All about young women and the Decisions for Life Campaign in Zambia on Mywage Zambia
Mywage Zambia journalist Meluse Kapatamoyo speaks to a young woman who has been involved in the Decisions for Life (DFL) campaign in Zambia. The campaign is aimed at empowering young women by informing them of their rights, and at supporting young women in the choices they make about their futures. This is her story:
"I attended the first DFL meeting when I was three months pregnant. At first I was not very confident and only began to speak after listening to other people’s experiences. The campaign messages have helped me stay strong in my decisions and helped me get through one of the toughest times of my life.
Through-out my pregnancy, I was ridiculed and taunted for getting pregnant outside wedlock. I was not given a chance to participate in anything because to my family I was naïve to let myself get pregnant, especially by a man who they considered poor. I delivered my baby on June 24, but the child died a week later.
After the burial my family sat my boyfriend and me down and basically told us we needed to go our separate ways. They said the death of my child was God’s way of saying that we should not be together. According to them, God had given me a second chance to find a better man, someone wealthy. My boyfriend is currently unemployed. But I told them there was no way God would punish an innocent child for his parent’s sins.
I also made it clear that I would not end my relationship with the man I loved because he had no money. They were shocked that I was standing up for myself. Lately they have come to terms with it. My mum has accepted the relationship and recently my boyfriend’s family came to pay lobola and my family accepted.
Before DFL I don’t think I would have held on to my decision of being with the man I love. The campaign has given me the confidence to speak for myself and to say what I want for my life without fear."
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