Alice got married at the age of 12 to a 21-year-old man. She got married out of her will but she had no choice because her father had abandoned them when she was a little girl. Her mother was left alone to cater for her and her siblings. “When I became pregnant, he got me well beaten and I had a miscarriage and passed out. While in that state he abandoned me there to die, a neighbor came to my rescue and took me to the hospital. While, at the hospital it was diagnosed that, I had a fracture on my side because of the beatings which still hurts till date”. When Alice left the hospital, she vowed never to go back to the boy’s house.
However, this decision was hers, because her mother and the boy had a contrary plan for her. “When I was discharged from the hospital, my mother told me to go
back to the boy’s house since he had been helping her with basic necessities”, she recounts. Alice rejected her mother’s request and ran away from the house. “My mother made the village uncomfortable for me, she followed me around and made sure I was not given shelter by anyone in the village”. Her life became miserable.
Alice’s life changed when she came across two community mobilizers from BIHAPH working on a project titled; strengthening community response against gender based violence and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in some communities in Menchum Division in partnership with UNHCR. After, a general sensitization, she explained her situation to them. She was referred for psychosocial support and then selected as one of the beneficiaries to be economically empowered. Today Alice is one of the trainees learning tailoring. She is greatly admired by those who know her story. According to Alice’s trainer, she is one of her best trainees in the workshop. “I’m doing my best because I didn’t know I will come across such an opportunity, I have a dream of having my own tailoring workshop one day and helping other vulnerable girls. This dream would not have been possible if UNHCR didn’t come to my rescue, long live to UNHCR support”.