Train 100 men & 40 boys in Uganda on menstruation

Education is the best weapon to fight the cycle of poverty and for every single year spent in school especially by an adolescent girl, a pregnancy is prevented/avoided. 

Many girls dropped out of schools and never returned after the 2 years long lockdown due to covid-19 in Uganda and this included the girls in Buvuma Islands where ACYDI is operating. Many parents and caretakers of the OVCs (Orphans and Vulnerable children) lost their jobs and hence no source of income to care for their families and support their children education. Girls were most affected especially thos that are already adolescents and these include the menstruating aged ones. Many were married off and when the schools opened they already had babies or pregnant.

Menstruation is still considered as maturity and readiness for marriage and producing babies and hence no need to be in schools by menstruating girls. It's a taboo to discuss menstruation in public and an insult to talk about with boys and men. Therefore, the chance to convince men to support menstruating girls to go back to school when schools opened was limited hence many remained home.

ACYDI organised different community dialogues with parents and care takers of adolescent girls to devise solutions and ensure these children are supported to go back to school in the second term. Many parents expressed the concern of not being able to financially support the children and hence no scholarstic materials. It's from this that ACYDI ran a fundraising drive and collected these materials before term 2 started and hence donated and distributed scholastic materials i.e mathematical sets, exercise books, pencils, rulers and pens to 87 male OVCs and 115 Female OVCs in Kitiko Primary School and Bukaali Community Primary School.  These are currently able to be in schools

The parents and caretakers have been trained in financial literacy and savings through their VSLAs (5 Village savings and loans associations) as this will help them secure some incomes from small investments to be able to supplement their family's health, education and welfare.

30 girls in Bukaali P/School were supported with menstrual kits including re-usable pads, bathing buckets, a pair of panties and a bar of soap which can take them through a whole term as their care takers plan to continue with the support.