THERESA KACHINDAMOTO

“I have terminated 840 marriages and all of them have gone back to school and for that I am happy.”

Locally known as 'The Terminator', Theresa who is a senior chief of Dedza district of Malawi has fought for the well-being of young girls and women in Malawi. She has annulled over 800 child marriages and sent hundreds of young women back to school. She made strides to abolish cleansing rituals that required girls as young as sevenyears-old to go to sexual initiation camps. She successfully made her sub-chiefs sign an agreement to end child marriages and also convinced community leaders to ban early marriages.