Crusading African Teenager Dies Suddenly.
The Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2007

Anafghat Ayouba, the teenager who sought to change the practice of early marriage in the West African country of Niger, died suddenly from complications of an infection on May 25.

Anafghat, who was given into marriage at 11 and then suffered a severe fistula during childbirth, was in her home village of Tarbiyat, on the edge of the Sahara, preparing to take tests to enter secondary school in the Niger capital of Niamey. In Niger, particularly in rural areas, girls are required to leave school when they marry. Anafghat's determination to continue her education made her a pioneer in her country.

"I want to be a doctor," she told her father two years ago, "and be an important woman."

Anafghat, the subject of a Wall Street Journal page-one article in June 2005, had become pregnant at the onset of puberty. Four days of labor opened a fistula, a three-inch-wide hole, between her bladder and vagina. Anafghat told the doctors she was 15, but they suspected she could be younger. Nearly three months later, in December 2004, a team of American doctors performed surgery to repair the fistula. Doctors in Niamey say they don't know what caused the infection that lead to her death. They said it wasn't related to her surgery.

When she recovered from her surgery, Anafghat returned to her village and insisted on returning to school, picking up where she left off in third grade. She also began talking to girls about the health perils of early marriage and early pregnancy.

"Anafghat really touched so many people. She was our shining star...always smiling, always affectionate and always happy. Just three weeks before she died, we sat together talking about her move to Niamey so that she could continue her education, find a good family to live with, choose a school, buy her uniforms and a school bag. Anafghat was so excited! And so were we! Everyone was so happy for this beautiful little girl!! The news of Anafghat's death has been very painful. But we will all remember Anafghat for her intelligence, her warmth, her beauty and her determination to make a difference." Barbara A. Margolies, Executive Director IOWD

"Even after having spent thirty years on the African continent, I still have not come to terms with the inexplicable death of young, bright, intelligent people like Anafghat. In transmitting my condolences to her family in Africa and to you and Ira, I trust that you realize how much meeting you and knowing that you were there for her brought joy and hope to Anafghat's life." Miriam E. Guichard Baltimore, Maryland

"I know that in many ways, Anafghat embodied the sense of hope that the whole project had towards the future." Dr. Jeffrey Wilkinson, Duke University

"I am very sorry about Anafghat. I was very shocked to hear of her passing...it was so sudden, and seems so unfair, somehow, especially after she had made such wonderful plans for her future and had been the focus of such loving attention from so many. I will continue to be grateful to her for awakening me to the need of the work of IOWD. She truly leaves a legacy that will live on the lives of so many." Susan Wetmore Baker, Nevada

"Our hearts are heavy with this news. We must honor her legacy by continuing your good works and capitalizing upon her historical efforts for all young girls." Michael Whitworth Austin, Texas

"Still thinking about Anafghat - why is it that the brightest lights are taken from us so soon? In her much too short life she touched people far and wide, all from a tiny village in the desert of Niger. Who can accomplish such a feat? She was truly an angel." Njoki N'gang'a

Click to Read a previous Wall Street Journal article about Anafghat