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My name does not matter, but this is a true story. I live in a small town of Zimbabwe. Today I would like to talk to other girls about child marriages. I am 17 years old. Last year I met a 38-year – old man. He proposed love to me and I accepted. He seemed to be a good man, who was serious about our relationship. I was flattered and really infatuated.

Then he asked me to go to a certain rural area with him so that he could introduce me to his aunt. As you know, in our traditional Zimbabwean cultures taking a person to meet your aunt is the first step in getting married. I always used to hear my family, relatives and friends talking about how the most important thing in a woman’s life is getting a good husband and keeping him. So when this man came along, I did not even hesitate. He had a job and he appeared to be stable and loving. What else could I want? My future was shining brightly ahead of me.

But instead all that ended up happening was that he seduced me and we had sex. I did not think much of it then as he said I was now his wife. We returned to the town where we live and stayed together for several months. I was quite happy and I thought the rest of our lives would be like that. But deep inside I knew that it could not last.

Then one day my life fell apart. The man’s sister told me that he was HIV positive. I was shattered. All this time we had been having unprotected sex he had known about his status and was busy taking his ARVs which he kept hidden so that I would never catch on. Then I woke up to the fact that life is not a bed of roses.

I went to get tested and the results came out that I was HIV positive. I reported the matter to the police and the man was arrested. He has since been tried and sentenced to time in jail for infecting me with HIV.

He was more than twice my age, but did not feel any pity for me, while he lied that he loved me and would make me happy.

I wish I could rewind the clock and go back to before I met this man. This time I would make a better decision. I would not even listen to this old man’s proposal. I would not even stop to talk to him. I would not think of marriage as the ambition of a girl’s life. I would put my education first and plan my life better.

If you are a girl and you are reading this, remember that your life depends on the choices that you are making right now. If you get yourself in a mess, people can sympathise and all that, but they cannot change what will have happened to you.

Dating is a natural part of growing up. But it is best that you stick to people your own age and avoid jumping into the deep end.