In Dandogoro community, Batagarawa Local Government, 26-year-old Buhari A’ddau, a community secondary school teacher, becomes a beacon of hope for survivors of child marriage and girls in the school and community at large.
Buhari who lost his favourite cousin and other girls to child marriage joined the WRAPA-UNICEF End to Child Marriage Champions (E2CMC). This enabled him to sharpen his skills and expand his networks and sustain his original child marriage campaign, for which he relied on door-to-door community sensitisation. This had limitations as he could reach very few people and essential stakeholders.
Now he utilizes the gains from the WRAPA-UNICEF project trainings and technology to become a first-line respondent for survivors using social media to amplify his voice and connect with like minds calling for an end to child marriage.
Armed with smartphones and a shared vision, Buhari and his colleagues formed a digital alliance through WRAPA training on how to use social media platforms for social change. Through social media platforms and thorough dedication, they began crafting a narrative that spoke against the age-old practice of child marriage. Each post, tweet, and video was a digital plea for change, resonating with the urgency of a generation unwilling to accept the status quo.
As the digital campaign gained momentum, the voices of these youths reached far beyond the confines of their community and Elders who were once hesitant to challenge tradition found themselves engaged in conversations sparked by the digital campaign. Slowly but surely, attitudes began to shift.
These led to Buhari receiving calls and messages within and outside his communities for assistance from girls who were married or were about to be married off for intervention.
Reflecting on his experiences, Buhari said, “At first I was overwhelmed with calls that began to come in but with the help of the WRAPA team, I have adjusted and I am proud to be able to give moral and psychosocial support to Girls and intervene in situations that lead to such an act.”
Buhari added that he was able to channel his advocacy to help a mother of two children who is not only a victim of child marriage but suffered abuse from her husband to get free and start a new life away from her abuser. He said, “I could feel her pain and I am glad she is out of that monster cave and the community leaders are negotiating on how she can start a skill that can provide for her and the kids”.
Buhari also, narrated that he currently has 10 girls who are survivors of child marriage but dealing with a lot of Psychological trauma and that is one of the major challenges he has as a first line responder, dealing with victim’s trauma and the culture of silence, Hencd he applauds the program and requests that more psychological support and economic empowerment be awarded to the victims of Child marriage to enable them to speak up, and recover to be resilient.
Expressing gratitude, Buhari commended WRAPA and UNICEF for the enlightening training and guidance, proudly identifying himself as a dedicated member of E2CMC. He pledged to continue supporting women and girls, safeguarding them from harmful cultural practices.
