Plight of a teenage mother with twins juggling school and motherhood

A 15-year-old girl is struggling to return to school with her new-born twins in Buhanika, Hoima City. 

The girl, whose name we will change to “Mary” to protect her identity, gave birth to her twins in June 2021. 

Mary is among many thousands of girls who became pregnant during the lockdown that was imposed by the government in March 2020 as COVID-19 took hold of the country.  

Schools were closed for close to two years in an attempt to control the outbreak, but later opened in January this year. The reopening came a bit too late for Mary, who loves to study. 

Enticed into a relationship with an older man, Mary was convinced by her 20-year-old boyfriend to engage in unprotected sex, reasoning that, “Even though I get pregnant, he is a man who will handle anything."   

She soon got pregnant and gave birth to the twins, who she takes with her to school when she can. 

The father of her children has tried to remain a man of his word, working as a boda boda rider to raise money. However, what little money he is able to spare for Mary and their children is proving woefully inadequate. 

" He gives me Shs 2000 or Shs 5000 to support me with the children, and sometimes even that takes long,” Mary says. 

The situation at Mary’s home is dire. 

Mary's parents, who eke a living as casual labourers, are often not at home as they travel often in search of work, leaving her at home with her grandmother.

Her 68-year-old grandmother says she would love to look after her grandchildren but is constrained by poverty. She confesses, “I would have looked after the kids but our situation at home is bad; sometimes we have nothing to eat at all." 

The frequent scarcity of food at home means Mary’s babies are frequently ill.

In fact, the first time this reporter runs into Mary, she is trudging in the scorching sun to Buhanika Health Centre to take her 8-month-old babies to see a doctor. Struck by how young she looks, burdened with two babies, we strike up a conversation and this is when her story comes tumbling out. 

"My babies have been sick for a week now. I cannot sleep at all at night as they are always crying in pain,” the teenage mother reveals. 

One of her babies seems to have a pain in the ear while the other clearly has a high temperature. 

At the health centre, concerned nurses quickly give her attention and forward her to the doctor. Hours later, hopeful, she prepares to walk the seven kilometres back to her grandmother and home. 

The father of her children was nowhere to be seen throughout this emotional period for Mary. We try to call him but he does not return the calls. 

Mary says she realised that getting an education is her best chance at looking after her babies. This is why she welcomed the reopening of schools and is determined to resume her education. 

Despite reservations from some religious leaders against pregnant girls or new mothers being allowed back into school, President Yoweri Museveni instructed that they be allowed to study. 

Mary is aware of opposition to her return to school and clings to the president’s directive.

“I was happy about the presidents call, but once I went back to school, the babies wouldn't stop crying."

She tearfully says, “The teachers then asked me to go back home and take care of my children until they are a little older, after which I can resume school."

The primary six pupil keeps trying to go back into school despite all these doubters. Sometimes, she will place her twins under a mango tree, in the shade, and watch them from her classroom. They cry a lot though and sometimes she is sent out of the classroom to go and nurse them. 

At Buhanika Primary School, Mary's headmistress Diana Kamuli appreciates her challenges but is firm: “We feel sorry for her but she should first stay at home and raise her children until they are able to stay on their own while she is at school.” 

But the Hoima City Education Officer Johnson Bayingana says they are trying to find a workable solution that would allow Mary to continue with her education immediately. 

"I have instructed the school management to call her parents so that we can figure out how she can go to school and also find a solution for who will stay with her babies,” Bayingana says. 

Bayingana says there is need for more sensitisation in the city to encourage parents and teachers to help children who may have conceived or given birth to return to school. 

In the meantime, against all odds, Mary is fighting to stay in school, her twins in her arms and on her back.