There are names you grow up hearing — names that echo through communities and headlines, names that come to represent change.
Chief Kachindamoto has always been one of those names for me.
Theresa Kachindamoto is widely known as “the marriage terminator” — a title she never gave herself, but one that speaks to the bold legacy she’s building in Malawi. Her work ending child marriages has been covered by journalists, NGOs, and global platforms. I had read about her. Heard stories about her. Quoted her statistics. Admired her courage.
On May 24th, 2024 — for the first time — I got to sit down and listen to her speak.
I travelled with the Ntha Foundation team to Ntakataka Village, in partnership with the Family Planning News Network, to capture Chief Kachindamoto’s voice in her own words. What was meant to be a filming day quickly became something more personal. I was invited into a conversation that felt deeply human. Real. Grounded.
In a new Community Voices segment for the Lessons Conversation, we hear from Chief Kachindamoto not as a headline — but as a leader, a mother, a guardian of girls who refuses to let tradition be an excuse for abuse.
“I don’t just stop the marriages,” she told us. “I follow up. I make sure the girls are in school.”
There’s something profoundly powerful about hearing that said — calmly, firmly — by a woman who has annulled over 3,000 child marriages. She doesn’t use big, lofty language. She speaks plainly. And yet, her words carry the weight of transformation.
This wasn’t a formal interview. It was a fireside story. A reflection. A truth passed on from one woman to another.
I believe deeply in amplifying the voices of those who are already doing the work. Chief Kachindamoto’s voice doesn’t need my endorsement — but it does deserve every platform. I’m honoured that Lessons Conversation could be one of them.
So today, I invite you — truly — to take an hour and listen. Not to me. To her.
Because while her story has been told many times over, sometimes… the moment you actually hear someone speak, everything changes.
With love,
Ntha
Stop the Count: Equality Now
An African country sets the legal age of marriage at 18. Cause for celebration, right? But with a quiet clause, many add: “except in cases of customary or religious law.”
And just like that—thousands of girls become legal exceptions. These exceptions have devastating consequences: Early pregnancies, school dropout and lifelong trauma. A law with loopholesis not a law. It’s a permission slip for abuse. Leave our children alone!
To the governments of Africa, we demand :
- A hard legal floor of 18—no exceptions
- Strong enforcement of the continent wide legal human rights instruments that has provisions on protecting women and girls – the Maputo Protocol
- Education and protection for every girl
Because protection delayed is protection denied. In partnership with Equality Now and UN Women, we’re demanding justice and accountability from the government. The government must act on its promises. Join me in sending an email to our national assembly representative demanding answers.
Visit Equality Now to get the automated email and apply pressure. Reshare on your accounts and spread theword. They break their promises,we break their servers.
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