Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) has urged adolescent girls from traditional authorities Chilooko, Nthondo, Kasakula andChikhoin Ntchisi to aim high in life to achieve their goals.
The association’s programme officer Paul Chirambo said on Saturday during a training of girl mentors in the district that girls should be motivated to work hard in life because they face a lot of challenges.
He said: “One of the challenges is early pregnancies; hence, we are using netball as a change agent. We are utilising and relating the rules of the game to real life situation to pass the message.
“For instance, if you fail toscore, it means you have failed to achieve your goal in real life situation.”
Chirambo said they included health personnel as facilitators during the training to enhance the relationship between the girls and the health personnel.
“The relationship will enable the girls to speak out on sexual and reproductive health [SRH] issues,” he said.
Dorian Sawasawa, a nurse at Chinguluwe Health Centre in the district, who was among the facilitators, appealed to traditional leaders and parents to ensure that no girl gets married before completing school.
On her part, Chilooko Youth Network chairperson Evelyn Malanda discouraged the girls from looking down upon themselves, saying they have the potential to achieve anything in life just like their male counterparts.
“Go out there and motivate other girls to achieve their goals in life,” she said.
Bridget Chatambalala, a participant, said she will relay the SRH message to fellow girls in the area.
The organisation is implementing Nzatonse Project in partnership with Norwegian Church Aid and Dan Church Aid with funding from KFW.
