At the mercy of sex predators: Shurugwi teen
For Nokuthula Zhou* being an adolescent in Gutsaruzhinji, a resettlement area, on the foot of the Boterekwa escarpment in Shurugwi was not a bed of roses.
She had to stomach her church’s dogma that allows elderly men to marry “teenage” wives and simultaneously battling love “bids” from the marauding illegal gold panners on her way to and from Chironde Secondary School, 7km away.
At the same time, Zhou had to contain growth spurts and puberty changes.
The now 27-year-old mother of one recounted how as an adolescent girl, 14 years ago, she was at the mercy of suitors, mainly elderly men in white robes and dirty overalls.
She was between a rock and a hard place.
“We were alienated from the congregation after my mother withdrew me from a church conference after she learnt that an elderly congregant wanted to take me as his third wife,” Zhou, who now operates a grocery shop in Mkoba suburb, Gweru, said.
A former member of the Johanne Marange African Apostolic Church, Zhou said she saw some of her friends being forced to marry elderly men in church while others were lured by the power of gold.
“My father said he was raised in a polygamous family and he never wanted us to be in such situations when we got married,” Zhou said.
“He said he was in this church because of his late father, but he was prepared to leave for anything that he did not believe in, that’s why he was forced out after my mother refused to hand me over to this elderly suitor.
“We were forced to abandon our home in Chironde to live in Shurugwi town where my father was working.”
Gutsaruzhinji is one of the resettlement areas set up by government as a cooperative shortly after independence with the aim of improving the livelihoods of rural communities.
However, despite the community being dominated by the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church there has been diminishing influence of the church’s doctrine and belief system over its members’ behaviour and conduct due to the invasion of the area by illegal gold miners.
Some members of the church also joined the illegal gold mining bandwagon and inherited all the malevolent acts that go with it.
A handful of villagers in Gutsaruzhinji have remained devoted to the church and are living by its dogma, while others have chosen to be part of the sect although sidelining some harmful practices.
“I am a member of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church, and at 18, no one has bothered to marry me in church,” said Elizabeth Gudhu.
“My parents do not tolerate that and they have told me that I will marry whomever I want when I am ready.”
Gudhu, who desires to do a sewing course before she gets married, said she was among a few girls in the church with the privilege of having parents that protect their daughters.
“I think I am one of the luckiest,” she said.
“Instead, I am now moving around the community raising awareness on the dangers of early marriages.
“My other task is to engage members of our church to seek medical help in clinics or hospitals.”
Gudhu is among scores of adolescent girls and young women in Shurugwi district who have been engaged by a local non-governmental organisation — Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust (Awet) as behaviour change facilitators.
Awet programmes manager for Ward 18 in Shurugwi Ntombizodwa Revesai said her group was an inter-faith based organisation that is mandated to advance the rights of adolescents and women issues and mainstreaming of gender in apostolic church activities.
“We intend to change the negative perceptions society holds about the apostolic community through dealing with contemporary issues facing the apostolic community whilst being sensitive to the members’ expectations,” said Revesai.
She said her organisation was fully cognisant of the fact that apostolic churches have different beliefs, norms, values and perceptions on key social issues such as early/child marriage, education, HIV and Aids, maternal new-born child health, gender-based violence as well as adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights, among others.
Moreblessing Dhavu, who is a behaviour change facilitator in Ward 18 explained some of the situations that they have come across during the execution of their duties.
“There is a lot of gender-based violence in this community, mainly from members of the church and from illegal gold miners,” she said.
“Young girls bear the brunt of these people and they have no one to protect them.
“We have a situation where a violent illegal gold miner (referred to as Bhuru in local lingo) impregnated twins aged 15 years and he has refused to take responsibility.
“No one in the community wants to approach him because he is violent.
“It is his habit to impregnate young girls and refuse to take responsibility.”
Dhavu said families with their teenage girls were living in fear of the marauding illegal gold miners.
“Some of these makorokozas are locals, but we now have others who came from other places lured by gold and they set up homes here,” she said.
“We have engaged police and community leaders over these issues, but they are yet to be addressed.”
Dhavu, however, said despite these challenges, she and her colleagues were moving around the community raising awareness on a number of issues.
“Part of my job is to visit homes of the apostolic church members whom I encourage to seek medical help when they fall ill,” she said.
“We condemn early or child marriages.
“As behaviour change facilitators, we are trying to change the mind-set of the community with regard to health-seeking behaviour.
“We sometimes face barriers as some families don’t allow us at their homes.”
Dhavu said they have seen a lot