Support 15 Youth to Make Art & Stop AIDS in Malawi

The last six months have been very exciting for Make Art Stop AIDS. We have been using the art for dialogue to address girls and women’s rights in Malawi, particularly participatory arts-based approaches. This was a special project for us because we got a chance to collaborate with our sister organisation at UCLA.

For the first phase of the project, we trained tertiary students from Chancellor College and Domasi College, who made up our MASA Squads, on different gender concepts and issues, and various participatory art approaches.

The MASA Squad members from Domasi College visited two secondary schools where they performed with the students. Gender was the main topic of the performances, with consent being as the most popular and highly contested topic amongst the Squad members and the secondary school students. Each concept was introduced separately and students would provide feedback immediately.

“Not many people were aware of the impact consent plays in gender issues and sexual and reproductive health. There were a lot of misconceptions on the matter. However, our discussions with them helped us to clear all the hidden misunderstandings about consent,” Titus, a Domasi Squad member, said.

The college students then went on to train secondary school learners on the different gender issues and concepts that they had already been trained on. The secondary school learners were very excited and keen to learn how they can use participatory art to promote gender equality in their schools and around their communities. It was really heart-warming to see the learners pledging to promote girls and women’s rights in their schools and communities, and creating different art pieces that they showcased to their peers and parents.

One of the project highlights was when Okif, a MASA Squad, a member shared how the project has impacted him and his peers at Chancellor College. He specifically mentioned how being part of the project empowered him to use his position as a student leader to tackle sexual exploitation issues that some of the girls from the college were facing from their lecturers.

“Through the knowledge that I got from MASA, I took it upon myself to pursue a gender-based violence issue that had been taking place on campus for so long. I thought to myself, enough is enough, and I reported the case to administration. Because I have been trained on how to pursue gender issues and cases, I encouraged girls who were victims to come forward. Through the action I took, the lecturer who was using his power to exchange good grades for sex with the female students was dismissed and a case was also reported to the police authorities,” he explained.