HUSBAND AND WIFE:Eight-year-old Mangilal, left, and his bride Mangi, 7, came out of a temple after their wedding in Rajgarh, India, in 2002.
PRAKASH HATVALNE/AP
My husband and I have 3 sponsored children through Children International from Africa, India and the Philippines. Today I found out that the girl (14) from India will no longer need my sponsorship because she is getting married! I am completely shocked and freaked out. But than I realized that this is one of those age old traditions and culture of India that still persists.
They lead the world in student’s math and science scores and produce the largest amount of engineers in the world yet they still keep to the tradition of arranged marriages. I can’t help but wonder what she is feeling right now. There is no way of knowing. I did not grow up in that culture where it is normal to have your husband chosen for you and to marry at such a young age.
Learn More :
Child marriages persist in rural India
