This man almost married his 11-year-old daughter.
Find out why he didn't
Like many men in the town of Guangua, in the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray, 51-year-old Mezgebe Gebregziabher is burdened with many responsibilities and too few resources.
He has three daughters and four sons, which he supports entirely by tilling an arid landscape to harvest sorghum grain. He is an industrious man who values unity, effort, peace and transparency. And just four years ago, he almost married his eldest daughter, Mebrhit, when she was just 11-years-old.
Considering his circumstances, this was a rational decision. “By culture if the husband gets the bride he has to help the girls’ family out at home,” says Mezgebe. The fiancé quickly sent gifts of clothing and shoes to seal the deal. There would have been an exchange of oxen and goats. Two families are stronger than one, Mezgebe probably thought.
But for Mebrhit, the news came as a shock. Just weeks before the wedding, Mebrhit’s girlfriends told her the village gossip; her father had promised her hand in marriage. Panicked, Mebrhit went straight to those she trusted the most: her teachers.
Yohannes Kidanemariam vividly remembers the day Mebrhit walked into his office. “She was involved in class very actively. She was a class monitor. She was excellent in creative writing. Due to all of that, the teachers loved her,” says the former school vice principal.
Alarmed for their student’s future, Yohannes and his teachers made a dramatic decision: “For one month, we hid her. Me and the other teachers we bought her exercise books and pens and she never went home.”
Yohannes and other PTA members repeatedly went back to Mebrhit’s house to convince her parents to reconsider the marriage. After weeks of deliberation, Mebrhit’s parents finally conceded, returned the husband’s gifts, and called the wedding off.
Four years later, Mebrhit’s father is grateful for the teachers’ intervention. “I was angry then. Now I am happy,” says Mezgebe.
Next year, his daughter will begin her first year of high school as one of imagine1day’s Class 2018 Graduate Fund students.
“I am glad due for the cancellation of that marriage. Her education isn’t just benefiting her, she is helping her brothers and me also,” he says.
On the day she accepts her imagine1day scholarship, Mebrhit proudly lists the ways she can now helps her father: “I can read the instructions on the fertilizer. I tell him now how he should take his prescriptions. He has experienced many benefits of my education,” she says.
“Education is important because educated and uneducated people are not equal. Even in simple life it is important, not just for the modern globalized world. My father is angry when he takes fertilizer and can’t read the instructions. That’s why education is important to me,” says Mebrhit.
Although Mebrhit won’t be at home to help her father and siblings once she begins high school in September, they will continue to benefit from her educational excellence. imagine1day will provide Mezgebe with funding and training to learn how to make an income from goat fattening and breeding. In a year, his goat fattening business should make enough money to pay for Mebrhit’s educational and living expenses in town.
“With such an opportunity, I cannot be sad. It is grace and success and I will do everything to contribute to her graduation,” says Mezgebe.
Marriage wasn’t the only obstacle on Mebrhit’s road to success. Just four months ago her mother died during childbirth, leaving Mebrhit, as the eldest daughter, with all her household responsibilities.
“The domestic activities are my biggest challenge since not having a mother at home,” she says. “I didn’t know whether I would finish even Grade 8, I was worried I would drop out of school.”
“I worried with what she might think with her mother passed away. Her focus might be diverted, but she is very courageous,” says her father.
Since her mother died on the way to the nearest regional clinic, Mebrhit wants to become a doctor to ensure that everyone in her community has access to quality healthcare.
“My girlfriend’s dream was to get married and now she is a farmer and has children. If I had been married I would already have kids. Now I am educated. Now I can have both. I couldn’t express my pleasure,” she says.
He has three daughters and four sons, which he supports entirely by tilling an arid landscape to harvest sorghum grain. He is an industrious man who values unity, effort, peace and transparency. And just four years ago, he almost married his eldest daughter, Mebrhit, when she was just 11-years-old.
Considering his circumstances, this was a rational decision. “By culture if the husband gets the bride he has to help the girls’ family out at home,” says Mezgebe. The fiancé quickly sent gifts of clothing and shoes to seal the deal. There would have been an exchange of oxen and goats. Two families are stronger than one, Mezgebe probably thought.
But for Mebrhit, the news came as a shock. Just weeks before the wedding, Mebrhit’s girlfriends told her the village gossip; her father had promised her hand in marriage. Panicked, Mebrhit went straight to those she trusted the most: her teachers.
Yohannes Kidanemariam vividly remembers the day Mebrhit walked into his office. “She was involved in class very actively. She was a class monitor. She was excellent in creative writing. Due to all of that, the teachers loved her,” says the former school vice principal.
Alarmed for their student’s future, Yohannes and his teachers made a dramatic decision: “For one month, we hid her. Me and the other teachers we bought her exercise books and pens and she never went home.”
Yohannes and other PTA members repeatedly went back to Mebrhit’s house to convince her parents to reconsider the marriage. After weeks of deliberation, Mebrhit’s parents finally conceded, returned the husband’s gifts, and called the wedding off.
Four years later, Mebrhit’s father is grateful for the teachers’ intervention. “I was angry then. Now I am happy,” says Mezgebe.
Next year, his daughter will begin her first year of high school as one of imagine1day’s Class 2018 Graduate Fund students.
“I am glad due for the cancellation of that marriage. Her education isn’t just benefiting her, she is helping her brothers and me also,” he says.
On the day she accepts her imagine1day scholarship, Mebrhit proudly lists the ways she can now helps her father: “I can read the instructions on the fertilizer. I tell him now how he should take his prescriptions. He has experienced many benefits of my education,” she says.
“Education is important because educated and uneducated people are not equal. Even in simple life it is important, not just for the modern globalized world. My father is angry when he takes fertilizer and can’t read the instructions. That’s why education is important to me,” says Mebrhit.
Although Mebrhit won’t be at home to help her father and siblings once she begins high school in September, they will continue to benefit from her educational excellence. imagine1day will provide Mezgebe with funding and training to learn how to make an income from goat fattening and breeding. In a year, his goat fattening business should make enough money to pay for Mebrhit’s educational and living expenses in town.
“With such an opportunity, I cannot be sad. It is grace and success and I will do everything to contribute to her graduation,” says Mezgebe.
Marriage wasn’t the only obstacle on Mebrhit’s road to success. Just four months ago her mother died during childbirth, leaving Mebrhit, as the eldest daughter, with all her household responsibilities.
“The domestic activities are my biggest challenge since not having a mother at home,” she says. “I didn’t know whether I would finish even Grade 8, I was worried I would drop out of school.”
“I worried with what she might think with her mother passed away. Her focus might be diverted, but she is very courageous,” says her father.
Since her mother died on the way to the nearest regional clinic, Mebrhit wants to become a doctor to ensure that everyone in her community has access to quality healthcare.
“My girlfriend’s dream was to get married and now she is a farmer and has children. If I had been married I would already have kids. Now I am educated. Now I can have both. I couldn’t express my pleasure,” she says.