Finding Her Voice Through Community Radio

Before 19-year-old Linda Nyemba began listening to community radio programs about sexual and reproductive health, she didn't believe she had the right to ask a partner to use a condom.

“I believed only men had the right to insist on condom use,” Nyemba said.

Nyemba, who lives in Mchinji District and listens to her local station, Mudzi Wathu Community Radio, said the radio programs changed how she understood both contraceptive use and her own ability to make decisions about her health.

“As a young woman, I was never comfortable telling my partner that we should use a condom. Now I understand that I also have that right, and I have learned how to use contraceptives correctly.”

Linda Nyemba, of Mchinji, Malawi, credits her local community radio station with helping her understand her rights regarding contraceptives.

Her experience reflects a challenge facing many young people: inaccurate information, unequal expectations in relationships, and discomfort discussing sexual and reproductive health. This reluctance to talk to health officials can prevent young people from seeking the information and services they need to stay healthy.

For Nyemba, hearing clear, practical information from a trusted source, her community radio station, helped challenge a belief she had carried for years. The programs explained that decisions about condom use and contraception should be shared, and that young women, like young men, have the right to accurate information and to participate in decisions that affect their health.

Nyemba now says as a result of the radio programs she feels more informed and more confident.