Faith Leaders Trained to Tackle Teen Pregnancy, Fistula
Using the Faith Actors Motivating Women's Empowerment (FAME) approach will help reduce teenage pregnancy levels and, in turn, fistula disease levels.
MACHINGA, Malawi - Fistula disease is on the rise due to early pregnancies among young girls, said Paul Mmanjamwada Head of Programme for Norwegian Church Aid and DanChurchAid in Machinga., writes Peter Davieson.
The statement was made Friday during a certificate presentation for religious and community leaders who attended a five-day training workshop on "A Faith-Based Approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Malawi."
The project focuses on increasing action by faith and community leaders to strengthen sexual and reproductive health rights and find ways to reduce teenage pregnancies.
"For a long time, religious and community leaders have been left behind due to cultural beliefs and myths, so bringing them forward will have a great impact on the community," Mmanjamwada said in an interview.
"We have now realized that we fail to meet project intended goals because we left out the most important group of people, because the community believes and trusts these leaders."
Mmanjamwada added that fistula disease is one of the challenges young girls face in Machinga District, leading to stigma, discrimination, and increased levels of divorce.
Using the Faith Actors Motivating Women's Empowerment (FAME) approach will help reduce teenage pregnancy levels and, in turn, fistula disease levels.
FAME is a tool kit to addressing SRHR among faith communities using sacred texts such as the Bible and Quran as sources of information and interpretation
"We have developed an action plan which will guide our work, but apart from that, each targeted area has government and our field facilitators, so these officers will be working hand-in-hand in monitoring everyday work," said Mwayiwawo Nthala, Project Coordinator for the implementing partner, Find Your Feet Organisation.
Rev. Ned Gona from Mbenjere CCAP, a religious leader representative, said, "We have learned a lot of techniques and modern ways of disseminating information about women's empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and how we can reduce early pregnancies among youths in our respective churches and mosques, and one of the modern ways is to use role plays in church services."