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Women Around the World: EveryChild marks International Women’s Day

March is a month when women are celebrated. In the UK we have Mother's Day on March 2, and across the globe International Women's Day is marked on March 8. In this feature dedicated to women, EveryChild celebrates the women across world who we are helping to help themselves.

Malawi: Mwawi & Efraida

Family poverty and traditional culture forced fourteen year old Efraida into an early marriage which ended her education and separated her from her mother, Mwawi. “Wise girls your age get married and support their parents,” Efraida, the eldest of five children, was told by her father.

Forced marriages are commonplace in Malawi, with poor families desperate to receive a cash dowry they feel they have no option but to say goodbye to their daughters at a young age.

Efraida married, but once married it materialised Efraida’s husband John had no stable income, food was scarce and dreams of secure married life were soon shattered. EveryChild’s child protection committee heard about the situation and entered into talks with Efraida, her parent and her in-laws. Efraida is now back at home having been released from the marriage and is continuing in school with the hope of becoming a community nurse.

Despite a traumatic year, Efraida’s mother can now smile because thanks to help from EveryChild’s mother and daughter have now been reunited.

Her mother is elated to have her eldest daughter back under her roof and is determined to keep her family in tact. “I am taking part in parenting skills to support my children and want to help them to achieve their aspirations," she said.

"EveryChild has supported us with farm inputs and we hope to produce enough food for our family,” said Mwawi with a smile on her face. Every month in Malawi four girls are separated from their family’s and forced into marriage. So far, Efraida is one of 27 girls EveryChild has helped go back to their families. Click here for our latest feature on Malawi.

Russia: Marina & Kirill

“Life has a way of giving gifts when you are on the verge of saying goodbye to all your hopes,” says Marina, who faced a heartbreaking decision when her son Karol was born. With money and marriage problems, Marina felt giving her child up to state care was the only way to avoid financial ruin.

For Marina her gift was help from EveryChild and a partner organisation in Ekaterinburg, which gives vulnerable mothers and their babies the support they need to stay together. Staff work with a maternity hospital gaining the trust of doctors and nurses who in turn introduce the NGO staff to new mothers on the brink of abandoning their children.

Marina had told hospital staff there was no way she could cope with her newborn baby. The staff at the maternity hospital put Marina in touch with Larissa, the director at EveryChild's partner organisation. Through counselling and practical support Marina realised that she could be a mother to her son afterall.

“I had already told the hospital staff there was no way for me to take my baby home, but Larissa spent a month with me helping me to open my eyes and put Karol first rather than my fears,” says Marina.

“Now I can’t imagine being separated from Karol. He is loving and affectionate and every time I leave the house he looks at me with his big eyes as if to say ‘when will you be back’. And he knows from mine that I am his mother and will not leave him.”

Peru: Lina

Lina lives in the highland area of Andahuaylas in Peru. She used to be violent towards her children, but since she has taken part in an EveryChild parenting project she has learned to treat her children differently and has been empowered by her knowledge to help others in her community. Lina is a ‘Child Rights Defender and Promoter’.

In Peru where 80% of children are physically abused everyday, Lina goes out into her communities as a mother with her own experiences of family difficulties, teaching other parents about alternative forms of child discipline.

She says: “Since I started talking through our difficulties I have had a much better relationship with my children and they are better behaved. Things are difficult here. We struggle. Since I have stopped being violent towards my children things are so much better for us. I am a strong and protective mother now – something I never had growing up.”

Some names have been change to protect the identities of children

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Women Around the World: EveryChild marks International Women’s Day