With thousands of Malawian girls missing school every month due to menstruation-related challenges, a groundbreaking initiative, Rise For Girls has been launched to address this pressing issue, ensuring girls stay in school and pursue their dreams.
Illovo Sugar Malawi launched the Rise For Girls Program on Saturday in Chikwawa, where the Nchalo Estate General Manager Ricky Pillay, disclosed that the program aims to ensure girls in the district don’t miss school due to menstrual cycles.
Pillay said the initiative focuses on Improving water, hygiene, and sanitation facilities, providing menstrual hygiene management training, educating girls about menstrual health, fostering community engagement and distributing sanitary products.
He said, “When a girl misses school for a few days because of the menstruation cycle, and she does it every month, the year doesn’t go well for her and then she doesn’t progress. So, we are looking at a sustainable approach to permanently fix this so that every girl doesn’t miss school because of the monthly cycle.”
While highlighting that people who want to go far, go with others, Pillay wooed the business community to join the noble course, saying the initiative currently in Chikwawa district needs to be extended to another district countrywide.
“This is a challenge that affects the entire population, so, why do we do it ourselves? We are therefore sharing our vision with all our partners. The target is to see how quickly we can reach as many girls as possible, and I believe the funding will come,” he added.
As part of the launch, 162 girls from Ngabu Secondary School received a care package containing sanitary pads, soap, and a 10-litre bucket, with over 800 packages expected to be distributed across various schools in Chikwawa district.
