Rural Malawi Girls Stay in School Thanks to Youth-Led Radio Initiative

This simple brick building in rural Malawi has changed the lives of school girls.

Mchinji, Malawi – A simple brick changing room topped with an aluminum roof at Chapanama Primary School is transforming the lives of hundreds of girls every month, keeping them in class instead of at home during their menstrual periods.

Fourteen-year-old Doreen Makukula recalls the challenges before its construction: "Many girls, including me, were choosing not to attend classes when we were experiencing our monthly period. Being absent each month affected my performance in class and caused me to fall behind."

Her teacher, Chikondi Dafuta, confirms the dramatic change: "The changing room has really improved attendance among girls who were forced to stay home due to menstruation."

The initiative sprang from a DRP-funded, youth-produced radio program on Mudzi Wathu Community Radio in Mchinji, which highlighted the critical need for school changing rooms to allow safe, hygienic pad changes.

The broadcast moved Daniel Kamchacha, chairperson of the Mindset Youth Club, to action. "We were touched by the radio message and realized not having changing rooms was a challenge for many girls," Kamchacha said. "We thought of constructing a changing room at Chapanama, and so that's what we did."

Kamchacha says the club raised funds for construction on social media.

This simple structure, one of two new changing rooms at the school, is used daily by hundreds of girls and stands as proof of radio's power to engage communities and identify solutions. As teacher Dafuta notes, "The radio programs help young people in our communities realize their role in serving their fellow youth."

The UK-based Sparkle Foundation reports that at least a third and perhaps up to half of Malawi's adolescent schoolgirls miss classes each month due to menstruation and a lack of private changing rooms at school. Some girls fall behind in their class work and ultimately drop out of school.