"Asante"

I have now moved to post the accounts of individuals in Karonga, Malawi. Karonga is a small town in the Northern Region of the country. It houses nine different villages, and you will hear from at least one person in each city. Some of these individuals have agreed to show their faces, and for this, we applaud them for their courage. Those who do not share their faces are just as brave to share their story. Something that stays with me about these individuals and their villages is poverty. I have talked about this on my vlog, but I wanted to reiterate that here. With that being said, the presence of community shines through in Karonga, as they have a community leader for each issue. Thus, there is a community leader for sexual violence. You will hear her story among those posted. We will start with Asante's story.

We met Asante at her home, surrounded by the cornfields. She sat down with her community leader and me, whom she knew well. She explained her story to the interpreter at the young age of 21. A shy but intelligent young woman, Asante can tell us what happened to her three years ago, when she was eighteen years old.

Malawian children often have to walk significantly to and back from school. Determined to get her education, Asante would do this during the week. When she was in primary school, she walked home at 9 in the evening. She was close to home when a stranger grabbed her and pulled her into a bush. He raped her and left her in the bush.

Asante wasn't severely physically injured and was able to make it back home. The community leader in the village was notified, and she was taken to the hospital sometime later. When they made it to the hospital, they could test her for diseases, and she was found to be HIV positive. The community leader was told to come back in a month to look for anything further. When they did come back, Asante had a positive pregnancy test. While the police were aware of the situation, DNA testing is not available in public hospitals. They could never hold the person who committed this act accountable for his actions. As he was also not from the village, it was more difficult to track him down.

Asante felt crushed by this news, as this was all done against her will. The community leader recalled that Asante was upset and crying, as she also knew that this would not be received well by her family. When her father found out, he disowned Asante and sent her to live with her grandmother. Being the strong young woman she was, Asante continued walking to school and getting her education while pregnant. In the meantime, the community leader in the village began counseling sessions with Asante's father in hopes that he may understand what happened to Asante. After some time, the community leader was able to get through to him, and he understood how the situation was in no way her fault.

When Asante did give birth, she did so in her grandmother's home, without proper care or resources. Thankfully, there were no complications, and she recovered well. While she was HIV positive, her baby was negative. She went back to live with her father and stepmother. It has been her dream to go back to school, and with the support of X organization, she will start secondary school soon. She says that this has been a challenge, as there is no one to take care of her baby. Currently, she takes care of her baby and her smaller step siblings.

She expresses her gratitude for the support she received from the community leader, organizations, and locals who knew her story. Asante is open about her story and poses proudly with her face in the photo, as she wants others to know about her experiences to raise awareness.