Caring Hands of Hope designs programs and campaigns tailored to promote girls’ health and health-promoting social behavior change; improve girls’ school attendance; and provide vocational and life skills training and leadership development among out of school young women. We aim to create a long-lasting impact on the lives of girls and young women to enable them to fulfill their potential as healthy individuals and productive members of our society.
In Uganda, education remains a privilege, especially for girls. While primary education is now universal, few can afford to go to a secondary school. The majority of girls can’t afford scholastic materials such as books, uniforms, pencil and pens or afford school meals.
Caring Hands of Hope Uganda seeks to provide educational support to girls through the provision of school fees, scholastic materials such as books, pens, school uniforms, and homework help. In addition, and very importantly, personal hygiene materials such as sanitary pads, soap, and accompanying information about the female reproductive system will also be provide toward creating a school environment in which girls’ physical development is supported and not a barrier to their education.
Poor sanitation in schools imposes a special risk for girls and who are menstruating. In the 117 schools in Mityana, the pupil to latrine stance ratio is reported at 1:63 which is far above the national standard of 1:40. Hand washing is low with only 62% of the schools having water hand washing facilities. Only 59% of the schools have a water source. Schools having no water sources have relied on shallow wells and boreholes located long distances away. Menstrual hygiene management facilities including changing rooms and incinerators, which can also serve as general waste management units, are not provided in most schools.
Taboos around menstrual health, and limited knowledge about menstrual hygiene management, and the high costs of menstrual management products also contribute to girls’ absences from school. Faced with the prospect of using rags, newspaper, leaves, or cotton wool to curb the flow of blood, many girls choose not to go to school during their period. The result is that girls in the Mityana district routinely miss school during menstruation.
Caring Hands of Hope Uganda is providing one simple and effective solution to remedy how poor sanitation in school negatively impacts girls: providing them with Imperial© washable, cloth sanitary pads that last for up to a year and cost a fraction of an equivalent supply of disposable pads. These pads provide girls with the confidence to attend school during their periods. Information about menstruation and the female reproductive system is included along with instructions about how to use and care for Imperial© pads.
Without access to electricity, productivity is limited to daylight hours. Darkness eliminates the possibility for children and girls to study or read after the sun goes down. Having access to a solar light lengthens the time at home after school for girls to study and learn.
Caring Hands of Hope Uganda empowers school girls by providing them with a backpack that includes a solar lamp to use at home and on the way to and from school. The pack itself will also provide girls with a private way to carry and use our Imperial© washable pads to manage their menstruation at school.
Globally, adolescent girls and young women are still disproportionately affected by HIV. HIV prevalence is almost four times higher among young women aged 15 to 24 than young men of the same age. Studies indicate only 42.1% of adolescent girls in Uganda have knowledge on HIV prevention. There are a number of myths that young girls and women still believe concerning HIV/AIDS prevention which puts their lives at risk and helps to explains the high HIV infection rates among girls and young women. The majority of uneducated girls are highly susceptible not only to HIV/AIDS but also to other sexually transmitted diseases and related health complications.
Caring Hands of Hope Uganda will provide girls with access to sexual and reproductive health information as part of the menstrual education will accompany the distribution of Imperial© menstrual pads. Access to this information promises to increase the use of different strategies to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
In Uganda, teenage pregnancy rates are some of the highest in the world. One in four girls is pregnant or has a child; however, statistics change from region to region. The poorest regions have the highest percentage of teenage pregnancy. Teenager mothers are at a higher risk of complicated births, unsafe abortions, often requiring emergency obstetric care and do not have access to adequate reproductive health care end up dying while trying to give life. The majority of teenage mothers drop out of school. Due to poverty, many engage in unsafe activities including sex trade which expose them to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Others end up in abusive child marriages.
Caring Hands of Hope Uganda seeks to empower teenage girls to stay in school until they complete their education as one of the ways to prevent teenage pregnancy and child marriages. This is done through creating a supportive school environment for girls by providing girls with scholastic materials such as books and pens, as well as Imperial© menstrual hygiene management kits, with washable pads and information about menstruation and the female reproductive system. In addition, teenage mothers will receive vocational and business management training to build skills to enable them start their own income generating businesses and engage in meaningful income activities other than those that put them at risk of HIV and teenage pregnancy.