Rosemary Atagedewe became pregnant while still in Junior High School and was forced to marry the one who impregnated her thereby discontinuing her education. At that time, her aunt was a cleaner at our DC office of the Catholic Education Unit. When her aunt died, Rosemary volunteered to replace her so that she could earn some money to take care of her family. I met her on the day of the handing over of the administration to me as the Regional Manager and my heart bled as I watched her young yet pain- looking face. She spoke very little English and would always respond: ‘Yes madam, yes sir’ to me when I talk to her. One day, I invited her to a meeting and asked her what she would like to do apart from the cleaning job or if she would like to return to school. She declined both offers and said she would prefer that I help her husband start a trade or go to the university so that he will take care of her and their children when he is empowered.

I respected her views and invited her with her husband for a meeting and asked her husband what he thought about his wife’s suggestion. He said he would prefer to be helped to go to the university so that then he would get a good job to take care of his family. A closer look at the husband revealed that he was a ‘friend of the bottle’ meaning, someone who has a problem with alcohol. All the same, I accepted the proposal to support him start a small business from where he could save money for the family.

A few days later, I visited the family and saw that the husband used to get drunk and to beat Rosemary to the point that her back was blue. So, I changed the idea of supporting the husband and encouraged her to return to school, but she declined because she felt she could no longer cope with schooling.

The story of Rosemary gradually changed when I started calling her my personal secretary and told her not to bother about schooling. One day I asked her if she would like to learn computer and I noticed that she was very interested in learning how to type.
I sent her to learn computer skills for three months and this excited her and opened the way to great happenings in the life of Rosemary. From the three months of training in computer skills, Rosemary agreed to go back to school to learn secretarial studies at the senior high school.

Sending Rosemary to the secretarial school was a big breakthrough for me and a sign of hope that things will surely turn around for good in her life and that one day she can decide whether or not to stay in a forced and abusive marriage. Rosemary’s performance in the school was astounding, above average and she graduated with distinction to qualify as a professional secretary. Her joy knew no borders on the day of her graduation and so were all who were connected to her positively. With her certificate, Rosemary has been upgraded on the government payroll from the level of a cleaner to that of a professional secretary. Though I needed her as my secretary, a higher office was soliciting her services and since my dream was to have her grow higher, I willingly released her to the higher office. From that first spark of self- confidence, various further steps took place:
• Rosemary is now the personal secretary to the Municipal Director of Education at the Kasina–Nankana Municipal.
• She has discovered that the man who was forced on her is not the kind of man she would love to spend her life with, so she has moved out of the marriage with her two children back to her father’s house.
• She has built a house for her mother from the accumulative salary she received from her promotion.
• Rosemary has moved her children to a private school where she is giving them the best of education.
• Most importantly, Rosemary is currently in her second year in the university studying business administration.

Rosemary has become a beacon of hope, a role model, and an example of perseverance. From a school dropout, a victim of forced marriage and teenage pregnancy to an educated, caring and responsible woman and a person of integrity.

 

Sr. Bernadine Pemii DC