Bicycles push girls to school in Chitipa

 Community leaders in Traditional Authority Kameme in Chitipa District have said the bicycles that World Vision Malawi distributed to girls have addressed school dropout rate.

In an interview on Wednesday, Kameme Area Development Committee secretary Malizgani Chiselu said World Vision donated nine bicycles to nine girls at Kameme Community Day Secondary School.

“These bicycles have motivated the girls to remain in school. The girls previously used to quit school due to travelling long distances,” he said.

One of the girls, Queen Sichula, said if it were not for the bicycle, she would have dropped out of school.

She said she used to walk about five kilometres, which made her tired by the time she reached school.

Said Sichula: “Many girls drop out of school due to long distances; the main reason being that men lure them into sexual relationships and they end up either getting pregnant or married.

“I thank World Vision for the bicycle because I feel protected while riding to school.”

A volunteer Jane Mubisa said World Vision also distributed eight bicycles to eight volunteers from six village development areas.

She said the bicycles were meant to help volunteers monitor girls who stopped going to school.

Said Mubisa: “We managed to send four children back to school at Ilengo Primary School.

“From Winston [area]alone, at least 86 girls dropped out of school in 2023. Others went to work in Tanzania while some became cattle herders within Kameme or went into early marriages.”

However, as part of child protection initiative, the volunteers go to hard-to-reach areas in Kameme to persuade communities to allow children to go to school