Meet Lennie, a passionate young woman whose journey with Water For People began in 2015, when she was only 11 years old. That was the year Water For People partnered with Lennie’s school, Chilomoni Primary, and built bathrooms, handwashing facilities, and menstrual hygiene management units to support students’ sanitation and hygiene needs. Soon a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene club emerged to promote sanitation and hygiene among students. Lennie volunteered to be a leader in the club.
"Sanitation is important because it makes our class look beautiful," says Lennie during an interview with Water For People. She adds: "It helps us students be hygienic, so we won’t get diseases like diarrhea or cholera. These diseases can kill, they can make someone be absent from school and fail exams." Lennie took a special interest in promoting these practices among her female classmates.

"I’ve always wanted to help people," explains Lennie, reflecting on her experience as a club leader. "I enjoyed helping other girls understand how to use the menstrual hygiene facilities with support from our WASH teacher." This, along with the new menstrual hygiene units brought significant changes, allowing young girls to attend classes without interruption
Lennie’s desire to support her peers, especially girls, led her to promote hygiene and menstrual health. "The activities and workshops with Marjorie and the Water For People staff made a huge impact. We learned so much through games and activities," recalls Lennie. "I remember we used to play World Toilet game we used to kick the ball straight into a hole on the banner kind of board. When you have missed it, you would go and clean the hole a representation of the toilet hole. Even now in my university life, I still do it. quite amazing right?"



Almost a decade later, Lennie’s journey has only grown more remarkable. Her early involvement in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sparked an interest that carried into her current studies. Today, she’s a third-year student at Malawi Catholic University, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies. "Lennie is doing incredibly well. She’s always on the Dean’s List, and I believe her love for sanitation and hygiene played a big role in her choosing Environmental Studies," says Lennie’s mother, Ellida Samama.

Lennie’s story is an example of the transformative power that access to essential facilities such as water, sanitation, and menstrual hygiene has on young people—especially for girls’ education. Through Water For People’s work, young people’s goals are supported. At Water For People, we celebrate Lennie’s success and continue leveraging long-term partnerships to achieve sustainable results for #EveryoneForever.
Listen to eleven-year-old Lennie’s full interview and learn more about the impact that Water For People’s work had on her life at school.