Grand Mother for Change Project Uganda

In the rural area of Bukedwa, Senegal, bound by culture and tradition and influenced by the modern world, young and adolescent girls face various constraints related to early/forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and teen pregnancy that hinder their opportunities for formal education and possibilities for equality. In this region of East Africa, old women are both ubiquitous and invisible. They care for and watch the children, settle family squabbles and sit in the shade of thatched awnings as the years pass by.

The Grand Mother for Change Project Uganda combines these two forces – grandmothers and adolescent girls – to create a unique and powerful interplay that goes beyond other anti-harmful practice programs, utilizes the knowledge and respect of grandmothers with village parents and elders and sets into play a dramatic and innovative method for helping villagers make decisions about traditions that protect and benefit the girls and the entire village. While the project does benefit the girls, its focus is on grandmothers as agents of change, bringing them to the center stage as arbiters, sages and champions of adolescent girls.

Grand Mother for Change Project Uganda focuses on grandmothers as the agents of change for villages to address harmful practices and factors that escalate modern-day problems for adolescent girls. Grandmothers are trained and empowered to be the central figure in each village as the catalyst for changing thinking and customs at the village level.

Grandmothers are key to the program because they have respect in their villages, with both the village elders and with the younger women and children. They are the vessels that carry the traditional songs, dances and stories of the village, and they offer wisdom to the young women who are marrying or having children. They have the respect of their sons who will not refuse them. If grandmother leaders can see the harm of early marriage and the benefits of more education for girls, their voices will be heard.

The program is comprised of four activities:

Activity 1:  Design and develop leadership exercises to train grandmother leaders to train other grandmothers. Although this project has been working with grandmother leaders for years, training them to train other grandmothers is new. This involves experts in participatory methodology, gender and leadership, a researcher for a literature review and an artist for producing drawings for participants who are unable to read.

Activity 2:  An eight-day workshop will train experienced grandmother leaders to lead groups and teach other grandmothers to be leaders and advocates for adolescent girl health and safety issues. Five experienced grandmother leaders, drawn from past projects and acting facilitators, and two women from the local teacher association will be brought to Bukedea for the train-the-trainer session. Leadership topics include democratic leadership, role of effective leaders, conflict resolution and participatory evaluation techniques of community activities. Key issues addressed in the materials include menstruation, reproduction, contraception, early/forced marriage, teen pregnancy, adolescent nutrition and HIV/AIDS.

Questions for Discussion

1. What are some of the benefits of using grandmothers as change agents?
2. How does the project take advantage of local culture and customs while at the same time challenging them?
3. How important do you think it is to involve village elders and other influential men in the community in discussions about harmful practices targeted at adolescent girls?

Why We Love This Project
We love grandmothers as agents of change. We love the opportunity to empower these elder women to connect three generations to discuss and find indigenous solutions to challenges faced by the young girls and adolescents in the community, which are based on cultural tradition or cultural changes. Empowered by Grand Mother for Change Project’s leadership training sessions that also inform them about the harmful effects of early/forced marriag, grandmothers are able to change harmful behavior and practices in their communities and, in turn, ensure more positive outcomes for adolescent girls.