Our Family Planning and Sexual Health team were busy over the Christmas holidays running youth groups to keep students engaged. Topics such as gender roles are discussed – why women carry out more of the household chores in Malawi than men, who is head of a household and whether women or men are stronger. To help address some of these issues, the team set the youngsters some fun challenges.

They organised a water carrying race where two girls and two boys carry water on their heads and the winner is not only who comes back the quickest but whose bucket contains the most amount of water.

In the majority of cases, the girls are faster and spill less water and this opens the discussion on roles further and helps the youngsters understand the value women play in society in Malawi.

We hope over time that fun activities like this will play a part in encouraging gender equality. One of the students echoed this sentiment saying, “If women can do it, why not men? Men and women should both enjoy the fruits of development by working side by side. Together we can make things move faster.”

We hope you enjoy this video!