The story of a girl activist - Malawi
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Version 0 of 1. Many girls in my community are viewed as a burden to their parents. People refer to girls as lower status people. Most people believe it's a waste of money to invest in a girl's education, they would rather marry her off to receive dowry from the husband. Most girls in my community end up becoming mothers, some as young as 14. Most school environments are not girl-friendly, with no washrooms suitable for girls. In most schools in my community girls end up going home when they need to use the bathroom and they will not come back to school to complete that day's lessons. Other main problems are forced early marriages and lack of proper information and access to sexual reproductive health among the youth. However, Plan Malawi is now pioneering the availability of youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health information in the community that will help girls make more informed decisions. Plan Malawi's involvement with our children's club opened my eyes and helped me to realise my rights. From there on I developed a passion for fighting and protecting the rights of my fellow youth and children, especially the most vulnerable. <strong>Biggest challenge: </strong>In my community it's not easy for the elder people to listen to a young girl like me. Sometimes some authorities such as the police do not take us seriously when we report cases of child abuse, so we rely mostly on our community volunteers to reach such people so that our voices are heard. I'm still young and working hard to attain my higher secondary education school, just like most girls in the community. I do not come from a well to do family, I also struggle to find school fees but I'm grateful that my parents support me and my brothers equally. <strong>Proudest moment:</strong> Through my youth group we managed to rescue one of our friends who was married off to a man because her parents had owed him money. We reported this to the head teacher and the police through a community volunteer. My personal goal is to complete secondary school and go as far as university level, as very few girls make it to university in my community. I would like to see most girls in my community complete secondary school rather than being married off. <strong>This content is brought to you by </strong><strong>Guardian Professional</strong><strong>. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, sign up free to become a member of the </strong><strong>Global Development Professionals Network</strong> Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |