Literacy rates in Uganda show of those 15 years and older, 62% females are literate in comparison to 79% of males while of those aged 65 and older, only 18% of females are literate in comparison to 58% of males (unesco.org).
Often girls are the first to miss out on an opportunity to learn, with twice as many girls as boys never going to school; therefore, with our partners and programs we are challenging the gender norm and empowering the next generation of young woman as well as men.
Girls can miss up to a week of school each month when they are on their period, causing them to fall behind, and in some cases, forcing them to drop out due to inadequate access to privacy, toilets, clean water, and sanitary towels.
In our schools we are improving access to latrines and clean water and we are teaching girls in the slums how to use sowing machines in order to allow them to make their own reusable sanitary towels which will also act as an income generation project. Alongside this we are teaching girls how to deal with menstruation and cope with puberty.
See also how we are encouraging girls to participate in sport in our schools here
Within the slums in Kampala we work in, life can look bleak for the Ugandan woman. Without an education she has the option of either working laboriously all day in the quarry breaking up stones or attempting to etch out a living in any way she can. Sadly sometimes prostitution can seem the only option. We work alongside our partners to empower these women to learn new skills such as hairdressing, dressmaking, beadmaking and sowing to increase employability. We have also provided scholarships for a number of these girls to enable them to finish of their education and pursue their educational and professional aspirations.
Could input Jorge’s video of Christine’s story here when we receive from Jorge?
Could have an option below this to buy girls a weeks worth of sanitary towels
“Help keep girls in school by donating £ a month to provide girls with reusable sanitary towels”
Or/and an option to fund a sowing machine?
Or/and an option to donate to improve latrine access?