Founded in 2013, Hope for Relief Organisation-Malawi is a local youth-led organisation that works through community outreach, promoting messages related to health and education. The organisation is running a specific programme to keep girls safe in schools, with the overall aim of advancing girls’ education and safeguarding young girls from early marriages.  

Hope for Relief Organisation-Malawi partnered with Aflatoun International to integrate Aflateen+ curriculum into their curriculum. As many girls drop out of school altogether once they begin menstruating, Keeping Girls Safe in Schools project aims to ensure that girls remain in school and successfully finish primary and secondary education.   

As a part of the programme, 22 Aflatoun clubs have been started in primary and secondary schools around rural areas of the Rumphi district in Malawi. Each club consists of 20-30 female participants and is linked to Mothers groups in their respective schools. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they were meeting once a week.  

Young girls at Phalasito Primary School have managed to establish a savings group. They used to take care of a vegetable garden at the school and then sold all the vegetables to the community members around the school. Half of the money raised was shared equally and the other half is saved in a group bank account, managed by the girls themselves. Many of the participants used their share of the money to buy notebooks and pens. 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organisations have made changes to their educational tools and curriculum. Hope for Relief Organisation-Malawi is now using radio programmes to reach out to girls with information on social and financial education. 

“The development and accessibility of digital education materials prompted us to start thinking of using radio programmes as well, so we can continue reaching out to vulnerable girls with information on social and financial education,” a staff member share with us. 

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