CHATS Girls’ Club
Empowering girls to make change in their own lives.
CHATS Clubs are high-impact after-school programs that train girls as entrepreneurs, change agents, leaders and sexual and reproductive health experts.
Why CHATS Girls’ Club?
AGE Africa knows that a scholarship alone is not enough to ensure that girls reach the academic finish line. To succeed in school and in life they must be able to self-advocate for their own life choices, be empowered with information about their sexual and reproductive health, and learn critical skills that will help them gain employment or start their own businesses.
What is CHATS?
Creating Healthy Approaches to Success (CHATS) is a three-year after-school program aimed at helping scholars achieve academic success and gain life skills. CHATS Clubs help to provide girls with the tools they need to self-advocate for their own life choices and be empowered with information about their sexual and reproductive health, in addition to teaching them critical skills that will help them generate income and be prosperous.
Throughout the first two years, Girl’s CHATS Club participants cover fundamental life and leadership skills such as sexual and reproductive health, group facilitation, gender and rights, as well as self-advocacy. These soft skills are important for girls’ emotional development and are shown to keep them engaged and enrolled in secondary school.
The third year of CHATS focuses on a comprehensive entrepreneurship program where girls learn fundamental skills for starting and maintaining small businesses. Girls then have the unique opportunity to put their learning into practice by starting their own entrepreneurial ventures and engaging with the community. Through the entrepreneurship and community engagement components of CHATS our scholars are creating a path to success for themselves within and beyond their local communities.
CHATS’ Impact
Since AGE Africa first piloted its CHATS Clubs in 2013 the Clubs have grown immensely. In 2017, over 2100 girls participated in CHATS Girls’ Club at 24 schools throughout southern Malawi. We’ve found that as a result:
- 95% of CHATS Girls’ Club members completed secondary school
- 95% delay marriage and pregnancy until after their 18th birthday
- 90% of AGE Africa’s CHATS Girls’ Club participants feel they are a role model in their village
To read more about the evaluation of our work, please visit our Impact page.
Ticheze Atsikano (meaning "Let's CHAT") Radio Program
Let's CHATS Radio (Ticheze Atsikana) began as a pivot during the COVID-19 lockdown, when AGE Africa transitioned its in-person CHATS (Creating Healthy Approaches to Success) life skills program into a radio format to keep reaching girls while schools were closed. Since girls are most vulnerable when out of school, and education access is a fundamental pillar of AGE Africa's mission, the shift ensured girls across Malawi's southern region, including the Mangochi District, could still receive critical support and information, from COVID-19 prevention to gender-based violence education. What began as an emergency response has since grown into a nationwide radio program empowering girls and young women through an integrated approach to education, health, gender equality, and career development. Episodes combine interviews, radio dramas, and community discussions to explore topics like life skills, leadership, sexual and reproductive health, gender rights, goal setting, continuing education, and entrepreneurship, with each 30-minute episode featuring insights from special guests such as AGE Africa scholars, local women leaders, political officials, and subject matter experts. The show now airs weekly on a national broadcasting station and three community radio stations, reaching approximately 4.3 million girls across Malawi.
Amplifying girls' voices remains a key pillar of Ticheze Atsikana. AGE Africa prioritizes involving girls and young women directly in developing and delivering each episode, and drawing on lessons from the pandemic and feedback from community members, the program has also expanded to include a climate change and emergency response curriculum, ensuring communities are equipped to handle future emergencies, from pandemics to natural disasters. The more girls and women are given opportunities to share their stories, opinions, and insights, the more everyone can rise.
CHATS helped me a lot to reach this stage. I learnt to be confident in whatever I am doing, to know who I am and the importance of education.”
– Shelter Matitha, Age 19
Shelter is attending the Malawi University of Science and Technology, studying computer systems and security. She credits the CHATS (Creating Healthy Approaches to Success) Girls' Club for having a large role in her success. Through CHATS, Shelter learned how to speak in public with confidence, how to navigate the pressure of sexual relationships and marriage, and understand the value of an education. She gained self-esteem and now considers herself a role model and a leader among her peers. Shelter is now becoming a pillar in her community by implementing development projects and supporting others in gaining an education.