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Where Water Flows, Insights Grow: A Week in Glasgow

Our Women Early Career Researchers Reflect on Their Journey in Global Health

In the spirit of this year’s International Women’s Day themes; from “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” to the call to “Give to Gain” – their journeys remind us that progress is built through collaboration, mentorship, and the sharing of knowledge and opportunities. By investing in women researchers today, we help strengthen the evidence, leadership, and partnerships needed to improve the health and wellbeing of adolescents and communities tomorrow. With that, we thank all the phenomenal women Early Career Researchers across the project for sharing their experiences and for the important contributions they continue to make to global health research.

World Day of Social Justice 2026

On World Day of Social Justice, we’re reminded that too many adolescents still face futures shaped by inequality.
At NIHR-GHRG on Adolescent Health & Wellbeing in Malawi, we’re working to change this by elevating young people’s voices and examining how policies impact their lives.
Our research tackles gaps in education, health, protection, and representation, ensuring no adolescent is left behind.
Learn how we’re advancing fairer, more inclusive systems for young people worldwide.

Adolescents have a voice if we create a space to listen to them – co-planning a water refilling approach with adolescents and teachers

When a group of learners and teachers came together at a primary school in Mchinji, something powerful happened: young people were given the space to speak and adults truly listened. In this co‑planning meeting, adolescents shared practical ideas to improve how water is refilled at school handwashing stations, offering thoughtful solutions that surprised everyone. Their voices shaped the way forward, showing just how much can change when young people are invited into the conversation and given agency.

World Toilet Day

This World Toilet Day, we’re tackling one of the most overlooked challenges in education: safe, clean, and welcoming toilets for learners. Through the NIHR-GHRG initiative in Malawi, schools are co-creating practical solutions, from vibrant murals and sanitation-themed games to improved facilities and hygiene messaging. These changes go beyond cleanliness, they foster dignity, comfort, and wellbeing, ensuring every learner feels respected and supported.
Join us in making sanitation a priority. Share this message, support local initiatives, and help create environments where every child can learn with dignity. Together, we can turn neglected spaces into places of care and pride.

Our future is at hand, let’s move forward together – learning from what works

As the world observes Global Handwashing Day, the NIHR Global Health Research Group highlights ongoing efforts in Malawi to improve handwashing with soap among adolescents—where less than 1% of observed handwashing opportunities currently include soap use. Using the COM-B behaviour change approach, researchers are co-developing a participatory hand hygiene intervention with students and teachers in rural Mchinji to make handwashing easier, more appealing, and consistent. Through hands-on experiments testing soap types, dispensing methods, and behavioural nudges, the study revealed key preferences and practical challenges. These insights are now guiding a Trial of Improved Practices (TIPs) to create a sustainable, evidence-based solution that empowers young people to make handwashing with soap a lasting habit, truly putting “our future is at hand.”

Celebrating Mental Wellbeing in Young People Using Creative Storytelling in Blantyre, Malawi

As the world marked World Mental Health Day on 10th October, the NIHR Global Health Research Group’s ‘Inspiring Adolescent Wellbeing’ Work Strand in Blantyre, Malawi, celebrated the power of creative storytelling in nurturing young people’s joy, resilience, and belonging. Using the Scottish Storyline methodology, children expressed their emotions and ideas through drawings, drama, and poems – creating safe, inclusive spaces where their voices were heard and valued. The workshops reminded us that mental wellbeing flourishes not only through addressing challenges but also by celebrating creativity, play, and the joy of connection.

“Mental Health Effects of WASH Conditions on Adolescents in Primary Schools in Malawi.”

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Blog

March 23, 2026

I seized the chance for a week-long trip to Glasgow, dedicated entirely to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). I think it’s fair to say I made the most of it. I left with heaps of inspiration, insights, and meaningful connections, gained during numerous events at the University of Strathclyde. I also hope to have planted some seeds of reflection on WASH for adolescents’ health and wellbeing in others.

Jasper Ceuppens (PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde) presenting on Adolescent Health & Wellbeing from a Water & Gender Lens during the World Water Day event at Strathclyde.

During my visit, I met the team of the Centre for Sustainable Development (Donald Robertson and Fiona Doyle) and helped them set up the University of Strathclyde’s World Water Day event, co-created with WaterAid (Elizabeth McKernan). This year’s theme, “Where Water Flows, Equality Grows,” was blended with WaterAid’s “Time To Deliver” campaign. It was a great event, featuring inspiring speeches, presentations, the campaign video , workshops, and Dr James Bonner’s thought-provoking water walk through Glasgow.

While I’m still sifting through my notes, a few quotes keep resonating with me: “1.2 million women from 114 countries listed clean water, sanitation, and hygiene among their top priorities for maternal healthcare” (Bernard Omari, WaterAid Zambia). “While women form 90% of frontline healthcare workers, they only hold 25% of senior leadership roles in health” (Martha Uwimana, WaterAid Rwanda). “Globally, girls and women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water – time that could be spent on education, relaxing, … living” (Stephen Slessor, British Water).

These facts made it easy to connect with Shomy Chowdhury’s (Awareness 360) inspiring call to action: “Find your passion in what bothers you – and what are you going to do about it?”

Jasper Ceuppens (PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde) presenting on Adolescent Health & Wellbeing from a Water & Gender Lens during the World Water Day event at Strathclyde.

Well, I’ve found my passion. Now it’s about taking continuous, incremental steps – researching the WASH issues experienced by adolescents and sharing findings in ways that resonate with each audience. As a panel member at the World Water Day event, I had the chance to speak about why WASH matters for adolescents’ health and wellbeing, drawing from our research in Malawi. In brief, adolescents identified their WASH priorities and co-designed solutions that we are currently testing together. What bothers them most are latrine walls smeared with faeces, poor hand hygiene, and open defecation.

Jasper Ceuppens (PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde) presenting on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene issues experienced by adolescents in Malawi, during the PhD conference of Strathclyde’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

I also met with several field experts to discuss the System Dynamics approach I’m applying to build the model (Prof Susan Howick and Vahid Hajiebrahimi), as well as the Storyline approach I’ll use to test it with adolescents (Monica Porciani). System Dynamics focuses on cause-and-effect relationships that form feedback loops, often intertwining and cycling back to influence the very issues they arise from – which helps explain complex problems formed over time. The Storyline approach, on the other hand, is a way of working where adolescents are enabled to create an unfolding story around a central theme – in this case, the WASH problems they experience. Adolescents take roles as characters inside that story world, actively shape the plot, make decisions, and reflect on their experiences as the story develops. This promises to be an engaging and rich method for collecting data and deepening understanding beyond surface-level mental models.

Monica Porciani (Former Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing, School of Education, University of Strathclyde) and Jasper Ceuppens (PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde) discussing the Storyline approach as a method to test informal System Dynamics models conceptualising the system structure governing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene problems experienced by adolescents in Malawi.

I foresee System Dynamics and Storyline complementing each other beautifully, but there’s still work ahead to refine this into a manageable data collection process – and that’s my focus for the coming months.

To round off the week, I was invited to join the Scotland–Malawi Partnership table (Dorothea Nelson) at the WaterAid Scotland Ball (Elizabeth McKernan) – an eventful evening with serious messages about the need for clean water for mothers and newborns. But also, an event where kilts met 90s vibes and WaterAid partners from many parts of the world, serving as a time to celebrate achievements made through partnership. It was a pleasant reminder that good partnership is where knowledge flows both ways, yielding sustainable collaboration and success (Stephen Slessor, British Water). Thank you, Glasgow, for setting the stage for such a fruitful visit – see you next time!

By Jasper Ceuppens – Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland)

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