Salut – Malawi

(Sanitary Aid & Ladies Underwear to Malawi)

WOMEN in Malawi are TWICE as likely to be ILLITERATE as men.

GATEWAY’s Rationale

Although equal numbers of girls and boys start primary school, the number of girls begins to fall from the start of secondary school, especially in poor, rural areas. There are several reasons for this, but one of the most crucial, but overlooked, is PERIOD POVERTY.

Living in extreme poverty means that available resources are spent on food and other basic items needed to survive from day to day. For these families, underwear, soap and sanitary pads – which are especially scarce and expensive in rural villages – are unaffordable luxuries.

Without sanitary protection, vast numbers of girls and women in Malawi are confined to their homes during menstruation, unable to participate in everyday activities. It is an obstacle borne in silence as long-held taboos prevent any public discussion that could lead to change.

For schoolgirls, who must usually walk long distances to attend schools which often lack adequate toilet facilities, menstruation means missing up to 25% of the school year. In Malawi, where students must pass an end of year exam to progress to the next year group, girls can become “trapped” at the primary level. Traditionally seen as less capable than boys, they are then discouraged from continuing their education.

What role does GATEWAY play?

GATEWAY provides girls with a reusable menstrual hygiene kit that enables them to attend school during their period, improve their academic performance and ultimately complete their education. 

GATEWAY also provides women from surrounding communities with an income and sewing skills as they are trained to produce these reusable menstrual hygiene kits. 

Who does GATEWAY help?

Girls from the age of puberty in primary and secondary schools

Women in poor rural communities in Malawi

If you educate a girl, she will:

·        Increase her earning potential by up to  25% per Secondary School year

·        Invest 90% of her salary in her family

·        Be three times less likely to become HIV positive

·        Have healthier children who are 40% more likely to live past the age of five

·        Have fewer children which increases their chances of becoming successful adults

If you equip women with new skills to earn an income, she will:

·        Better support her family

·        Be less vulnerable to being exploited by richer individuals

How does GATEWAY’s partnership with SALUT Malawi work?

In October 2024, SALUT Malawi began collaborating with Starfish Malawi on the GATEWAY Project.

Established in 2017, SALUT Malawi stands for Sanitary Aid and Ladies’ Underwear To Malawi. It is a Tonbridge-based community project that has two objectives:

1) To send ladies’ underwear, reusable pads and bars of soap to poor, rural communities in Malawi to empower girls and women to:

• Complete their education

• Reduce their risk of sexual violence

• Maintain their families’ hygiene.

2) To carry out advocacy work across Kent in secondary schools and civil society organisations, such as Women’s Institutes and Scouting groups, to raise awareness and build solidarity on the issues of:

• Period poverty

• Female illiteracy

• Women’s rights.

Over the past seven years, SALUT Malawi has collected donations through fruitful relationships with, among others:

• The parish of Corpus Christi Catholic Church

• Charity shops, including MIND Tonbridge as well as Cancer Research UK and British Heart Foundation in Paddock Wood;

• Bennett Memorial Diocesan School, Tunbridge Wells

• Kent College, Pembury

• The Malling School, East Malling

• Women's Institutes in Hadlow and Tonbridge

• BNP Paribas, Tunbridge Wells

For more information on SALUT Malawi’s previous work with the Malawi-TWIN project of Corpus Christi Catholic Church from 2017 to 2024,

Please Click Here

SALUT Malawi will continue its work with its supporters and partners to collect donations of new and good quality second-hand ladies’ underwear and bars of soap which will be now distributed as part of the GATEWAY project.

Previously, SALUT Malawi raised funds to buy reusable sanitary pads at a discounted rate from its valued partner, Cheeky Wipes,

Please Click Here to visit their website

SALUT Malawi’s fundraising efforts will now focus on supporting the GATEWAY project to provide an income to women in Malawi and menstrual hygiene kits to schoolgirls.

Case Study 1 - Chitiwiri

 GATEWAY was introduced at Chitiwiri by its partner school in the UK, through the Starfish School Linking Programme. Before its introduction in 2016 the school had very few girls registered with far more boys attending the school. When the programme was introduced at Chitiwiri, the whole community welcomed it so much that they formed a women’s group which now produces the GATEWAY packs and distributes them to every female student when they begin menstruating.

Lennia Chiweyo (right), GTOC Child Welfare Key Worker, training new group members.

Naomi Lameck, a prominent member of the sewing group at Chitiwiri, said this about GATEWAY:

 “The project has helped to improve school attendance for our girl students and has even encouraged more girls to resume classes after dropping out”.

Having been involved with the GATEWAY project for some time now, the women at Chitiwiri have a vision of expanding the project to the whole community by increasing the production of the menstrual hygiene kits and selling the surplus kits to girls and women who are not in school. All the money raised will then be used to buy school materials for deprived students.

Case Study 2 - Maganga Secondary School

When GATEWAY began working with Maganga Secondary School, in addition to increased absenteeism, teachers involved in the project also described the debilitating impact of menstruation on their female students who lack access to menstrual hygiene products:

“We easily notice that our girl students are in their monthly days because they shun themselves from us teachers as well as their fellow students. They feel uncomfortable to work in groups with the boys and this also affects their overall [academic] performance.”

If you would like to donate to the work of Gateway you can either use the following QR code link,

Or Click Here

Donations can be made directly to the Starfish Malawi bank account,
using reference GATESALUT

Our account details are:
CAF Bank, Sort Code 40-52-40, Account number 00018762.

Make a one-off donation by writing to us,
or
you may like to give by setting up a
regular standing order with your bank.

 If you are a UK taxpayer, you can also claim back 25p in every £1 you donate,
if you complete the Gift Aid section on the one-off donation form. 

Thank you for your support