“Avoid sugar mummies and sugar daddies”

“Virginity is healthy”

Working with LABE has given me an inside view of the sorry state of education – or the lack thereof – here.  Since I’ve been invited to and have written a few articles on the impact of all of the above topics for a Human Rights magazine, I’ve had to do some interesting research.  One of the figures that comes up repeatedly has to do with catalysts that cause young girls to drop out of school.  The greatest toll comes when girls hit puberty – as early as 4^th grade.  The first hit is taken because there are not separate facilities for girls and boys at school.  This is not like some countries where you have unisex bathrooms (and that would not usually occur in schools);  here it translates into filthy latrines with no doors. So one push in schools that receive any outside funding for projects is to require separate facilities.

A good road to the village

So, last week, Joy (LABE) and I drove out to one of the schools to teach the girls  how to make re-usable menstrual pads or RUMPS. Reusable? Huh?  Something you never thought of in the States – right?   Although there are commercially made kits (AfriPads – factory near Kampala))  that sell for about $5 wholesale for a set that will last a girl about a year, they are only recently reaching the north and even that cost is out of reach for most families. It is especially so young girls who have no way to earn any money.

   
At some schools, supplies are given to the girls on an emergency basis, but that’s rare.  So we are teaching them how to make them from old clothing, towels and sheets.  Often, in the village,  there are no sheets, because there are no beds – people sleep on papyrus mats on the floor.

Cleaning the classroom

So far, we’ve we taught about 150 girls and some parents.  I made kits for about half of those using the supplies you all have sent and old materials I had on hand. We’ve given the others the patterns and instruction and have convinced some hotels to give us old sheets we can make into supplies.   I doubt if American girls have ever given this much thought, but these  girls and their families were excited because  this ONE thing has such a huge impact on their staying in school.

Joy teaching on the mat.

Busy sewing

We had to chase away a gaggle of younger girls and boys to keep some order in the “classroom” but the girls were serious and good students, arranged in their circle of mahogany desks and sharing kits.  Obviously these are hand stitched so there was some sewing instruction too.  An interesting note, when they first moved the desks, they were practically sitting on top of each other – their accustomed practice.  They had to be encouraged to sit farther apart to have room to work.  And yes – this IS farther apart.

Finished product

One  perk of going to the field is that there are always other sights and insights, i.e. this very business-like little girl with the jerry-can on her head. Kids start hauling water at a very young age and when you see women balancing huge loads on their heads, you know those neck muscles and the ability to walk straight and balance these loads comes with a lifetime of practice.   Below, this little girl can’t be older than about three and she’s already an expert.  In the villages, it’s not the least bit unusual to see a five year old carrying an infant on his/her back or something atop the head and walking on the road alone, often at night, jumping into the grass when cars come barreling along.

Tiny girl carrying her jerry can

 And then there’s the teacher’s “lounge” or staff room, here complete with a young chicken trying to get away from the chaos of kids waiting for the end of term assembly    The kids will have until mid September, then be released again in November.

A chicken seeking refuge?

Staff room

And finally, a game of checkers on a locally made checker board. This one is pretty fancy.  Checkers is a popular game, usually using beers bottle caps for checkers.  This one is definitely high end.

A serious game of checkers

This was a fine wrap up to the week before heading to Kampala to train some staff and meet the kids on Wednesday in Entebbe.  Can hardly contain myself I’m so excited to see them. It will be a kick to experience Uganda through their eyes!

The post Helping Girls Stay in School: The RUMPS Project appeared first on Nancy Wesson Consulting.

The education of the girl-child and the women they become is one of the single most important contributions society can make to improving income, health and development for the community at large.

It is not overstating the matter to say: “An educated woman can change anything.. and can change everything.”

Article 26 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory… and shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Cultural Attitudes

Despite this and Uganda’s mandate to provide education for all of its citizens, there are lingering cultural attitudes that interfere with the girl child’s access to this basic human right. According to Dr. Osita Excellence O. Oleribe, President, Anti-Child Abuse Society of Africa (ACASA)¹, “Many blame girl non-education on poverty. Although poverty has a role to play, one can comfortably say that non-girl-child education is also the cause of poverty. So they are intertwined in an unholy circle causing and perpetuating each other.”

Many children are made to believe hat formal education is not needed because their fulfilment is “in their husband’s home and since education (to them) is not needed to marry nor make babies, they should just focus on getting the right man, accepting the parent’s choice and making such a man happy.” And even if this belief is not stated, children of both genders are pulled out of school for digging, planting and caring for their siblings or an ill parent. There are many understandable challenges, but these cultural beliefs fall short even in their own justifications. Overall, the research shows that an educated woman supports the family life and community far more than an uneducated one.

Train the Woman – Train the Family

“Train the woman and you train the whole family” is a saying that is supported again and again by case studies where women who participate in adult education have changed their family’s life – and the life of their community – for the better.

Take the case of Bicenhtina, a sixty-eight year old woman who lives with three primary-three children and had never learned to read or write.

In 2009 she enrolled in literacy-training made possible through Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE), an indigenous NGO (www.labeuganda.org) providing multiple programs on improving functional literacy in Northern Uganda, serving roughly 25,000 beneficiaries.

LABE, through its Mother Tongue Education initiative operating in approximately 200 Home Learning Centers in its six districts, trains Parent Educators to hold literacy classes for adults and children in their homes.

Bicenytenia, at Bidin Home Learning Center organized by Parent Educator Mr. Loum Janani, has applied her literacy to introduce Income Generating activities in the form of Rotational Gardening in her village in Alero Sub-county, Nwoya District. As a model farmer and chairperson of her group of ten (six females and four males), Bicenytina has planted a half-hectare field of groundnuts to teach her fellow adults how they should care for their crops. In the process, each member of her group collected funds for purchasing seeds. The excess produce from her garden and those planted by other members will be used to generate income for their families and others in the community.

Bicenytenia, at Bidin Home Learning Center organized by Parent Educator Mr. Loum Janani, has applied her literacy to introduce Income Generating activities in the form of Rotational Gardening in her village in Alero Sub-county, Nwoya District. As a model farmer and chairperson of her group of ten (six females and four males), Bicenytina has planted a half-hectare field of groundnuts to teach her fellow adults how they should care for their crops.

In the process, each member of her group collected funds for purchasing seeds. The excess produce from her garden and those planted by other members will be used to generate income for their families and others in the community.

This success story and other stories like these, characterize the lives of educated girl-children and adults. Studies conducted by developing countries around the world evidence a long list of benefits of girl-child education.

Benefits of Girl-Child Education

One such study conducted in Nigeria shows increased empowerment in every aspect of life:

• Financial
• Mental
• Physical
• Social
• Psychological
• Spiritual
• Intellectual

More Specifically…

To be more specific, the UNESCO Training Manual for Local Government Representatives in Non-Formal Education states that:

• Infant mortality rate among literate mothers is 45, compred to 139 for mothers who do not read.
• Educated people of both genders live longer by an average of twenty years.
• Children of literate parents stay in school longer by forty-per-cent.
• Among literate communities, the average number of patients served by one doctor is eight times less.
• Income is four times higher.

Commitment and Practical Measures

Even if citizens agree in theory to support education, there are practical measures that require commitment on the part of all concerned stakeholders to addres the challenges to achieving effective, quality education. In its close-to-the-ground work with schools, adult learners and communities, LABE recommends a number of actions, which if addressed, dramatically support learning.

• Support literacy in Mother Tongue Language to ensure improved thematic learning and later use of English.
• Support Early Childhood Reading from the cradle onward.

• Ensure that all students ATTEND school and arrive ON TIME.
• Ensure that students are well-fed, since nutrition is a full partner in learning.
• Avoid pulling children from school for farming activities or sibling care.
• Support parentalinvolvement at school: discuss with your child’s teacher how t support your chld.
• Read with your children at home.
• Monitor teachers to know that they are present and arrive on time.
• Create and support Women Pressure Groups.

• Support literacy in Mother Tongue Language to ensure improved thematic learning and later use of English.
• Support Early Childhood Reading from the cradle onward.
• Ensure that all students ATTEND school and arrive ON TIME.
• Ensure that students are well-fed, since nutrition is a full partner in learning.
• Avoid pulling children from school for farming activities or sibling care.
• Support parentalinvolvement at school: discuss with your child’s teacher how t support your chld.
• Read with your children at home.
• Monitor teachers to know that they are present and arrive on time.
• Create and support Women Pressure Groups.

Life Transformed

The power of literacy training and supporting education for women and girl-children is evident in the ways it transformed life for Agnes Lawino’s family. Lawino, a twenty-five year old mother and adult learner at a LABE founded Literacy Class at Likai Primary School has transformed the life of her family. her newfound literacy allows her to properly change money, read and write with her children, manage an IGA for twenty-eight other members, borrow money, meet her household needs, and buy uniforms, books and other school supplies for her children.

Make no mistake, however, in thinking that education happens only within the walls of a school. Real education, for the betterment of not only the mind and the body, but also the spirit -happens from the cradle to the grave and is the result of every word, action, inaction, and choice.

ENDS

References

1. Girl Child Education (GCE): A statement of FACTS by Dr. Osita Excellence O. Oleribe. President, Anti-Child abuse Society of Africa (ACSA), Abuja, Nigeria; being a paper presented at NYSC/ACASA organized community awareness campaign on Girl Child Education in Katcha LGA, Niger state, Nigeria. (www.crin.org/dics/Girl%20Child%20Education.doc)

The post Education of the Girl-Child: Changing the World – One Girl at a Time appeared first on Nancy Wesson Consulting.

An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in Africa and 59 per cent of those above the age of 15 are women. Of that 34 million, roughly 10 per cent are children below the age of 14¹ Women and girls are physiologically two to four times more susceptible to HIV infection as compared to men and boys². Furthermore, “Adolescent girls aged 15-19 are six times more likely to be HIV positive compared to boys the same age³”

Disproportionate numbers

The staggeringly disproportionate number of females infected with the HIV virus as opposed to males has been shown to be related not only to physiological factors, but points directly the power disparity resulting from cultural attitudes as well as income and educational status. These figures relate to sub-Saharan Africa in general and Uganda is no different in this regard, except that it has gone a step farther in bringing the AIDS pandemic under control. In Uganda, studies show that married women now find themselves more vulnerable due to cultural practices like polygamy, a fact that increases the risk of exposure to HIV/AIDS.

Impact of Education

Furthermore, in a study specific to Uganda 4, there was a consistent finding between educational levels and domestic violence: the higher the educational attainment and control over their resources, the more protected women were from domestic violence, which was also related to the presence of drugs and alcohol.

However, in rural areas, where the attitudes toward education are still evolving, educational level actually provoked abuse. The literature is rife with evidence highlighting the relationship connecting domestic violence, drugs and alcohol and gender power imbalances all of which contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. So what is the solution?

Integrated Solutions Needed

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and a multitude of other organizations working in the areas of gender and children recommend integrated solutions including improved maternal and child health education and medical care combined with general education and sensitization. One of the ways recommended to curb these frightening statistics is to encourage initiatives geared towards promoting education of the girl-child and women.

Any program addressing these issues with women and girl-children must also address these factors with consideration to the male population. Training women and adolescent girls of their rights is inconsequential as long as they men are not involved in the same process.

Therefore:

Programs that address these issues should include:

1. Programs that promote income generating opportunities and other economic opportunities -for instance Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs) – for women to achieve a greater degree of financial independence – making it easier to avoid abusive relationships and therefore reduce their exposure to HIV/AIDS;
2. Sensitization of girls and women on the relationship between violence and HIV/AIDS;
3. Training of law enforcement officials and duty bearers (i.e. first point of contact that community go to when they get problems for instance local leaders, paralegals, the police) on the relationship between violence and AIDS, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention and training on post-exposure medical treatment;
4. Strengthening of the legal environment to support not only improved legislation but enforcement of existing statutes; and
5. Involvement of organizations working to reduce gender based violence in organizational structures involved with HIV/AIDS reduction. Literacy and Adult Basic Education, (LABE) is working at the grass roots level to influence cultural change and promote gender equity. LABE is an indigenous NGO committed to bringing functional literacy to Northern Uganda’s underserved populations. With a focus on women and girl children, LABE helped compile and translate audiotapes on HIV/AIDS prevention and then distributed them with radio/tape players to its Adult Learners in communities throughout Gulu, Nwoya and Amuru districts.

Learning forLIFE (L4L) Programs:

Through previous community outreach programs, Learning for Life (L4L) and Learning to Live (NPL), LABE has distributed tapes and tape players to approximately 60 schools and Home learning Centres reaching thousands of remotely located beneficiaries who would otherwise have no access to such information.

Women group in Palenga Sub County, Gulu District listen to HIV/AIDS programme using the radios and tapes supplied by LABE. (LABE Photo).

Women group in Palenga Sub County, Gulu District listen to HIV/AIDS programme using the radios and tapes supplied by LABE. (LABE Photo).

The content, offered in Acholi, addresses the issues of:

• HIV/AIDS prevention
• Avoiding early sex and marriages
• Encouraging voluntary testing and counseling for HIV/AIDS
• HIV/AIDS care

As an integral part of all of its programs (Mother Tongue Education, L4L and NPL) and in partnership with Straight Talk Foundation, LABE has also distributed pamphlets to each of the schools involved in their programs. Via this partnership alone, roughly 30,000 – 40,000 school children and educational personnel have been reached.

Deep Cultural Change

The process of reducing the spread of HIV/AIDs will require deep cultural change because the issues are not just treatment related, but imbedded in deeply held cultural beliefs and attitudes ranging from education to gender roles.

Grass roots programs such as those offered by LABE, Straight Talk Foundation and others combined with government initiatives, workshops and mentoring both men and women are essential in moving forward.

END

References:

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