subject: Young Brides Discover New Opportunities - Sponsor A Girl [print this page] Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, Plan International, the charity which cares for orphans and vulnerable children, has highlighted the stories of two women who were married and became mothers at a young age. Laxmi, with the right opportunities, built an inspiring future for herself and her community. Pusacha has just started a similar journey.
Ten million girls under the age of 18 marry each year, often driving them into a life of poverty, poor health and a lack of education and job opportunities.
Thailand: A second chance for a young mother
Pusacha was 14 when she fell in love with a boy at a festival in northern Thailand. Two years later, she was pregnant. "I told my boyfriend and then our parents. A week later, we got married and I dropped out of school," says Pusacha. At age 17, she gave birth last November to a baby boy.
"I love my son very much" but I think that if I finish a higher level of education, I can get a good job and good money, so I can support my son," she says. "I may learn massage and try to get a job as a masseuse." She has registered in Plan's volunteer mothers programme in the Fang district of northern Chiang Mai province to learn how best to care for her baby and support his development.
"I have had the chance to meet many new people, and we exchanged ideas on how to develop children's behaviour."
Nepal: Balancing home and community life
Laxmi longed to follow her two older sisters to school in their village in Nepal, but she was denied an education and, at 15, she was married. Her husband was uneducated and poor.
"The produce we farmed was not enough to survive," she says.
In 1998, Laxmi was chosen as the chairperson of a women's group supported by Plan in Makwanpur.
With the group members, she started a monthly savings scheme, collecting 5 rupees (4 pence) a month - a sum that Laxmi fought to scrape together, from each woman so that they could give small loans within their group.
She once borrowed 800 rupees (6.40) to buy two goats that she later sold for 6,000 rupees (48).
Today the women's cooperative handles 32.2 million rupees (255,000) in transactions and serves about 1,600 women in her community.
Laxmi still maintains her duties at home, getting up at 3am, finishing her housework by 7, and then spending the rest of her day involved in community activities.
"It is tough to balance my family life and social life, but I am committed to make our community a model so that others can learn from us. I don't want women to face the same plight that I did in the past," says Laxmi.
