Story of Helpless Mother: Life of Women in Rural Sindh

I have seven daughters and one son. I married my three daughters at an extremely young age due to poverty. One of my daughters was only 14 to 15 years old when she was married off. She got pregnant right after one year of her marriage and lost her first baby because she was too young to be a mother. She also had to go through a lot of pain during her second pregnancy, and the doctors managed to save her life after a lot of struggle.

I did the same injustice with my fourth daughter (Maya), who was hardly 17 years old then, as we got severely affected by floods in Sindh, We were already living hand-to-mouth, and the floods made the situation worse. This flood broke our house, and a small grocery shop that my husband used to run for a living was also destroyed. I had to live on the road in a tent for six months along with my daughters. Living in the tent with two young girls was not easy; I felt scared and broken, crying every day. Despite all the hardships, I remained strong as I had no other option. Every day, we all worked hard to save our animals; we collected grass stranger’s fields secretly to feed the buffalos. They were the only source of our survival as the flood had ruined everything.

I am glad that the difficult time has passed. We managed to repair our house after working hard for several days and nights, but we, the poor, keep getting affected by the same calamity every year. I was afraid that we would become homeless again. Therefore, I married my daughter earlier this year despite knowing the consequence of the early age of marriage. I know my daughter will suffer terribly if she gets pregnant this year. I feel sorry for her every day and hope that she doesn’t have to experience difficulties and pain like my other daughter.