Knowledge is power
Access to correct health information among AGYW is vital
‘Knowledge is power’, so said Sir Francis Bacon (1957). This means knowledge is a powerful factor that empowers people to achieve great results. These girls are happy after learning about HIV, gender-based violence, access to sexually reproductive health (SRH) services and social-economic activities from #ActionAid Malawi through its Joint TB/HIV Global Fund Programme, under the prevention Programmes for Adolescents and Youth, in and out of School Module. The module aims at reducing new HIV infections among #AGYW aged 10-24, in line with the National AGYW Strategy.
The knowledge they have gained empowers them to make helpful decisions of their health life, including when to get married and when to have children. This gives them room to engage themselves in economic activities, if they have dropped out of school, so that they earn money to buy daily basic needs. When they make their own money, they reduce the risk of indulging in transactional sex, thereby preventing themselves from contracting or transmitting HIV.
The programme trains selected girls per community who become peer educators. These peer educators then formulate groups of peers and teach them what they learnt.
ActionAid Malawi is implementing this module in Chikwawa, Thyolo, Mulanje, Mangochi and Lilongwe Peri-Urban through CRECOM, Norwegian Church Aid, Christian Aid, World Vision Malawi and Plan International Malawi as Sub Recipients respectively.
