As an undergraduate student at Mercer University in Macon, GA, Nancey was granted the opportunity to travel to Zomba, Malawi to participate as medical missionary as part of the university’s Mercer on Mission program. For eight days, she and a team of Mercer students operated a rural health clinic and conducted water testing in the village of Chuluchosema. It is here where she made lasting friendships that extended beyond her stay and discovered the true value of the human spirit.
Unfortunately, it is also here at Chuluchosema where she experienced first-hand the health challenges that rural Malawian women and girls experience on a daily basis. Though there is never a lack of spirit and tenacity to endure through their circumstances, the resources to help them endure is lacking. Over half of rural Malawians live at or below the poverty line, which means materials we deem as basic necessities, like feminine hygiene products, are viewed as unaffordable, expensive luxuries.
Recently, a new school building was erected in the village of Chuluchosema which aims to serve the educational needs of the many boys and girls who inhabit the surrounding area. For young and adolescent girls in Malawi, as in other nations in Africa, attending school during their premenstrual cycle can be a nuisance, especially when feminine hygiene projects like pads and feminine wipes are unavailable. This is what prompted her to found the Malawi Girl Project (MGP).
The purpose of the Malawi Girl Project is to provide the adolescent girls enrolled in primary and secondary school in the area around Chuluchosema with a stockpile of feminine hygiene products to aid in their overall comfort and cleanliness as they endure through their monthly menstrual cycles. The primary items collected include pads, liners, and feminine wipes.
An educational component is also included in which workshops to inform the girls about what happens to their bodies during menstruation demonstrations on how to properly use the products are performed.
With the help of Rogers Kofi, Dickson Chekwawa, and Evelyn Gomani, and Nancey’s mother, Mary, the Malawi Girl Project has raised over $3400 and has serviced 250 girls in three schools! The ultimate goal of MGP is to become a sustainable nonprofit that provides continuous menstrual support for schoolgirls in Chuluchosema and the surrounding areas.
*The Malawi Girl Project is currently on hiatus. Fundraising will resume in Spring 2018!*
