In parts of Tanzania, a girl’s childhood can vanish with the wave of a stick. Sounds surreal, but it’s not magic – it’s abuse, says John Juma of Plan International Tanzania. The ancient child-marriage custom is called chagulaga, which translates to “choose among us.”
Practiced among the Sukuma people, Tanzania’s largest ethnic group, this marriage-arrangement ritual often occurs during harvest festivals, at gatherings, or spontaneously on village streets.
How the chagulaga marriage ritual unfolds
At any moment, teenage boys carrying staffs can approach a girl or group of girls (sometimes as young as 11 years old) and tap one with their stick. She must then choose a boy to marry, often a complete stranger. “It’s abuse,” says Juma, a facilitator of Plan Tanzania’s Champions of Change clubs. “She’s being forced into a marriage with someone she doesn’t love and never has.”
Fights can often erupt between the boys over the girl’s choice – “fighting that can lead to death,” says 16-year-old Neema, who experienced chagulaga herself.
Once the girl makes her selection, the boy arranges the match with her father by exchanging a dowry – often cattle or other prized assets.
Being chosen is said to be a sign of good fortune and a source of distinction for the boy and his family. Rejection, however, brings harmful humiliation and shame from neighbours, elders, and peers who consider the unchosen “unworthy.”
Once the arrangement is finalized, the girl receives final guidance from the older women in her life: lessons on intimacy, raising children, and the responsibilities of managing her husband’s household.
Why child marriage happens
Like in other patriarchal societies in the world, the Sukuma culture doesn’t value girls the same way it values boys. Most families live in remote villages where the Katavi regional government reports that farming and trade drive the local economy. Boys are thought to have the strength to work the land or in a trade, becoming the sole earners and decision makers of their future families.
The Centre of the Study of Violence and Reconciliation says that girls are expected to support their mothers and are sexualized from puberty onward. Another ritual, samba, “prepares” girls physically for sex and reproduction, often through traditional medicine and harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation. Girls are raised to expect to be married soon after puberty and accept their roles as wives and mothers.
These customs are deeply rooted and are seen as normal, not harmful. For generations, this has been the expected path for girls in Sukuma communities.
Yet in Tanzania, child marriage is illegal.
How does chagulaga still happen?
In a place like Katavi, a remote and rugged region in Tanzania’s highlands, formal infrastructure is scarce. “There are no social services and these areas are inaccessible,” says Wilson Kennedy, a community development officer for the Katavi regional government. With little law enforcement, child marriage continues to be arranged by elders, Kennedy says.
There is also limited access to quality health care and education – two critical tools in preventing child marriage. No matter where a girl lives, data shows that the longer she stays in school, the later she’ll marry and the more money she’ll make to support herself. That’s because teachers and classroom spaces offer protection and guidance to children. In school, children can learn about the law and their career options for the future. Yet more than half of secondary-school-aged children in Katavi are not in school. Across Tanzania, nearly one-third of girls are married before turning 18.
Health services and information can help prevent girls from having early pregnancies, which often lead to early marriages. But in Katavi, 45% of girls become pregnant as teens, and pregnancy complications are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls. And 84% of women in Katavi struggle to access health services due to cost, distance, or lack of permission from the men or authorities in their lives.
On top of this is a lack of awareness about the harm caused by chagulaga. During the ritual, dangerous fights can erupt between boys over the selection. Both boys and girls feel anxiety, pressure, and shame, forced to make life-altering decisions that their young minds and bodies aren’t ready for. All forms of child marriage are considered violence and a violation of a child’s right to safety and freedom. Two girls in Katavi knew in their hearts and minds that chagulaga was wrong.Denying marriage, defying expectations
When chagulaga happened for Neema, 16, and Bernadetta, 15, and they were forced to choose, they chose to say no. No to marrying boys they barely knew. No to becoming wives while still children. No to losing their freedom.
Though Neema had refused, her father was still approached for an arrangement. When she couldn’t convince him to cancel it, she turned to her mother, Anna, who ultimately persuaded her husband.
“I stood as a protector,” says Anna. “My desire is for all parents to be educated [about the dangers of child marriage] and to let go of outdated traditions.”
Bernadetta’s father also wasn’t ready to return the dowry. Dowries carry weight for both families: social acceptance, pride, and income, as well as the belief that their daughters will be “looked after.”
But Bernadetta knew that a dowry also meant the end of her girlhood, and she would not be deterred. Together, she and her mother made the daring decision to abandon the arrangement and their village. That move brought Bernadetta into Neema’s life.
Champions against child marriage
Now, the two friends play football and perform in community theatre together through a Champions of Change club, a signature youth program run by Plan International. There, teens come together and are given time and space to reclaim their childhoods. Through sports, acting, and group lessons, girls and boys gain practical skills for their futures, like saving money and speaking in public.
Every club activity carries a deeper lesson: how to use a condom, report an incidence of violence, or persuade parents to keep them in school. These lessons help girls stay safe, stay in school, and live free from violence, including chagulaga.
Setting the stage for change
With their club, Neema and Bernadetta use theatre to share what they’ve learned. They stage public plays that teach the community about girls being equal to boys and how to seek health services. “My hope is that [chagulaga] will end as we continue to raise awareness through our performances,” says Bernadetta, who stars in a play that demonstrates the dangers of the custom.
The plays are changing minds. “We have seen real progress, like changes in people’s perspectives of traditional norms and customs that were harmful to girls,” says Henry Bendera of Plan International Tanzania.