Concept Statement

Creating Healthy Approaches to Success

CHATS  ·  Rotary Club of Arroyo Grande (California)  and Rotary Club of Blantyre (Malawi)

A three-year after-school life skills program for adolescent girls in partner secondary schools — supplementing academic scholarships, because financial aid alone isn’t enough to ensure school success in rural Malawi. Facilitated by AGE Africa, a nonprofit helping girls become leaders of change in their families, communities, and country.

GIRLS RECEIVE

• Life skills & leadership: self-advocacy, decision-making, public speaking, facilitation
• Health, gender, rights & empowerment education for informed choices
• Career guidance, higher-education awareness & entrepreneurship skills
• Peer-led learning with trained faculty advisors and alumnae mentors
• Community service projects that build leadership while strengthening villages

Why It Matters

• 100% of 2023 AGE Africa scholars completed all four years of secondary school
• 84% of 2024 graduates qualified for tertiary education
• 91% of scholars delayed marriage & pregnancy beyond 18 (vs. ~50% national avg.)
• 90% feel like a role model in their village — up from 65% before CHATS
   

THE ASK

$50,000 to strengthen and expand CHATS

Update the curriculum with current science and medical information (birth control, climate change, HIV)  ·  print materials and expand CHATS into additional remote schools, toward reaching every secondary school in Malawi.

Contact: Lara Golden: laragoldenrotary@gmail.com