She is now nine months pregnant and is due any day from
now. The father of her unborn child has not made the situation any better for
her as he has denied responsibility of the pregnancy. Without any means to
prepare for the birth of her unborn baby, she had to beg for old clothes from
her neighbours.
That is the least of her worries though as she is terrified
at the thought of being a mother at such a tender age and is uncertain whether
she will cope.
She is not the only one in that predicament. The Chronicle
news crew visited Manama Mission Hospital waiting mother’s shelter where Alice
is waiting for her delivery day.
During the visit, the news crew found five other teenagers
below the age of 18 who were waiting for their delivery dates.
A quick survey of all the females that were at the shelter
showed that out of a total of 17, only two were above the age of 20. Nine were
aged between 18 and 19-years-old. Most of the girls had to drop out of school
after falling pregnant.
The news crew spoke to teenagers aged 15 and below who all
felt that this new journey into motherhood will be a burden for them. Some of
them have been traditionally married off by their families after falling
pregnant. Being married at such a tender age has turned out to be a huge burden
for them.
The duties they have to perform at their matrimonial homes
are overwhelming and if given the chance they would turn back the hands of time
to become “children” once again.
The teenagers feel their futures have been destroyed as
they are now missing out on an opportunity to get education.
Given an opportunity they wish to go back to school. Alice
said she dropped out of school this year after she fell pregnant while doing
her Form Three at a local school.
She said the father of her child, who is aged 22, works in
Botswana but she does not know what he does.
“I met the father of my child and he proposed love to me
and I accepted. Soon after we had sexual intercourse and I fell pregnant. He
works in Botswana so I hardly saw him.
When I told him that I was pregnant he denied
responsibility and said he wanted nothing to do with me or the pregnancy,” she
said.
Alice added: “I’m staying with my mother but she doesn’t
have the money to buy clothes for my unborn child so I had to ask around for
some donations.
It pains me that the father of my unborn child has ditched
me and he is leaving the responsibility of fending for this child to me.
This experience is so scary for me. I’m just 15 and I don’t
have the know-how of being a mother and I’m not working.” Chronicle
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