Esther Nalule, Uganda
Why the girl child?
Women are the mothers of the nation but little attention has been focused on the girl child. We must appreciate that nurturing and guiding young people is laying the foundation for a happier and better future for the country thus there is need to guide young girls and mothers in order to positively prepare them for their future roles in society as a means of back stopping the currently problems that women are facing in our societies.
When there is lack of guidance for girls they may end uploosing interest in their careers and preferring early pregnancies and marriages exposing them to the risk of HIV .
When girls are not guided they have to rely on their own initiative and whatever they learn from their friends and school mates they therefore undergo a great deal of emotional stress and strain caused by a variety of reasons.
In order to ensure that girls in school and out of school and young mothers are not diverted from pursuing their goals there is need to train them in the following areas:
• life skills
• human rights awareness among women and girls
• sexual reproductive health
• self reliance and economic empowerment
Traditionally girls have been brought up to believe that they are inferior to boys this was brought about by the traditional belief that women are inferior to men as a result female education has lagged behind that of male ,this situation has contributed to the fact that their are fewer women in key positions of responsibility and of high social status.
There is need to create awareness for girls to realise their potentials they need to be helped to make informed decisions.
Target age group (15-25 years)
Action taken so far
A base line survey an inception meeting was carried out in Masuulita together with the group leaders and the outcome yielded positive results parents showed concerning the matter at hand and promised to avail us with the material and moral support they can afford.
Findings
Many of these young girls live in the poorest communities and the HIV/AIDS epidemic is pushing them into deeper poverty.
Some of the situations that make young girls vulnerable are
• Poverty and lack of essential needs
• Early marriages leading to early child birth and dependency
• Orphans without key persons responsible for their developments
• Violence against women and girls which encompasses physical and psychological violence occurring in the family including sexual abuse of female children in households.
Planned activities
• To involve the group members, parents and the young people in programme planning , implementation and evaluation.
• To do out reaches to target the different categories of young girls this will be done with the help of group members and community local leaders in public places
• To use local radio programmes if funds are available this can effectively work to mobilize both parental support for sexual reproductive health services and spreading the gospel about the trainings to young girls, If in the local language then it will pull more of the out of school and more so the females
• To make use of the existing youth groups in the communities tell them of our existence and do out reaches to these groups.
Challenges
• Conflicting social and cultural values of adolescents and adults resulting from different life orientation.
• Limited resources , lack of both human and material resources can hamper the progress of the approach making it impossible to access
• Youth in remote areas in and out of school.
• The willingness of the youth to be involved in issues that affect them versus limited resources .
• Hostile environment to the provision of sexual reproductive health information and services to young people.
• Inadquate involvement of parents in promoting youth services.
Expected out come
By the end of the trainings;
Participants will be able to establish their own small businesses to sustain them selves and to make well informed decisions for their lives.
Best regards from Esther Nalule
naluleesther@yahoo.com
