By Benjamin Maona:
Adolescent women and girls around Bangwe Township in Blantyre have been trained on mental health issues courtesy of Young Women Christian Association (YWCA).
On Wednesday, YWCA accompanied by Blantyre district social welfare office officials converged at Ntenje Clinic in the Township to equip the girls with mental health messages.
YWCA project officer, Gloria Makawa said their main aim is to support adolescent women, who are survivors of gender-based-violence, towards self-reliance through continued engagement with local governance structures for access to economic empowerment programmes, social protection services, and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services.
“We want the girl child to to have information on gender-based violence and me talk health issues. This will also help them to share solutions with their fellows who face similar challenges in their communities.
“The girls will also be empowered economically so that they can venture into business since most of them are young mothers with nobody to provide for their kids,” Makawa said.
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Blantyre district social welfare officer, Joseph Stephano said it is high time organisations invested in mental health issues especially the youths.
“Such initiatives provide platforms where adolescent girls open up on their mental health challenges and discuss possible solutions amongst themselves.
“Through these support groups, it is easy to link them to referral service providers where they can get further professional mental health services,” he said.
One of the participants, Rebecca Mawaya conceded that girls in Bangwe Township face alot of issues including abuse but are clueless on where they can get solution to their problems.
“Some girls are abused by their relations, but out of fear of being chased away from their homes, they conceal the problems and get damaged inside,” she said.
HER Voice Fund is a Global Fund project, funded by ViiV Healthcare Positive Action and implemented by Y+ Global across 13 priority countries: Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe with the aim of supporting the meaningful engagement and leadership of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and community-based organizations serving AGYW within Global Fund and other related national processes.
