Tia is a Malawian mother, now based in the UK.
Tia says, ‘All parents want the best for their children’. Her Education Matters demonstrates this through the contribution of the Mothers’ Groups. Tia works with families in the UK where the difficulties that parents experience are a little different to those of poor families in Malawi.’
Tia believes that ‘Think Malawi’s newest endeavour extends focus on success in education by providing sanitary care for young women so that they can continue to attend school during their periods. Statistics have showed that with the high cost of sanitary care, many teenage children are forced to miss school. With this new initiative, girls can attend school on a regular basis, minimising incidents of non-attendance. Regularly missing school can have a negative impact on education.’
Dr Clare Goodhart gives her support to the project
'Please do consider supporting Think Malawi in their efforts to address menstrual poverty.'
'This initiative is well designed in that it promotes better sanitary care for girls in school on several levels:
1) Provision of reusable sanitary pads which allow girls to manage their periods without embarrassment
2) Funding for separate toilets or discrete facilities to allow girls to wash their pads
3) Involvement of mothers in sewing the sanitary pads- allowing them to become stakeholders in overcoming one of the key barriers to keeping girls in school
4) Distribution of pads will provide an opportunity for puberty and reproductive health education
Although I am a Cambridge GP, I also act as clinical lead for USHAPE (Uganda Sexual Health and Public Education) www.ushape.org.uk which provides training for rural health workers in sexual and reproductive health. In our youth outreach work it is clear just how little girls are told about puberty and menstruation. The topic is often taboo within families, leaving the girls ill-equipped to cope with their first period.'
We are delighted to have raised £2,000 so far through crowdfunding for this vital project. We still have over £300 of match funding available, and our partners African Vision Malawi have more schools lined up ready to join the project. With match funding, a pledge of £30 could enable 10 girls to access the project.