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"They say they don't want to be broke; these men give them money. Some of these men have multiple girlfriends around the area," she said.
Another pupil, who is in Grade 12, said: "When we are at the taverns there will always be older guys coming and entertaining us."But, at the end is how you respond to them. I have seen friends getting free alcohol from guys who are employed and older. We call them blessers," the girl said.
"We think it should worry all of us as a society that our children fall pregnant at this rate," said Makondo."It says to us we should, as various stakeholders in education, take a collective responsibility to raise more awareness inside and outside our schools to prevent more learners from [being in] this situation. Together we can make the necessary impact and our learners will be able to stay in school and focus on their studies. Education is a constitutional right we must all protect. This should be everybody's concern."
"If it was more than 20 pupils who fell pregnant it would have raised alarm and came to our attention. Our district offices would have picked it up immediately [because] they meet regularly with school principals." Makondo said.
"A solution to this mess is for the government to bring mobile clinics to schools. Some pupils hear stories about nurses insulting young girls, hence they choose not to go and save themselves from humiliation," she said.Provincial health department spokesman Neil Shikwambana said:"A Blessers Must Fall programme is still under way and we appeal to young girls to refuse to be showered with free gifts. Blessers are not only contributing to [unwanted] pregnancies of young girls but a study has shown that they are likely to spread HIV/Aids," Shikwambana said.
"I work here every day of the week. I have never seen such a large number of children getting pregnant," she said.
"It shows that when the children leave the school, no one looks after them at home. I think parents should monitor their children because teachers can't do their job."
“I dated this Nigerian man because he did not smoke or drink. He struck me as a hardworking person. I could not believe he was a drug trafficker.”
“I’m very happy,” he said tearfully after learning of Li’s acquittal. “I’m hoping her case can help the other drug mules appeal.”
“So when he offered her a relationship, she trusted him,” he said. “She thought he was a real boyfriend.”