Theatre touted as vital for information dissemination

The Lilongwe District Youth Office has stressed the importance of using theatre for development (TFD) to disseminate information to communities on issues affecting them.

Lilongwe district youth officer Dalitso Manthalu said this on Friday in Mponela, Dowa during the closing of a week-long TFD workshop under Her Future Her Choice, a sexual and reproductive health rights project run by Network for Youth Development (NfYD) together with Family Planning Association of Malawi and Oxfam with support from Global Affairs Canada.

He said TFD significantly helps communities to uncover their problems while coming up with tangible solutions.  

Manthalu said young people, drawn from Chimutu and Malili areas have been equipped with new skills where they would be able to disseminate vital information regarding sexual reproduction health to their fellow youth.

“There are a number of reported cases of rape, defilement, child marriages and school drop outs that need to be resolved at all cost,” he said.

NfYD project manager Agatha Njunga said the training was meant to build capacity for adolescents to share the right information of sexual reproductive health rights.

She said the participants were trained to disseminate such information to the community to reduce cases of teenage pregnancies and high school drop outs in their areas. 

Njunga said the use of TFD brings the messages closer to the communities for easy and maximum interaction 

Oxfam project coordinator Thandizo Mungwira urged the participants to utilise the knowledge gained during the training and bring positive developments within their communities.

Chimutu Youth Network chairperson Esther Toney said they have a responsibility to ensure that social ills happening are reported to relevant authorities for action.

The training was attended by 20 participants.