In the past, the transition from childhood to womanhood was immediate and direct, and menarche was a sign of initiation and readiness to marry. Nowadays girls find themselves trapped between customary expectations and the claims of modernization. This book by the Teenage Girls and Reproductive Health Study Group at the University of Dar es Salaam presents empirical studies of the situation of teenage girls in Tanzania.
CONTENTS: Preface / Zubeida Tumbo-Masabo -- 1. Facts About and Images of Teenage Girls in Tanzania / Samuel E. Chambua, Magdalena Kamugisha Rwebangira, Rita Liljeström and Ernest J.N. Urassa -- 2. The Pubescent Girl -- Past and Present / Rita Liljeström, Patrick Masanja, Cletus P.B. Mkai and Zubeida Tumbo-Masabo -- 3. Girls in Education -- And Pregnancy at School / Grace Khwaya Puja and Tuli Kassimoto -- 4. Arranged Marriages / Rosalia S. Katapa -- 5. The Initiation Rite / Mary Ntukula -- 6. The Case of the Matrilineal Mwera of Lindi / Mary Shuma -- 7. Looking for Men / Betty Komba Malekela and Rita Liljeström -- 8. Too Little too Late / Zubeida umbo-Masabo -- 9. Adolescent Mothers / Alice Rugumyamheto, Virginia Kainamula and Juliana Mziray -- 10. What Has the Law Got To Do With It? / Magdalen Kamugisha Rwebangira