The contractors have finished the work at Mayega and the children are delighted with their new fence. Having led chaotic lives before their admission to the orphanage , the fence gives the children a sense of freedom . They feel safe and will no longer be bothered by village drunks. This was a particular problem for the girls.
Across Tanzania vulnerable girls are often forced to get married when they are very young if they have no family to provide for them. Extended families too poor to care for orphaned relatives see it as a way of ensuring the girls are fed as they become the responsibility of the husband. A girl can be sold for a few cows . The United Nations Population Fund has a fact sheet on Child Marriage in Tanzania for further reading.