Suntali Thami is among the 51 percent of Nepalese who marry as children, according to the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

A landlocked nation that has had a tumultuous political history, Nepal is one of the world’s poorest countries.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Suntali grew up in a tiny, remote village in the mountains of Nepal’s Dolakha district.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Suntali, who does not know her exact age, married young and was soon sent to live with her in-laws in Sundrawoti Village in Dolakha. Her father-in-law, Sukha Bahador Thami, gives a tour of the home, which has dirt floors and no electricity.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Soon after marrying, Suntali became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl named Durga (right). Her sister-in-law died five months ago, and Suntali now cares for her daughter as well as her three nieces, including Sita (left).
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Suntali’s oldest niece returns home from school.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

More than half of Nepal’s 29 million people live on less than $1.25 a day, and poverty often compels parents to marry their daughters off while they are still young.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

When Sanani Balami (center) was about 12 years ago, her parents took her out of school and soon married her off. She now has two children, who help her work in the fields. “There is no chance of saving money,” Sanani says.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Sanani’s children stand outside the family’s home in Kagati village outside Kathmandu. Inside, their grandmother grinds chili pepper on a mortar.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Sanani’s husband, Shyam Balami, went abroad to earn money for the family by working in Malaysia. However, he had an injury in Malaysia and is now recovering in a hospital in Kathmandu.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]

Januka Dhital, 15, lives in Nepal’s Terai region. She married five months ago and is now about five months pregnant. She says she did not know the health risks associated with carrying a child and giving birth at her age before she became pregnant.
- [Hanna Ingber/GlobalPost]