to rely totally on their boyfriends for survival, and in the end, they put them in a family way,” Addo Yobo stated in an interview with journalist Emelia Naa Ayeley Aryee.
The teacher recounted the many times he has had to personally intervene in such situations to encourage the girls to abstain from premarital sex and to focus on their education. But, how far could his voice go when all that matters here is money?
Therefore, when the unfortunate thing happens –when the girls get pregnant, the only option left for him as a teacher is to encourage them to stay in school. And, according to him, only Beatrice managed to do this.
Determined to be in school
Beatrice was determined to go to school in her condition. It was on one such days that she took a photo with her teacher. She had outgrown her school uniform, and needed to improvise with a cloth that has colours and designs similar to the uniform.
With a big baby bump almost falling to the ground, Beatrice posed with a bright smile on her face. And it was this very photo that attracted the attention of journalist Emelia to follow up on her.
Beatrice endured the gossips, backbiting, mockery, hurtful insinuations, teasing, and other unpleasant treatment from her mates during her pregnancy period.
But she was unperturbed, and more than ever, determined to continue with her education, and this she did and finally completed JHS on October 22, 2022, after writing basic examination certificate examination (BECE).
What help came?
Journalist Emelia’s efforts have gone a long way to impact Beatrice’s life so far. Having discovered Beatrice through a Facebook post, she constantly kept in touch with her during from her pregnancy time.
After the journalist got the news that Beatrice had delivered, she personally bought provisions and baby items, and putting together a small team, Emelia drove all the way from Accra to Abenta to see Beatrice and her child.
There, the journalist engaged Beatrice’s family, and talked them out of marrying her off. This, they agreed readily.
The journalist also engaged the young mother, assuring her of support for her to go back to school to complete her JHS education. The conversation proved refreshing to Beatrice.
What role Beatrice played
Following the visit by the journalist and her team, Beatrice was motivated more than ever to return to school in the shortest possible time.
She begged her grandmother who lived near her school to take care of her baby while she went to class. The grandmother was assisted her one of Beatrice’s cousins in doing this.
During breaktime, she ran to her grandmother’s house to breastfeed the baby and then returns to class.
Her own mother is a petty trader, and she confessed to the journalist that she was the breadwinner of the family, and so taking custody of Beatrice’s child for her to go to school will affects the family’s daily bread.
The mother, in fact, wanted Beatrice to defer her education and remain at home to take care of her child
This was how Beatrice managed the situation tirelessly till she completed JHS.
When asked what the driving force was, Beatrice says the journalist motivated her go do everything possible to return to school and to complete it.
And when asked what her mother’s reaction was following her competition of school, Beatrice said: “She congratulated me and said I have done well. I am happy I made this, thank you”.
How proud the mother and the entire family would feel to see their daughter completing school. In fact, that she has become the first graduate of her family.
Read the full feature on how she narrowly escaped early marriage, and her struggle: https://amaghanaonline.com/2022/10/26/ending-child-marriage-17-year-old-mother-beatrice-kenyos-narrow-escape-breastfeeding-during-bece-and-the-future/
An aspiring health worker
Beatrice aims to become a nurse in the future, and she needs help to further her education to the senior high level, and then to the training college.
She expects to make aggregate 21 or better, to help her continue her education. But Beatrice needs help to be able to further her education because her family would not be able to afford to take her to school.
Her choices of schools are Mampong presec, Aburi Girls, Larteh Presec, Benkum Senior High School, Adonten SHS, and Okuapeman Senior High School in that order.
In an effort to end early marriage, and promote girlchild education, journalist Emelia and her team would be grateful to everyone who wishes to support – individuals, NGOs, corporate Ghana. Please reach this journalist at emmyaryee2@gmail.com / emmyaryee2@yahoo.com. Facebook: Emmy Aryee.
