Train 100 men & 40 boys in Uganda on menstruation

Summary

A follow-up was conducted by African Child & Youth Development Initiative (ACYDI) where our team visited the library beneficiary schools in Buvuma islands, field visits also included checking on the menstrual facilities, learning progress, teaching and learning environment, and assessment methods for the AGYW and boys.  

In Buvuma islands, there is inadequate menstrual facilities in both primary and secondary schools where a total of 95% of the head teachers and 95% of the senior head teachers stated that they are not satisfied with menstrual facilities at their schools, over 95% of the senior women teachers confirmed that there is no provision for menstrual pads to school girls. In efforts to increase the knowledge and bridge its gap and also improve attitude, practice and access to healthy menstrual materials, African Child carried out a rally in one of the schools in Buwooya where over 1000 story books have been donated to the school. These learning materials/books include but not limited to Menstrual health readers’ manuals, Adolescents and Growth in series books as well as early childhood books. These are part of their library and can be accessed whenever the AGYW need them.

The availability and accessibility of the library services in Buvuma islands will increase access to information on human growth process, menstruation, wetdreaming for boys and how all these are managed to reduce embarassment that would lead to school dropout and or frequent absenteeism thus improving the learner's performance since they can concentrate in class.

Achievements/Actions taken

1) The training was conducted to 5 people to support the books users, also, 25 adolescents have been supported with their classmates and those from the community to get the information they need regarding menstrual health management and growth.

2) Over 15 members of Village Health Teams/VHTs (Voluntary Health Workers/VHTs from the villages) have been trained to raise awareness among girls and women in 10 villages.

3) There is enough space as provided for by Bukaali Community Primary School, hence books are kept and accessed by the users both from the school and the community hence increasing their knowledge.

4) The capacity building  and orientation was conducted to 5 staff (3 from the school and 2 from the community) who were trained on library and information basics to support the AGYW and other users from the school and community respectively.

5) Re-trained 25 Adolescents (15F:10M) from the school's health club on Menstrual health management and support and reminded of their responsibilities in supporting their colleagues to avoid embarrassment, encourage them to remain in school and to also cascade the information to their homes where the menstruating girls are more at risk of being married off by their parents when they start menstruating.

Challenges 

A recent survey by African Child & Youth Development Initiative (ACYDI) in Buvuma islands showed that 38 percent of girls don't attend school when they are having a period. In addition, almost 15 percent of these personally know a girl that has left school due to a lack of Menstrual Hygiene Management. But at least 56 percent of the girls said that they also don't go to school because there are no decent facilities (water, toilets, wash house), and so they are worried and embarrassed about leaking.
However, the damage extends beyond that because various studies show that girls with a school education are the very ones with the key to breaking the spiral of poverty.

According to World Bank, it is estimated that developing countries can realise a combined growth of 92 billion dollars per annum if girls are simply given the same educational opportunities as boys and this makes investing in education for girls the highest returning investment in the world.

Furthermore, it has been reported that the number of AGYW both in school and from the community is too high compared to the books (learning materials) so far acquired and distributed. ACYDI in collaboration with the beneficiary schools will continue together to mobilise resources and lobbying for more adolescent’s books for better coverage.

Links:

• For more info about African Child & Youth Development Initiative