Hi, my name is Christine and I've decided to spend the summer volunteering with HYCF in Malawi!
I’m currently fundraising for our project focused on empowering and educating adolescent girls in the community of Karonga, Malawi. I've provided details about the organization and project below - and I will be sure to post updates throughout the summer! Any contribution is greatly appreciated :) 

 

Who is HYCF?

HYCF (Helping You Community Forum) is an organization that serves nine villages in Karonga district with a population of about 90,000 people, of which 81% live below the poverty line. The HYCF works to bridge the gap in inequalities and address the vulnerability in the underserved communities of Karonga through the empowerment and capacity building of women and girls, by fighting gender discrimination and violence, and supporting more equitable economic and social opportunities for the marginalized people.

 

What will we do?

Our project focuses on empowering adolescent girls (14 - 19 years old) in the Karonga community through educational workshops on sexual health and life skills. We will be conducting weekend workshops with 200 adolescent girls in a community hall. Each girl has to attend 4 days of weekend workshops to complete the training. Additionally, we will host 2-4 days of workshops in four different schools, estimating to have an additional 500-600 girls in attendance.

Topics covered in the workshop include:

- Consent, communication, and assertiveness

- Puberty and body image

- Sexually transmitted infections/diseases

- Contraception and sexual protection

- Reproductive anatomy and physiology

- Coping with emotions and stress

- Asking for help

Nearly 1000 adolescent girls will directly benefit from this program, obtaining life skills and sexual health education. Hopefully, this will empower them to will continue their education and marry after 18 years, the official marriage year set by the government.

 

Why is this important?

Traditional gender norms around marriage and childbearing often constrain girls’ opportunities for education. In Karonga, many communities have negative attitudes towards educating girls and as a result, lower priority is given to girls’ education. Girls are seen as relatively transitory assets not worthy of long-term investment, since they traditionally leave their parents' household upon marriage. Spending valuable resources, such as money, to pay for their education is therefore considered a waste because they are expected to be supported by their husbands once they get married. Often believed to be less worthy of education, girls tend to receive less and miss out on opportunities to socialize, acquire knowledge, and gain skills and autonomy, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle in which they are trapped.

 

There are higher opportunity costs associated with girls’ education in most cultures in Malawi. Girls are too often burdened with household chores at the cost of opportunities to build their lives. Compared to boys, girls carry a heavier workload and have less free time than boys. Girls, unlike boys, are expected to conduct most household chores while both boys and girls often help with farm work. For poor families, girls work inside the home to subsidize the household economy, through a range of household services such as fetching fuel and water, cooking, and childcare. They face great physical demands, often having to travel long distances to collect and carry fuel and water home. The large burden of domestic responsibilities girls are expected to undertake distracts girls in class and interrupts their school work, leaving them with little time to study and do their homework.

 

Poverty, hunger, and lack of economic alternatives lead many adolescent girls to take significant risks. Sexual relationships between adolescent girls and older partners are a common source of money for food, school fees, and other necessities for poor adolescent girls in many settings. While girls may have considerable negotiating power over whether to form or continue such alliances, they have little control over sexual practices within partnerships, including whether condoms are used. Many adolescent girls lack access to the most basic sexual reproductive health information even relating to the significance and management of their menstrual periods. Lack of information on SRH often causes many young girls to fall pregnant and therefore drop out of school, where unwanted pregnancies and early marriages frequently put an end to their aspirations for education and an economic livelihood. Although the Education Policy in Malawi allows girls to return to school after giving birth, 38% of the girls do not go back to school. The re-admission process often takes long, sometimes up to 2 years, which is a setback for young women already battling community pressure to get married rather than return to school.

 

Physical and sexual violence is also one of the barriers to girls as they attempt to achieve their educational aspirations. Some girls are physically or emotionally coerced or tricked into having sex. Experiences of physical and sexual violence lead to severe consequences in girls’ health and development such as depression, anxiety, risk of unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.

 

How will the money be used?

- Learning materials

- Transportation for youth representatives, teachers, and mothers

- Venue costs

- Other materials including snacks and drinks for attendees
- Any extra funds/donations will be given to HYCF to expand current projects or create more projects in the future!