Nkhudzi Bay Utale Club Cooperation Circle (“Nkhudzi Bay Utale Club”) focuses, among other things, on secondary school education for girls and young women between ages 13 and 27. Graduating from secondary school helps young women make a better living and is a requirement to attend college.
In Malawi, some young girls are forced to leave school due to poverty, pressure to begin work at a young age, pressure to marry at a young age, and the inability to attend school while menstruating due to a lack of toilets and sanitary products.
Years ago, Nkhudzi Bay Utale Club organized the “Girls Not Brides” project funded by local donors and donors outside the area. The “Girls Not Brides” project built a washroom, compost toilet, electric solar system, and kiosks for potable water, and provided sanitary pads for girls so they may attend school while menstruating.
The “Girls Not Brides” project has had a positive impact and also led our team to become aware that many young women, who dropped out of school earlier, wished to return to school to graduate or go on to college. Our team, therefore, initiated the “Go Back to School Project” in Mwanyama Village, a community located between Nkhudzi Bay and Monkey Bay.
The “Go Back to School Project” involved creating a private secondary school for young women who had dropped out of school earlier. After some years of limited funding, the “Go Back to School Project” lost a donor who passed away and two other donors who could no longer afford to fund the project. The school in Mwanyama Village was, therefore, forced to close due to its inability to pay teachers.
Despite not having teachers, the young women continued to meet and support one another. Volunteers stepped forward to provide a bit of education, including Eunice Wambui Njuguna from Kenya who was presented with a certificate of appreciation for her important work.
In the meantime, Nkhudzi Bay Utale Club arranged to sponsor young women to attend the Monkey Bay Private Secondary School (“Monkey Bay School”) that welcomes young men and women who previously dropped out of school. Tuition for young men is generally paid by families who support their sons returning to school to become breadwinners.
Unfortunately, however, most families rely on daughters to marry and be supported by their husbands.
As of 2026, the Nkhudzi Bay Utale Club is supporting 20 to 25 young women to study at the Monkey Bay School. That is a good start. ,However, it is estimated that upwards of 90 young women in Nkhudzi Bay wish to return to secondary school in any given year. As resources become available, our team at Nkhudzi Bay Utale Club hope to sponsor all eligible young women in Nkhudzi Bay to study at the Monkey Bay School. When that goal is realized, our team hopes to keep that program running while trying to establish a private secondary school in Nkhudzi Bay for students wishing to return to school to complete their secondary education.
