Malawi & Forced Marriages

Here is a link to a story I heard reported on NPR last week. I'll be looking into the organization "The Eye of the Child" to see what we can do.

Malawi has been affected by the AIDS epidemic in profound ways. Parents who die are forced to leave their children in the care of grandparents. Often the children are required to drop out of school in order to work, creating a cycle of poverty.

The article focuses on the plight of so many young girls who are being offered in marriage to older men just so the family can stay afloat. 13 year olds are marrying 40 year olds. Not only is this illegal under Malawi law, it is a moral travesty. The demands that our world has on it's people, the demands that marriage put on a couple cannot be processed or understood by a 12 year old. Can you remember being 13? Can you imagine now being "sold" into marriage at that age?

We'll talk soon about ways we can be involved in speaking out for these orphans.