Three Cayman Islands residents will attempt to swim 13 miles across Lake Malawi in Africa this April to raise funds to build a contraceptive health clinic that will aid in preventing unwanted teen pregnancies.
Swimmers Claire Roscoe, Alicia Proud-Rabess and Amanda Goodwin hope that, through their efforts, they can spread awareness of the need to reduce young, unwanted pregnancies in the southeastern African nation of Malawi, and raise funds to ensure that girls can have access to free contraceptive implants at a safe health clinic in Kauma, a poor suburb of the capital Lilongwe.
Roscoe, who was raised in Malawi, told the Cayman Compass, “Because Malawi is a patriarchal society, women are not in control of their reproductive health, and have children when they should be at school, educating themselves for a stable future, and so the spiral of poverty begins with their first child.”
She added, “Malawian women have, on average, 4.4 children, whereas in the USA, the average birth rate is 1.64.
“If it weren’t for contraception, this latter figure would be much higher, and our lives would be so very different – a fact, I think, we tend to forget.”
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, estimates that adolescent pregnancies in Malawi account for 136 in every 1,000 births, and that one in two girls is married before the legal age of 18.
It notes on its website that “early childbearing, high fertility rates and inadequate access to maternal health services are the main contributing factors to the high number of maternal deaths among young women in Malawi”, and says girls aged 15-19 are twice as likely to die during childbirth as women aged 20 years and older.
Coupled with HIV, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19.
The agency also points out that unsafe abortions are common among adolescents “which is an indicator of girls’ and women’s unmet need for contraception”.
Proud-Rabess, who has been preparing to take part in the Malawi fundraiser by swimming three times a week and who previously lived in South Africa, told the Compass she is familiar with the contraceptive implant and how it works.
“This is my chosen form of contraception,” she said. “Hence, the importance of this challenge, and the personal connection for me. It has helped me for years and I know it could change many Malawian women’s lives.”
Dr. Faison Mussa, director of the existing Good Health Initiative Clinic in Kauma, says in a video on a GoFundMe page launched by Roscoe and her fellow swimmers, that a site has been found to construct a new, upgraded facility to replace the current rented one.
The three women are aiming to raise US$30,000, with US$15,000 going towards the cost of building the new clinic, and the remaining funds going to purchasing the implants and other supplies.
Proud-Rabess encourages the Cayman community to donate.
“Many of us give to charities all over the world and it goes into the huge pot and often we never quite know where our personal donation ends up,” she said. “With this cause, your $10, $100, $1,000 is making a huge impact. $30,000 isn’t very much to ask within our wealthy community and will make such a massive difference to thousands of women’s lives each year. It is an easy contribution in my eyes and hopefully in many others’ in Cayman.”
The clinic will be dedicated to the memory of Roscoe’s sister Wilma, a charity worker, who passed away last year.
The Cayman swimmers will leave for Africa at the end of March, Proud-Rabess said, and plan to carry out their swim on 4 April.
Joining them will be kayak supporters Ashley Gunning and Mischa Kluyver from Cayman, who will assist with hydration and aid, and swimmers Andrea Kilam and James Scott, who will be travelling from the United Kingdom.
Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/charity-swim-for-malawis-family-planing-clinic for more information and to donate.
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