A student at a secondary school in southern Mozambique, Octavia lived with her grandparents as there were no free school places available in her hometown and her family could not afford to pay her school fees. Passionate about mathematics, physics and chemistry, Octavia hoped to one day become a doctor and save lives.

Becoming a child bride

Octavia’s grandparents were strict and did not want her socialising with boys. However, in secret, Octavia met and dated a boy who was 4 years older than her.

In 1998, at the age of 15, Octavia started to feel unwell: she was nauseous, tired and had a swollen stomach. Octavia realised to her horror that the symptoms were consistent with pregnancy, something she had been taught about in biology class. No one had told her how babies are conceived or how to protect herself from pregnancy. 

When Octavia confessed that she was expecting a baby, her grandfather became furious and only stopping beating her when her grandmother begged him to spare her life. Terrified, Octavia fled to her boyfriend’s home. Octavia’s grandparents they said they no longer wanted to see the dishonourable girl and Octavia’s child marriage was sealed.

Octavia became the lowest member of her extended family. She did the heaviest housework, even though she was thin and heavily pregnant. Waking at 4am, Octavia would prepare a bath for the head of the household and breakfast for the whole family, then take her husband to school. She herself no longer went to school.

“My mother-in-law insulted me every day and told me that my mother had freed herself from me, but now I would be her death. Everything I did was wrong,” says Octavia.

The situation worsened when Octavia gave birth to a son, Gerson. After a painful birth, she received no care or rest. The domestic workload remained the same, but Octavia also had to care for the baby. When Gerson was 2 and Octavia was 18, floodwaters invaded the town. Octavia was sent out for clean water, but had to return empty-handed. When Octavia, starving, took sugar for her tea, one of the men in the family slapped her and accused her of wasting sugar.

“I didn’t become a doctor, but now I save lives in a different way.”

Octavia

Octavia could not take another day and ran away, taking only Gerson with her. She returned to her hometown, to her widowed mother and sister. “We were so poor that we didn’t even have rice all the time. But I felt better than with my husband in his middle-income family because I felt loved.”

Octavia returned to school and persevered through her exams, despite initial poor grades. In the evenings and at weekends, Octavia would shop in the market for recycled clothes that she could sell on. “Once I knocked at my school friend’s door and he looked at me with pity, like a ragamuffin. That day I went inside and sold every single item of clothing.”

A young volunteer creating awareness about HIV

Wanting to do something to help her community, Octavia volunteered at her school to prevent the spread of HIV. After high school, she got a job at Samaritan’s Purse, an organisation that spreads awareness about HIV/AIDS.

In 2004, her mother started to lose weight and was constantly hospitalised. The symptoms were familiar to Octavia from her HIV awareness work. Her mother agreed to be tested and was diagnosed with HIV infection. “I was afraid of losing my mother. When she was lying in bed, you couldn’t see her under the covers. In the morning I would check to see if she was still breathing.” When Octavia’s mother started her HIV treatment, she could barely walk.

“Mum recovered and we hardly remember that she has HIV. What’s more, she became an activist who has helped many people to accept their HIV infection and take medication. I am proud because I was able to give her the right information and encourage her.”

More than 1 in 10 Mozambicans is HIV-positive. Octavia is concerned that HIV infections in Mozambique are on the rise, particularly among young people. “I talk a lot to young people about contraception. I stress the use of condoms, because that’s the only thing that protects against HIV.”

Teaching young women about their sexual and reproductive health and rights

A group of teenage girls are chatting animatedly under a canopy. They are youth activists from Plan International, who want to raise young people’s awareness of their human rights.

The young people are gathered for a training session led by Octavia, now 41, who works for Plan International as a specialist in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

“I didn’t become a doctor, but now I save lives in a different way,” Octavia explains. Her work focuses on how to improve the SRHR of girls and women. She trains activists, educators and community leaders.

In her work, Octavia has realised that child marriage and early pregnancies are still very common in rural Mozambique, usually cutting off a girl’s schooling. Mozambican girls have traditionally been brought up to submit to the will of adults and men. Gender-based violence is widespread.

“I think the biggest problem is the mindset that perpetuates harmful cultural norms. Sexuality and contraception are considered taboo, and there is a culture of silence between parents and children. This is what we at Plan are tackling,” says Octavia.

“Sexual and reproductive health is my passion. Every morning I think that today some girl might make the wrong choice. I never stop talking about the need for young people to have the right information to make wise decisions.”

Positive developments

“It’s great to see how many disadvantaged girls know that they can take control of their own bodies and lives. Early marriages have declined in our programme area because more and more people are realising that they don’t solve problems, they create new ones.”

One of the most important steps forward is the opening of a contraception and maternity clinic at the regional hospital a couple of years ago. It works closely with organisations to provide free contraceptives and safe abortions in addition to counselling. “Until 5 years ago, abortion was taboo in the region, but many families have started to think that it can be a better option than, for example, child marriage.”

Octavia is the pillar of her extended family and an active member of her local Methodist Church. In addition to her day job, Octavia runs her own business importing Brazilian jeans, South African cosmetics and wigs, the cornerstone of Mozambican style.

Octavia shares, “I have lived in poverty and struggled for my basic rights. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m really proud of my home, my family and what I’ve achieved.”

“Sexuality and contraception are considered taboo, and there is a culture of silence between parents and children.”

Octavia

In numbers

Mozambique, in south-east Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It ranks 185th out of 191 countries on the UN Human Development Index. The country’s development has been held back by internal conflicts, natural disasters and low levels of education, among other factors.

Around half of Mozambican girls are married before the age of 18, with 17% married before the age of 15. Child marriage is twice as common in rural areas as in urban areas. Out-of-school girls are 8 times more likely to be married off to children than those in school.

40% of girls give birth before the age of 18 and 8% before the age of 15. On average, Mozambican women give birth to 4.7 children in their lifetime. Early pregnancy is a major health challenge in Mozambique: 1 in 2 deaths of girls and women aged 15-24 is due to pregnancy, childbirth or unsafe abortion.

In 2019, the Mozambican Parliament passed a laws banning marriages for children under 18 and guaranteeing pregnant girls the right to go to school. While the law alone will not end child marriage, it is a significant step forward.

Sources: CIA’s The World Factbook, Girls Not Brides, Mozambique Ministry of Health, Plan International, UNFPA.

Protection from violence, Sexual and reproductive health and rights, child marriage, Gender-based violence, Teenage pregnancy