As reported, due to the Corona pandemic and the associated long-term assembly restrictions
and school closures, our youth center at St. Mary's Girls Primary School in Karonga
could not be continued in the planned way. In the meantime, many members of the peer
group who were supposed to pass their knowledge to subsequent grades have unfortunately
also left the school, so that a relaunch of activities no longer seems meaningful.
At the same time, the Corona pandemic has caused that adolescent girls in particular
dropped out of school and education, which has subsequently led to an increase in
the number of teenage pregnancies in many areas. We were therefore increasingly
contacted last year about continuing our engagement in the Karonga district, particularly
in the area of family planning.
The positive experience we had during the now completed Covid 19 project with the
young and engaged team of Pamoza Tingakwaniska, which had realized this project on
site in Karonga, encouraged us to follow up on an idea submitted to us by the Pamoza
team:
Television and cinema are not yet widespread, especially in the more rural areas
of Malawi. For this reason, theater performances, which often take place outdoors,
have a particularly broad impact. Therefore, within the framework of pilot project
"Theater for Change", we have tested the special opportunities of theater performances
in order to specifically approach the local population.
From July to September 2021, the Pamoza-team organised nine events in the two rural
project areas of Mwakaboko and Mwirang'ombe, as well as at the CMCK (Cultural & Museum
Centre Karonga), where the theatre group ONENESS performed a play that was developed
specifically for this project.
The focus of these performances was on:
● Raising awareness among adolescent girls and young women to strengthen their rights
and self-determination.
● Improving access to information about SRH.
● Promoting access to SRH services.
The theatre performances were attended by a large number of spectators and provided
a wide platform for dissemination of information. In addition, a dialogue with the
audience araised after each performance, during which not only questions about the
project issues were asked and addressed, but there was also intensive discussion
about current events in the communities.
Moreover, 12 thematic radio programmes were also produced and repeatedly transmitted
on Radio Dinosaur and Radio Tuntufy, which broadcast in the local languages of Tumbuka
and Ngonde in northern Malawi.
In addition, the Pamoza team worked hand in hand with youth clubs and health centres
to reach communities and schools in the most effective way and to advertise for the
respective events.
In the course of this pilot project, important experiences were gained for future
projects. In particular, the combination of theatre, radio and social media has proved
extremely successful, as each medium addresses a different population group.
However, the project has also shown that there is still a high demand among the population
in Karonga District for sexual and reproductive health education and services, a
demand that cannot be covered with the resources available in the country.
We therefore decided to start a new project on family planning and sexual and reproductive
health with the Pamoza-Tingakwaniska team in northern Malawi, which started in November
2021.
