Laurine Escapes Marriage, Kenya

My name is Laurine. I am 15 years old and in Form 1. I am a third born in a family of five children, but the first daughter. I am one of the Asante Africa Foundation scholars. I am a survivor of forced marriage, an incident that took place when I was about 12 years old. My father arranged a marriage between an old man from our area. At the time, I was living with my mother and my father sent a motorbike to bring me to his home. A traditional wedding was planned to take place the next day.

Luckily, my mother and I escaped in the middle of the night by asking a male relative to take me to my aunt who lives in the nearby town. We walked the whole night and reached my aunt’s home the next morning. After my escape, my aunt took me to school. After securing a scholarship from Asante Africa Foundation, my aim is to attend and finish high school.