Grace is a 22 year old woman, and is sponsored through ChildFund. She was also close to being one of 31% of Zambian girls who are married off before the age of 18. This is her story.
My name is Grace and I was to be married at 13
My name is Grace. I am 22 years old. I am sponsored and I live in Zambia with my mother.
I did not know my father because he died when I was still young.
When I was a child I liked to play netball and skipping. I used to fear snakes and other wild animals.
I loved school. My favourite subjects were maths, science and geography. I loved playing with friends.
When I was young I dreamed of becoming a doctor.
I asked my family for my school tuition
After Grade 7 I asked my family for the money for my school tuition. My brothers told me they had no money, and that I would be married off soon. My mother was sick.
I wanted so badly to go to school, and instead I was to be sold for money to be a wife. A man came and paid a bride price to take me home. I did not know anything about marriage or what work would be involved.
I was surprised when the man came to pay a bride price. I was upset and wondered why he had come when I still wanted to go to school.
My heart sank.
Geoff Rhodes has visited his daughter-in-law Lea’s family in Laos multiple times over the past six years. If it’s not Geoff, another member of the Rhodes family will make the annual trip from Sydney to Pakse in southern Laos to visit Lea’s relations.
The two families have shared a special bond since 2013, when a terrible plane crash in Laos killed all 49 passengers on board, including Geoff’s son Gavin and wife Lea, and their two children Jade, 3, and Manfred, 17 months.
Below Geoff talks about how he’s kept in touch with Lea’s family, and why their bond is stronger than ever.
A visit with the family
“We wanted to maintain the relationship with Lea’s family, and they are equally keen to maintain it,” Geoff says. “They are a wonderful family.
“All my grandchildren have been to Laos at least once. They can’t speak Lao and the children over there can’t speak English but they get along.”
The last time Geoff visited Laos was in February 2019. He was greeted with a mighty embrace and joyous bellow from Lea’s elder brother at the airport.
“He screamed at the top of his voice ‘Geoff!’, ran across to me, picked me up and threw me four feet in the air,” Geoff says.
The pair had met many times before, but this was the first time Geoff had, literally, been swept off his feet.
Built in their honour
The exuberant welcome was the start of a week-long trip where Geoff and three friends – Peter, Monica and John – (pictured above) were special guests at the opening of a community hall that the Rhodes family helped to build in a ChildFund-supported community in the country’s north.
