Flying Girls Malawi on menstrual hygiene initiative

Malawi: Flying Girls Malawi, an organisation that works to improve the quality of education and promote gender equality in Malawi, among other activities, is reaching out to girls in various schools to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene.

The initiative aims to address the issues surrounding menstrual hygiene, which has a direct impact on the education of young girls in the country.

Although the organisation is driven by a broader vision, Lydia Banda, the founder of Flying Girls Malawi, says menstrual hygiene is a topic they saw the need to drive towards in order to address the country's school dropout rates while breaking some major limitations surrounding issues of menstrual health and hygiene.

"Our main focus at the moment is on menstrual hygiene because it's a topic that is never really talked about in our societies since it's perceived as a taboo in certain parts. We believe that good health for girls is a key to success. We also want to make the learning environment a free and comfortable space for every student and hygiene builds confidence, which eventually keeps girls in school," said Banda.

Banda claims that there has been tremendous change in areas where the organisation hoped to see transformation since the initiative's inception.

She said: " The transformation is really impressive and we are happy to see that our initiatives are making a huge difference in communities where issues of menstrual hygiene were initially not spoken about or addressed. We have noted that children are now able to talk to their parents about it, especially the girls. There is also support from males since communities are now starting to respect and understand women's privacy and how privacy is essential to these young girls. There's also no more dumping of pads anyhow in most of the communities we have been reaching out to.”

Banda says the organisation is reaching out to more communities and schools to ensure that young boys and girls understand the importance of addressing menstrual health and hygiene issues in the country.

In addition to reaching out to these schools with accurate information, Flying Girls Malawi has young girls on scholarship.

In a recent programme, the organisation reached out to Central High International School in Blantyre to encourage students to help less fortunate girls by donating pads and other school supplies.

"We intend to work with Central High International, where the students will donate pads, soap, and lotion to less privileged girls in our local schools. We want to encourage the spirit of sharing and kindness among girls. We will also engage Central High students in other activities beyond the donations and menstrual hygiene initiative. We are hoping to engage them in our upcoming tree planting initiative aimed at driving towards our vision of having young people in Malawi engage in efforts towards climate change," stated Banda.

More girls are breaking down the barriers to menstrual hygiene under the Flying Girls Malawi banner and are now able to attend school freely.

The number of girls attending school has increased, boys are now more confident in standing up for girls, and hygiene conditions in schools reached by the organisation have improved.

Flying Girls Malawi has involved schools such as Chichiri Secondary School, Stella Maris, Jacaranda, and St. Pius CDSS in their initiative.