I am Sakara Tanaba, a 18-year-old student of St. Anne’s Senior High school at Tamale, in Ghana.
I had a conversation with my classmates in school that changed my mindset totally. It was a conversation the boys led happily. They were making fun of us claiming we would have to get married after Junior High school because men are running out in the world. They said that we have to be on the alert because it will be a shame if we remain unmarried at the age of 26.
I did not take what they said lightly but what shocked me the most was the fact that my female colleagues had a good laugh about it. The girls also affirmed what the boys said and added that by age 22, they should have been married. They repeated that it will be a shame for a girl to be unmarried at a certain age.
That conversation left me wondering. I thought about how wrong the perception of my classmates was and how sad it was that the females among them thought so little of themselves. How can there be nothing more in the world for girls apart from marriage?
I decided to look deep within myself as a young girl and take a stand in what I believe in.
I believe that every girl or woman should be given a choice of deciding what life she wants for herself, and whether she wants to be married or not. Young people shouldn’t be made to believe that a girl needs a man in her life to be considered as a real woman by society.
A girl should be able to take a stand and focus on her dreams and aspirations rather than pursue what society deems fit for her. We have the right to be educated, to achieve a PhD if we want and work at a job that makes us happy.
As for me, that experience has empowered me. I have decided to work on myself, complete and further my education to get the job that makes me happy. Most of all, I decided to only get married when I am ready instead of living with the mentality that I need to depend on a man.
I will also focus on educating my classmates and other young girls within my community to be ambitious and determined. I will make them understand that marriage is not a trophy unless you decide by yourself to deem it so.
