Beneficiary Through Trainings Of Ward Coordinators In Zaka

I am an apostolic sect church married to five wives (two are late). Over the year I had been engaging in child marriages and my youngest wife is currently 18 years having married her when she was 14 years of age. The ward coordinator after trainings from ZWLA confronted me and tried to educate on the law and women and children’s rights. I was resistant at first but she did not give up on me. She even nominated me to attend a certain workshop on GBV. With time I began to change my attitude regarding women’s rights and GBV. I now teach against child marriages in the community and the church. I recently attended a church meeting and did not bring a new wife as was my tradition that I would bring a new wife from annual church meetings. I have also changed my behavior in relation to the way I treat my wives. I now participate in garden chores like watering and picking of tomatoes, chores I would not do not dare partake in before. My grade 7 daughter was amazed and even laughed at me when she saw me carrying a bucket of tomatoes, something she had never seen her father do ever since she was born. My wives are still in awe, witnessing the change in their husband who has since stopped beating them and now allow them to manage the money generated from the garden sales when traditionally he collected all the money and kept it to himself, deciding on how to spend it and in most cases would spend it on beer. I am shunning GBV and early child marriages  in church telling fellow church members who still want to engage in it that “wavapadhuzenejere” (imprisonment is knocking at your door). ZWLA’s training of ward coordinators has helped bring about this transformation in me.